Public Sociology. Ethnography. Community. Engagement.

As a public urban sociologist, I am passionate about studying people, environments and communities, comparing that with what we already know to create new perspectives on our society and sharing that with both the academic and public world. 
I teach my students how we can understand our society and encourage them as well as myself to make that knowledge practical, applicable and useful on the ground via service learning and experiential learning.

What's New

Crown Series
​(in conjunction with Mural Arts)


I am honored to be part of Russell Craig's Crown series mural dedicated to honoring BIPOC activists in Philadelphia fighting to end and heal from systematic racism and inequality. 

Black Birth Equity 

In 2019, in response to longstanding racial health disparities, the Office of NJ First Lady Tammy Murphy (OFL) established the Nurture New Jersey initiative (NNJ) with numerous funding and organizational partners in order to overhaul state agencies and public policy in support of maternal and infant health equity statewide. As outlined in the NNJ Strategic Plan, New Jersey is now initiating establishment of a new statewide Center for Maternal and Child Health (MCH) in Trenton, NJ.

My Stockton colleague Betsy Erbaugh and I are excited to partner with the Watson Institute at Kean for this important initiative. You can read more about it here. 

Black In America: The Paradox of the Color Line (2019)