Hello! I am Carla D. Martin, PhD.

I am a Lecturer and the Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of African and African American Studies at Harvard University. My work as a socially engaged anthropologist is currently focused on the ethics of labor in cocoa and chocolate, and before that on the politics of language and music in Cabo Verde and its diaspora. I lecture widely and have taught extensively in African and African American Studies, critical food studies, social anthropology, and ethnomusicology, and have received numerous awards in recognition of excellence in teaching and research. Additionally, I founded and serve as the President of the Board of the Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to reducing inequality and information asymmetry throughout the cocoa and chocolate value chain. This work has brought me into community with workers at cocoa farms and chocolate factories in dozens of countries.

I am currently a Principal Investigator on the research projects “Towards a Cocoa Producer-Focused Climate Policy in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana” and “Black History at the Vassall Estate.”

Read samples of my published articles, research reports, and translations at ResearchGate.

View videos of my lectures or discussions at Harvard Museums, Re:co Symposium, and FCCI.

Enroll in one of my classes via Harvard University Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard Extension School, or Stanford Continuing Studies.

Connect with me on LinkedIn or Bluesky.

I have been interviewed by outlets like NPR Marketplace, Harvard Magazine, the New York Times, Associated Press, International Confectionery Magazine, From the Desk of Alicia Kennedy, Sapiens Magazine, Estadão, The Harvard Crimson, and others.

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