PhD Candidate Sociocultural Anthropology

Matriculated September 2021

Research Interests

East Africa, transnational evangelical Christianity, political culture, popular culture, neoliberalism, urban youth

About

Sarah is a PhD candidate in Sociocultural Anthropology. Focusing on performance poetry and literary communities, her research explores how urban Ugandan youth create meaningful lives and expansive social identities amid political repression and downward mobility. Her dissertation examines how ambiguity – as both a communicative practice and an existential condition – enables creative and political possibilities in spaces the state would prefer to manage or silence.

Prior to starting her PhD at Boston University, Sarah worked as the Knowledge Management Specialist for Pathfinder International, where she managed institutional knowledge repositories and provided research for global sexual and reproductive health projects. Sarah holds an M.A. in Anthropology from Brandeis University and an M.A. in International Educational Development with a concentration in African Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She also has a B.A. with High Honors in Africana Studies from Oberlin College.

Awards & Grants

  • Cora Du Bois Fellowship, Harvard University. (Spring 2027).
  • Boston University Center for the Humanities (BUCH) Dissertation Fellowship. (Fall 2026).
  • Religion and World Affairs Fellowship, Institute on Culture, Religion & World Affairs (CURA). (2025-2026; 2026-2027).
  • Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Summer Fellowship in Luganda. (2023).
  • Short-Term Graduate Research Abroad Fellowship (GRAF). (2023).
  • Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Summer Fellowship in Kiswahili. (2022).
  • Dean’s Fellowship, Boston University. (Fall 2021, Spring 2022).
  • Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Merit Scholarship, Brandeis University. (2020).

Publications

  • Lewinger, Sarah. “Educating Ideal Neoliberal Citizens: Discourses of Agency and Responsibility in Comprehensive Sexuality Education.” Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters 31, no. 1 (2023): http://doi.org/10.1080/26410397.2023.2267203.
  • Namatende-Sakwa, Lydia, Sarah Lewinger, and Catherine Langsford. (2023). “COVID-19 and Education in Africa: Challenges, Possibilities, and Opportunities,” Abington and New York: Routledge (Perspectives on Education in Africa Book Series).
  • Fasehun, Luther-King, Sarah Lewinger, Oyinlola Fasehun, & Mohamad Brooks. “Barriers and Facilitators to Acceptability of the Female Condom in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review.” Annals of Global Health 88, no. 1 (2022). http://doi.org/10.5334/aogh.3612 .
  • Russell, S. Garnett, Lydia Namatende-Sakwa, & Sarah Lewinger. “Gender Representation in East African History Textbooks: The Cases of Rwanda, Kenya, and Uganda.” Feminist Formations 33, no. 2 (2021): 233–261. 10.1353/ff.2021.0033.
  • Erhardt-Ohren, Blake, & Sarah Lewinger. “Refugee and Internally Displaced Women’s Abortion Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices: Addressing the Lack of Research in Low- and Middle-Income Countries.” International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health 46, no. Supplement 1 (2020): 77–81. 10.1363/46e1120. 
  • Lewinger, Sarah, & S. Garnett Russell. “Embodied Experiences of Abstinence-Only Education: A Case Study of Women in Uganda.” Gender and Education 33, no. 7 (2019): 898–913. 10.1080/09540253.2019.1632421.

View all profiles