Olivia Aminatta Jobe

Olivia Aminatta Jobe is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Sociology at the University of Southern California. Her research interests are at the intersection of sociology and genealogy, examining how genealogical services such as Ancestry and African Ancestry shape racial and ethnic identities for African American users. Olivia’s TEDx talk,”Griots of the Past, Present, and Future,” explored her experience as a family historian and research practices as a contemporary griot. Her work as a family historian has deeply influenced her research. Her past work has covered diverse topics, all addressing forms of the Black diasporic lived experience.  

Olivia earned her BA in Sociology with a concentration in Social Justice and a minor in Africana Studies from Goucher College. She recived her master’s in Sociology from the University of Oxford. 

• BA Goucher College
• MS Oxford University