Spencer graduated with general and departmental honors from the University of Chicago in 2017, where she studied Comparative Human Development and minored in Germanic Studies.
Spencer’s undergraduate thesis, entitled Negotiating Belonging in Berlin’s African Diaspora, investigated the Black-White fault line in the German context. She conducted oral history interviews in Berlin, where she examined the dynamic manner in which social interactions exist at the juncture of race, space, and German history.
At Columbia, Spencer’s Master’s thesis explored the intercontinental relationship between Austria and Nigeria through luxury textiles, specifically Austrian-produced embroideries exported to Nigerian consumers between 1960-1984, or, between years marking Nigerian independence from Britain and a major Naira devaluation. Through combining elements of economic history, social history, and material history, Spencer’s thesis aims to illustrate global consumption as more than a European phenomenon, but as an interconnected, transnational, and global effort. Spencer was the 2021 recipient of the Richard Hofstadter Dissertation Prize in recognition of the highest mark dissertation in her cohort.
Prior to her graduate work at Columbia, Spencer spent two years working in Austria as a Fulbright Austria Fellow and working with Austrian founders in the software startup space.
She grew up north of Chicago, and enjoys exploring New York City’s food scene and watching Chicago sports.
