Anthropology
Madeline Nicholson

Madeline Nicholson

madeline_nicholson@brown.edu
Research Interests Social Movements and Activism , Adoption , Kinship, Reproduction , Black Feminist Theory, Scandinavia

Biography

Madeline is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology at Brown University. Drawing on sociocultural and political anthropology, demography, and Black feminist theory, her research examines the movement to reform international adoption policy in Norway. Her dissertation, Adopting Change: Social Transformation and Kinship in Norway, explores how kinship shapes activists' engagement in efforts to transform child welfare and how activism itself becomes a kin-making practice. Her work critically examines activism and humanitarianism while centering adoptee storytelling as both a source of knowledge and a mode of political action. Before joining Brown, Madeline worked in child welfare and the social justice nonprofit sector.

Previous Degrees

  • B.A. Anthropology, Colorado College, 2020
  • M.A. Anthropology, Brown University, 2025