Dedicated to change.

Sandra L. Barnes is an American educator, author, ordained Baptist minister, and documentary maker. She is the C.V. Starr Endowed Professor and Chair in the Dept. of Sociology at Brown University. From 2008-2021 she was a joint appointed Professor of Sociology in the Department of Human and Organizational Development (HOD) and the Divinity School at Vanderbilt University. As an urban sociologist, some of her research interests include Sociology of Religion, urban studies, inequality, statistics, and African American studies. Her mixed-methodological, multi-disciplinary research focuses on race and religiosity, in general, and the Black Church, in particular, as well as youth education, and social justice. From 2016-2018 she served as the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at Vanderbilt University. Barnes was the first African American faculty member appointed as an Assistant Vice Chancellor in the history of the institution and was subsequently honored as a Vanderbilt Pioneer in 2017.