Morgan Bettin-Coleman (Pathways Program Mentor)

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Undergraduate Institution: Carleton College

Advisor: Caleb McDaniel

Department: History  

Bio:

Morgan Bettin-Coleman is a Ph.D. student who explores African American history. Her studies have spanned from the mid-19th century to mid-20th century, focusing mostly on the United States but also examining the broader Atlantic World. "Contesting the Color Line: Law, Culture, and Racial Identity in Nineteenth-Century Louisiana," her undergraduate thesis, centered on two white-passing enslaved women in New Orleans who sued for their whiteness and consequent freedom. That project looked at themes of identity, constructions and manifestations of race, racial ambiguity, racial passing, and gender. As her academic career progresses, she hopes to continue researching those concepts while also potentially exploring miscegenation, mixed-race identity, and changing interracial relations, studying the Atlantic world and African diaspora in more expansive ways. 

Affinity and student group affiliations: BGSA and HGSA

Fun fact:

Texas is the fifth state I've lived in!

Favorite thing about Rice:

the people

Favorite thing about Houston:

the diversity

Why did you decide to go to grad school?

I wanted to continue my academic career and continue developing my historical knowledge.