Biography
She joined LSU after completing a postdoctoral fellowship at the Kinder Institute
for Urban Research at Rice University in Houston, TX. She received her PhD from the
Sociology program at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. In her research she aims
to reveal the processes generating interlocking black-white inequalities in the United
States (e.g., disparate outcomes within economic, educational, and other social spheres).
At the core of her research is the role of place, its accompanying structural features,
and how they relate to ideas of race and subsequent inequalities.
The longest running focus in her research is related to the idea of a contemporary
legacy of slavery, a social remnant of the racial hierarchy associated with slavery
that continues to be reflected in the spatial patterns of black-white inequality that
we see today. Her most recent project on this topic examines the connections among
the legacy of slavery, collective memory, and Confederate monuments. Future projects
will build on the work of Historians to develop a clearer understanding of where and
why Confederate monuments were built.
Her attention on the role of place in her research has also led her to incorporate
migration and spatially-informed methods into her work. For example, her dissertation
research addresses the extent to which selective migration – rather than the local
processes suggested to generate additional disadvantage – explains the higher levels
of black-white inequality that are often found in places where a higher percentage
of the population identifies as black. She finds that selective migration is not the
primary explanation. Future research will examine other aspects of migration, including
recent increases in the Hispanic population in the US South, and will continue to
use and develop the spatial methods needed to understand how social processes unfold
within and across place.
Education
PhD: University of Wisconsin-Madison (2014)
Curriculum Vitae
Courses Recently Taught at LSU
(Syllabi are for illustrative purposes & subject to change)
- SOCL 2001: Introductory Sociology
- SOCL 4091: Racial Inequality
- SOCL 7213: Spatial Analysis