Photo: Valter Campanato/Agência Brasil / CC BY 3.0 br (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
To me, Patricia Hill Collins is one of those thinkers whose influence is so absorbed into common vocabulary that people forget it had an author. Helping make intersectionality a rigorous social theory, rather than a slogan, is quietly monumental work. What I admire most is that she never treats scholarship as an end in itself; her idea of intellectual activism insists that ideas owe something back to the communities they describe. A Philadelphia-born professor who reached Harvard, the Berggruen Prize, and emerita status at Maryland could rest on prestige, but she keeps the human stakes in view. That seriousness, paired with clarity, is rare and worth honoring.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Patricia Hill Collins
- Name (Japanese)
- パトリシア・コリンズ
- Reading
- ぱとりしあ・こりんず
- Born
- May 1, 1948 (age 78)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Taurus / Rat
- Origin
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
- Occupation
- philosopher / sociologist / university teacher / researcher
2. Background
- High school
- Philadelphia High School for Girls
- University
- Harvard University
Awards & achievements
- 1993 Jessie Bernard Award
- 2017 W.E.B. Du Bois Career of Distinguished Scholarship award
- American Sociological Association Distinguished Scholarly Book Award
- 2022 Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
- 2013 Gittler Prize
- Berggruen Prize
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | Black Feminist Thought | — | |
| Notable work | Intersectionality as Critical Social Theory | — | |
| Notable work | Black Sexual Politics | — | |
| Notable work | From Black Power to Hip Hop | — | |
| Notable work | On Intellectual Activism | — |
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Patricia Hill Collins born?
Born May 1, 1948 (age 78).
Where is Patricia Hill Collins from?
Patricia Hill Collins is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
What does Patricia Hill Collins do?
Patricia Hill Collins works as philosopher, sociologist, university teacher, researcher.
What is Patricia Hill Collins known for?
Notable works include Black Feminist Thought, Intersectionality as Critical Social Theory, Black Sexual Politics.
Philosopher — see all → · Sociologist — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.