Professor Magubane specializes in social theory and the sociology of race, ethnicity, and African societies. She has professional experience in South Africa, previously serving as a research associate for the Human Sciences Research Council in Pretoria, and holding a guest lecturer position at the University of Cape Town. The author of several books and scholarly articles in her discipline, she has notably published Bringing the Empire Home: Race, Class and Gender (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004). She earned her Ph.D and M.A. in Sociology from Harvard University, and her B.A. in Politics from Princeton University.