CV - Population Studies Center - University of Michigan

Alexandra K. Murphy
Curriculum Vitae
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
National Poverty Center
735 South State Street
University of Michigan Room 5110
murphyal@umich.edu Ann Arbor, MI 48109
www.alexandrakmurphy.com #917.225.3285
EMPLOYMENT_______________________________________________________________________________________
Postdoctoral Fellow, National Poverty Center, University of Michigan (Fall 2012-Spring
2014)
Postdoctoral Affiliate, Population Studies Center (PSC)
EDUCATION____________________________________________________________ _____________________________
PhD in Sociology, Princeton University, 2012
Fellow of the Multi-disciplinary Program in Social Policy
Dissertation: “The Social Organization of Black Suburban Poverty:
An Ethnographic Community Study”
Committee: Mitchell Duneier (Chair), Paul DiMaggio, Douglass Massey, & Joe Trotter
M.A. in Sociology, Princeton University, 2008
Examination Areas: Inequality, Urban Sociology, and Microsociology
Bachelor of Arts, Urban Studies and Sociology, Barnard College, Columbia University, 2003
Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude
FIELDS OF INTERESTS___ _________________________________________________________________________
Urban & Suburban Sociology, Ethnography, Microsociology and Interaction, Poverty,
Stratification, Policy, Race and Ethnicity, Culture, Spatial Analysis, Socio-spatial Relations
PUBLICATIONS______________________________________________________________________________________
Books:
The Urban Ethnography Reader. Edited with Philip Kasinitz and Mitchell Duneier. New
York: Oxford University Press. (Forthcoming Fall of 2013)
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Refereed Articles:
Murphy, Alexandra. July 2012. “Litterers:’ How Objects of Physical Disorder are used to
Construct Subjects of Social Disorder in a Poor Suburb” Annals of the American Academy
of Political and Social Science, 642:1, pp. 210-227.
Murphy, Alexandra and Danielle Wallace. 2010. “Opportunities for Making Ends Meet &
Upward Mobility: Differences in Organizational Deprivation across Urban and Suburban
Poor Neighborhoods.” Social Science Quarterly, 91:5, pp. 1164-1186.
Murphy, Alexandra. 2010. “The Symbolic Dilemmas of Suburban Poverty: Challenges &
Opportunities Posed by Variations in the Contours of Suburban Poverty.” Sociological
Forum, pp. 541-569.
* Community & Urban Sociology Section Graduate Student Paper Award Honorable Mention
(2009)
Murphy, Alexandra. 2007. “The Suburban Ghetto: The legacy of Herbert Gans on our
Understanding of the Transformation of Urban Poverty.” City and Community, 6:1, pp.
21-37.
Murphy, Alexandra and Sudhir Venkatesh. 2006. “Vice Careers: The Changing Contours of
Sex Work in New York City.” Qualitative Sociology, 29:2, pp. 129-154.
Chapters:
Venkatesh, Sudhir and Alexandra Murphy. 2006. “Policing Ourselves: Law and Order in the
American Ghetto.” In Youth, Globalization, and the Law. Sudhir Venkatesh and Ronald
Kassimir (Ed). Stanford: Stanford University Press, pp. 124-157.
Murphy, Alexandra and Katherine Newman. 2009. “Children and Work.” In The Child: An
Encyclopedic Companion.(Ed) Richard Shweder. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Book Reviews:
“Living the Drama: Community, Conflict, and Culture among Inner-City Boys.” by David
Harding. Sociological Forum. (2011), 26:4, pp. 966-970.
Research Reports:
Murphy, Alexandra, Isil Celimli, Douglass Miller, and Sudhir Venkatesh. 2004. “Chicago
Public Housing Transformation: A Research Report.” New York: Center for Urban
Research and Policy, Columbia University.
Murphy, Alexandra, Melissa Ditmore, and Juhu Thukral. May 2005. “Inside Closed Doors:
Indoor Sex Work in New York City.” New York: Urban Justice Center and Center for
Urban Research and Policy, Columbia University.
Film:
“DisLocation.” 2005. Directed by Sudhir Venkatesh. New York: Alladi Group Inc. (Served as
the film’s “Research Coordinator”). www.dislocationfilm.com
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Under Review:
“I Stay to Myself:’ What People Say Versus What They Do in a Poor Black Neighborhood”
(Revise and Resubmit at the American Journal of Sociology)
FELLOWSHIPS & DISTINCTIONS______________________________________________________________________
2011-2012 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation/American Council of Learned Societies Dissertation
Completion Fellowship
2011-2012 Barnard College Alumnae Fellowship for Graduate Study
2010-2012 Center for Africanamerican Urban Studies & the Economy (CAUSE) Fellow,
Carnegie Mellon
2009 Community and Urban Sociology Section Graduate Student Paper Award -
Honorable Mention
2007-2012 Princeton University Multi-disciplinary Program in Social Policy, Doctoral Fellow
2005-2008 National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship
GRANTS_______________________________________________________________________________________________
External Funding
2011 National Science Foundation Dissertation Improvement Grant, “Doctoral
Dissertation Research: The Social Organization of Suburban Poverty” ($9,840)
2010 Center for Africanamerican Urban Studies and the Economy (CAUSE), Carnegie
Mellon University, “The Social Organization & Everyday Life of Suburban
Poverty: A Community Study of the African American Poor Suburban
Experience” ($3,000)
2010 Allegheny Department of Human Services, “The Social Organization & Everyday
Life of Suburban Poverty: A Household Survey of the Suburban Poor Experience
on Three Blocks” ($9,975)
2009 The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, “The Social Organization of
Suburban Poverty: Poverty Dynamics in a Poor African American Suburb”
($10,000)
2009 Department of Housing and Urban Development Doctoral Dissertation Research
Grant, “The Social Organization of Suburban Poverty: A Community Study of
Poverty in the Suburbs” ($24,975)
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2008 Harvard University Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations Pre-Doctoral
Grant, “Gaining Entrance Into New High-Poverty Spatial Markets: The Urban vs.
Suburban Political Economy of Providing Services to the Poor” ($5,000)
2008 University of Pennsylvania Faculty Forum on Immigration, Race, and Urban
Inequality ($6,000)
Internal Funding
2010 Princeton University, Dean’s Fund for Scholarly Travel Grant ($500)
2009 Princeton University, Department of Sociology Dissertation Grant ($1,000)
2009 Princeton University, Dean’s Fund for Scholarly Travel Grant ($500)
2008 Princeton University, Dean’s Fund for Scholarly Symposia, “Wealth &
Inequality: Building Assets for the Poor,” Seminar Series ($2000) (with Daniel
Schneider)
2008 Princeton University, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing, “Wealth &
Inequality: Building Assets for the Poor,” Seminar Series ($1000) (with Daniel
Schneider)
2008 Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School, “Wealth & Inequality: Building
Assets for the Poor,” Seminar Series ($1000) (with Daniel Schneider)
PRESENTATIONS____________________________________________________________________________________
Murphy, Alexandra. June 2012. “Poverty & Nonprofit Service Delivery in Pittsburgh’s
Suburbs.” Forbes Fund Annual Tropman Research Conference. Pittsburgh, PA. (Invited)
Murphy, Alexandra. September 2011. “The Social Organization of Suburban Poverty: A
Community Study.” Alleghany County Department of Human Services. Pittsburgh, PA.
(Invited)
Murphy, Alexandra. August 2011. “Theories of Litter: The Multiple Meanings of Physical
Incivility in a Poor Suburb.” Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association,
Las Vegas.
Murphy, Alexandra. July 2011. “I Stay to Myself: How the Suburban Poor Navigate
Suburban Poor Neighborhoods.” Suburbs and the 2010 Census. George Mason
University. Arlington, VA.
Panchok-Berry, Andrea, Alejandro Rivas, and Alexandra Murphy. July 2011. “Living Just
Enough for the Suburbs The Landscape of Immigrant Resources in the City and
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Suburbs of Philadelphia.” Suburbs and the 2010 Census. George Mason University.
Arlington, VA.
Murphy, Alexandra. December 2010. “I Stay to Myself.” Columbia University Craft of
Ethnography Workshop. New York, New York.
Murphy, Alexandra. November 2010. “The Social Organization & Everyday Life of Suburban
Poverty: An Ethnography Community Study.” University of Pittsburgh Urban & Regional
Brown Bag Research Series. Pittsburgh, PA. (Invited)
Murphy, Alexandra. November 2010. “A Theory of Litter.” Yale Ethnography Conference.
New Haven, CT. (Invited)
Murphy, Alexandra. May 2010. “The Social Organization of Suburban Poverty: A
Community Study.” Alleghany County Department of Human Services. Pittsburgh, PA.
(Invited)
Murphy, Alexandra. March 2010. “The Social Organization of Suburban Poverty: A
Community Study.” Hillman Foundation. Pittsburgh, PA. (Invited)
Murphy, Alexandra and Alejandro Rivas. 2010. “The Geography of Immigrant
Organizational Opportunity.” Eastern Sociological Society Annual Meeting. Boston, MA.
(Invited)
Murphy, Alexandra. March 2009. “The Symbolic Dilemmas of Suburban Poverty: Challenges
& Opportunities Posed by Variations in the Contours of Suburban Poverty.” Eastern
Sociological Society Annual Meeting. Baltimore, MD.
Murphy, Alexandra. March 2009. “The Symbolic Dilemmas of Suburban Poverty: Challenges
& Opportunities Posed by Variations in the Contours of Suburban Poverty.” Urban
Affairs Association Conference. Chicago, IL. (Invited)
Murphy, Alexandra. May 2006. “Policing Ourselves: Law and Order in the American
Ghetto.” University of California, Berkeley. Conference on the Penal State.
Weiss, Christopher and Alexandra Murphy. August 2005. “Re-Examining the Effects of
Middle Schools: A Comparison of Eighth Grade Schooling Forms on the Transition to
High School." Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Philadelphia.
Weiss, Christopher and Alexandra Murphy. March 2005. “Re-Examining the Effects of
Middle Schools: A Comparison of Eighth Grade Schooling Forms on the Transition to
High School." American Educational Finance Association Annual Meeting, Louisville.
Murphy, Alexandra and Sudhir Venkatesh. August 2004. “Rethinking Exit: Addiction,
Isolation, and the Cycle of Indoor Sex Work in New York City.” Annual Meeting of the
American Sociological Association, San Francisco.
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Murphy, Alexandra. August 2004. “The ‘Strong Tie’ Between Social Networks, Job
Attainment and Social Mobility.” Annual Meeting of the American Sociological
Association, San Francisco.
Murphy, Alexandra and Melissa Ditmore. July 2004. “The Autonomy of Indoor Sex Workers
in New York City.” Poster Presentation at the International Aids Conference, Bangkok.
MEDIA COVERAGE__________________________________________________________________________________
August 2012
Atlantic Cities. Interviewed and quoted in an article about suburban
decline outside of Pittsburgh in an article entitled “We Buy Houses:’
Decline and Opportunity in Pittsburgh’s East Suburbs”
November 2011 Pittsburgh Tribune Review. Interviewed and quoted in an article on the
rise of poverty in the suburbs in an article entitled “Poverty has Taken
Root in Suburbs”
October 2011
April 2007
March 2007
New York Times. Interviewed and quoted in an article on the rise of
poverty in the suburbs in an article entitled “A 53% Surge in Poverty
Rate is Reshaping the Suburbs”
Atlantic Monthly. The paper “Vice Careers” was featured in the “Primary
Sources” section of the magazine.
Winnipeg Free Press. Interviewed and quoted in an article on the increase
in poverty in an article entitled “Welcome to Slumurbia.”
RESEARCH POSITIONS_____________________________________________________________________________
2007-2009 Research Assistant, Katherine Newman, Princeton University
Study of the transition from school to work for graduates of vocational schools
2007 Research Assistant/Interviewer, Kim Williams, Harvard University
Study of Black elites & the potential for multi-racial political coalitions
2006 Research Assistant, Paul DiMaggio, Princeton University
Study of the debate over net neutrality
2003-2005 Associate Director, Center for Urban Research & Policy, Columbia University
Study of NYC sex workers and Chicago public housing resident relocation
2002-2003 Research Assistant, Sudhir Venkatesh, Columbia University
Assistance with a documentary film on public housing dislocation
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2002 Research Assistant, Mignon Moore, Columbia University
Study of neighborhood effects on teen pregnancy
TEACHING EXPERIENCE___________________________________________________________________________
Fall 2008
Fall 2006
Teaching Assistant to Professor Miguel Centeno: “The Western Way of War”
Teaching Assistant to Professor Patricia Fernandez-Kelly: “Urban Sociology:
The City and Social Change in Latin America”
Spring 2006 Co-Instructor with Professor Mitchell Duneier: “The Ghetto as a Socio-
Historical Problem”
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES_______________________________________________________________________
Panels & Seminars Organized
2012 Panel Co-organizer for “Urban and Community Sociology Beyond the
Metropolis,” American Sociological Society Annual Meeting, Denver CO
2011 Panel Organizer for “Doing Community Studies at Different ‘Levels’ of
Community,” Urban Ethnography Mini-Conference, Eastern Sociological
Society Meeting
2007-‘08 Co-Organizer, “Wealth & Inequality: Building Assets for the Poor” Seminar
Series, Princeton University
Service to the Profession
2006-‘08 Student Representative (Elected Position). ASA Race, Gender, & Class Section
2005-‘06 Graduate Student Advisory Council Representative. Princeton University,
Department of Sociology
Service to the Community
2010- Consultant to the Alleghany County Department of Human Services
Discussant
2011 “By the Upper Class, For the Upper Class: Representational Inequality and
Economic Policymaking in the United States” Joint Degree Program in Social
Policy, Princeton University
2009 “Fungibility: Florida Seminole Casino Dividends & the Fiscal Politics of
Indigeneity” Economic Sociology Workshop, Department of Sociology,
Princeton University
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Occasional Reviewer For:
City & Community; Social Problems; Sociological Forum; Sociological Inquiry; Sociological
Methods and Research; American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology;
Criminology; Journal of Urban Affairs; Social Forces
Membership in Professional Organizations
American Sociological Association (2002-Present)
Urban Affairs Association (2008-Present)
Eastern Sociological Society (2008-Present)
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