Waqia Abdul-Kareem

Waqia Abdul-Kareem is an interdisciplinary scholar and multidisciplinary artist pursuing a doctorate in American studies at the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis at New York University. Their dissertation, Ecological Dispossession and Black Counter Ecologies in the South Carolina Lowcountry, examines the co-production of race, science, the environment, and property in the South Carolina Lowcountry from the 17th century to the present.

Their work spans scholarly research, art, and education, with positions at the Museum of Modern Art and the New York Historical Society, and a background in urban agriculture and food justice. Fellowships and residencies include the junior fellowship at Dumbarton Oaks (2026–2027), the Southern Studies Doctoral Fellowship at the University of North Carolina, the Colby Summer Institute in Environmental Humanities, the Summer Urban Humanities Fellowship at the Black Gotham Experience, and an artist residency with the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council on Governors Island. Their artistic work has been exhibited at the Hirshhorn Museum, Abrons Arts Center, Movement Research, and the Baltimore Museum of Art.