urban / qualitative / gender / religion / inequality / race / culture / death & dying
I am an urban ethnographer. I use a variety of qualitative and historical methods, combined with feminist theories, to understand everyday life inside marginalized urban communities. I also study what happens in the absence of community or kinship, when people's lives become shaped by social isolation and neglect rather than connection. For the past ten years, my research has focused on communities in Los Angeles. My work appears in Social Problems, Gender & Society, Du Bois Review, City & Community, and other academic journals.
Currently, I am an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Amsterdam. Prior to the UvA, I was a postdoctoral fellow at Rice University, where I continue to serve as a non-resident research fellow in the Religion and Public Life Program (RPLP). I completed my doctorate in sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Before academia, I worked as a journalist and media professional. I remain committed to connecting my research to wider audiences. Here are some recent examples on the unclaimed dead in Los Angeles (cited in the NYT), qualitative research in an era of Trump politics, and communities of faith in civil society. I've also recently started a podcast in partnership with the RPLP.
I am an urban ethnographer. I use a variety of qualitative and historical methods, combined with feminist theories, to understand everyday life inside marginalized urban communities. I also study what happens in the absence of community or kinship, when people's lives become shaped by social isolation and neglect rather than connection. For the past ten years, my research has focused on communities in Los Angeles. My work appears in Social Problems, Gender & Society, Du Bois Review, City & Community, and other academic journals.
Currently, I am an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Amsterdam. Prior to the UvA, I was a postdoctoral fellow at Rice University, where I continue to serve as a non-resident research fellow in the Religion and Public Life Program (RPLP). I completed my doctorate in sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Before academia, I worked as a journalist and media professional. I remain committed to connecting my research to wider audiences. Here are some recent examples on the unclaimed dead in Los Angeles (cited in the NYT), qualitative research in an era of Trump politics, and communities of faith in civil society. I've also recently started a podcast in partnership with the RPLP.
