 Dunye was born in Liberia and grew up in Philadelphia.She received her BA from Temple University and her MFA from Rutgers' Mason Gross School of Art.She has taught at the University of California, Los Angeles, UC Riverside, Pitzer College, Claremont Graduate University, Pomona College, California Institute of the Arts, The New School of Social Research, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and San Francisco State University.