We share with deep sadness the passing of Bennetta Jules-Rosette, distinguished professor of sociology at UC San Diego, who died on December 7, 2025, at the age of 77. A pioneering cultural sociologist, she spent more than five decades at UC San Diego tracing how creative lives both reflect and shape social worlds across Africa, France and the African diaspora.
Bennetta described sociology as “the queen of the social sciences” because it enabled her, she said, to bring together art, religion, cultural expression and lived experience. Through long-term fieldwork in Congo (DRC–Kinshasa), Zambia, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya and France, she developed innovative approaches to cultural biography, including “semiography,” her method for interpreting lives through signs and symbols. This approach was most notably evident in her book “Josephine Baker in Art and Life.”
Born on February 21, 1948, in Washington, D.C., Bennetta grew up in a family deeply involved in public service. Her father, Walter E. Washington, was the first elected Black mayor of Washington, D.C., and her mother, Bennetta Bullock Washington, was a prominent educator and policy leader whose work addressed the challenges facing urban Black youth. These early experiences helped ground her lifelong interest in culture, community and social change.
Bennetta studied French literature and philosophy at the Sorbonne in 1966, then earned a B.A. in Social Relations from Radcliffe College and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Social Relations from Harvard University.
Bennetta joined UC San Diego’s Department of Sociology as an assistant professor in 1973, rising through the faculty ranks to become distinguished professor. Among the earliest Black scholars at UC San Diego, she became the department’s first woman chair in the early 1980s and served two terms. Before coming to UC San Diego, she lectured at UCLA. Later in her career, she also held visiting and fellowship appointments at UC Berkeley, UC Irvine and Stanford.
Bennetta authored numerous influential works on African religion, art and diasporic culture, including the books “African Apostles” (1975), “Terminal Signs” (1990), “Black Paris” (1998), the aforementioned “Josephine Baker in Art and Life” (2007) and “African Art Reframed” (2020). At the time of her passing, she was at work on a new manuscript on Black utopias and had recently returned from presenting her research in Paris.
At UC San Diego, Bennetta founded and led the African and African-American Studies Research Center, which she developed over more than three decades as a space for research, student engagement and cultural programming. Through this work, she connected students and scholars with artists, performers and community partners, reflecting her belief in the value of cross-cultural dialogue.
A dedicated and influential teacher, Bennetta mentored generations of undergraduate and graduate students, several of whom went on to receive national recognition for their work in African and African diasporic studies. Colleagues and former students recall her as both rigorous and generous – and as a striking presence on campus, instantly recognizable in her black berets and colorful brooches.
Bennetta’s teaching and public programs brought people and ideas into conversation. Her influence continues in the work of those she encouraged and in the paths of inquiry she helped open.
Beyond her academic life, Bennetta was a devoted mother who often included her daughter in her travels and work abroad, sharing the excitement and discovery of her research firsthand. She made holidays especially meaningful by creating enduring family traditions rooted in love, learning and togetherness. Those traditions now live on through her granddaughter and great-grandchildren, whose curiosity and joy reflect the spirit she brought to family life.
Bennetta is survived by her daughter, Violaine Thompson; her son-in-law, Fred Thompson Jr.; her granddaughter, Monica Lujan; Monica’s husband, Steven Lujan; and her beloved great-grandchildren, Michael Lujan and Jessica Lujan.
