Carra Leah Hood has a B.A. in Africana and Puerto Rican/Latino Studies from Hunter College, The City University of New York. After graduating from Hunter, she attended Yale University, completing an M.A. in African Studies. In 1998, she received her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature also from Yale University. Carra has taught a variety of interdisciplinary courses at Yale University; The Graduate Center, The City University of New York; Southern Connecticut State University; Louisiana State University - Baton Rouge; and Richard Stockton College of New Jersey where she is currently Associate Professor of Writing. She lives in south Jersey, five miles from Atlantic City.