Carmela Dormani

  • Assistant Professor, Behavioral Science
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Carmela Dormani

Carmela Muzio Dormani is a sociologist and interdisciplinary scholar whose research focuses on the politics of everyday culture in cities – addressing race and ethnicity, migration, movements for social change, consumption, media, and Latinx studies. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Latino Studies and The Journal of Popular Culture. She is currently working on a book manuscript about New York’s salsa dance scene.

PhD., CUNY Graduate Center, Sociology Department (2020)

M.Phil., CUNY Graduate Center, Sociology Department (2016)

B.A., Fordham University, American Studies/Latin American and Latino Studies (2010)

Dr. Dormani is currently working on a book manuscript based on over eight years of participant observation in New York’s salsa dance scene. She is also doing new theoretical work outlining "the sociology of dance" in the U.S. context.

In her most recent empirical research, Dr. Dormani has begun to investigate the recovery of community-led cultural spaces and the performing arts sectors in Latinx and multi-racial communities in the post-2020 context. This new study will trace the contemporary social context - especially the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the renewed global reach of the Black Lives Matter movement - on cultural production and artistic practices in New York and Los Angeles.

My teaching pedagogy focuses on elevating student voices, encouraging students to analyze the relationship between individual and collective experiences, and developing students’ ability to express their analysis clearly. I do this by prioritizing relationship-building and facilitating an open and energetic classroom.

Courses currently offered:

- Race, Culture, and Ethnicity

- Research Methodology

- Introduction to Sociology

 

Dormani, C. M. (Forthcoming). “‘We’re Street Dancers’: Culture and Commodification in New York’s Salsa Dance Scene,” Latino Studies.

Dormani, C.M. (2020). “So You Think You Can Salsa: Performing Latinness on Reality Television,” The Journal of Popular Culture. Vol. 53, no. 3: 720-738.