About Me

I earned my Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and am currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology & Criminal Justice at Suffolk University.

My research is guided by three central questions:

1. How do local organizations and community groups change—and at times, resist change?

2. How are social and symbolic boundaries constructed and dismantled?

3. How is the broader symbolic and cultural order re-mapped through conflicts between community groups?

Using ethnographic, interview, and visual methods, my work bridges the sociology of cities and communities, culture, and politics. I explore how communities interact—often in tension—with extralocal institutions and agencies. This thread of my research has been published in Journal of Urban Affairs and International Journal of Urban and Regional Research.

My current book project, based on my dissertation, investigates how political culture shapes community life in a small, gentrifying city in New York’s Hudson Valley. I ask: In a context where politics are nationalizing and Americans are sorting themselves geographically by politics, what do social relations look like in a community that is politically diverse? Through deep ethnographic fieldwork, I examine how residents establish a sense of belonging, draw social and symbolic boundaries, and build community across lines of difference.

Alongside my research, I am a committed educator. I have designed and taught a range of core and elective courses across diverse classroom settings. In recognition of my teaching, I was a 2026 finalist for the Suffolk University Innovative Teaching Award, the university’s highest honor for excellence in instruction.