Dr. Patricia A. Banks, PhD

Patricia A. Banks (Harvard University Ph.D. & A.M./Spelman College B.A.) is Co-Editor-in-Chief of Poetics and Chair and Professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Mount Holyoke College. As a cultural sociologist her research elucidates how social boundaries, such as those related to race and ethnicity, intersect with consumption and consumption-related processes. She is the author of four books including Black Culture Inc: How Ethnic Community Support Pays for Corporate America (Stanford University Press), Race, Ethnicity, and Consumption: A Sociological View (Routledge 2020), Diversity and Philanthropy at African American Museums (Routledge Research in Museum Studies 2019) and Represent: Art and Identity Among the Black Upper-Middle Class (Routledge 2010). Banks serves on the editorial board of Cultural Sociology, the advisory council for the Donors of Color: Giving Trends project (Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Indiana University), the advisory council for the BIG Philanthropy project (Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Indiana University), and as Secretary-Treasurer of the Sociology of Consumers and Consumption section of the American Sociological Association. In 2018-2019 Banks was in residence at Stanford University as a CASBS Fellow. Banks has also been at Harvard University as a Sheila Biddle Ford Foundation Fellow and Non-Resident Fellow at the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research and received fellowships or grants from institutions such as the UNCF/Mellon Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, and the American Association of University Women. Along with teaching in the sociology department at Mount Holyoke College, Banks is also a faculty member in the Program in Africana Studies and the Program in Entrepreneurship, Organizations, and Society. Banks’ research spans areas such as art patronage, philanthropy, corporate social responsibility, and school dress codes. Some of the big questions that motivate her research are “How is art related to identity,” “How does culture influence inequality?,” “What is the potential and what are the limits of corporations to solve social problems?,” and “What is the role of philanthropy in social change?” Banks has appeared on The Special Report with Areva Martin and her research has been mentioned in media outlets such as The New York Times, Le Quotidien de l'Art, Artnet News, and Public Books.

Sub-specialties:
-corporate social responsibility
-corporate philanthropy
-race, ethnicity, and philanthropy
-art patronage
-art market
-race, ethnicity, and the art market
-race, ethnicity, and art patronage
-race, ethnicity, and consumption
-race, ethnicity, and art/culture
-dress code discrimination
-hair discrimination