Meet Chris

I am Professor and Chair of the Sociology Department at Lehman College-City University of New York. In case you’re curious, Lehman is the only four-year public college in the Bronx. Our undergraduate enrollment is roughly 50 percent Latino and 31 percent Black. Women make up approximately two-thirds of our undergraduate enrollment. Teaching our students is a blessing and an honor.

My research focuses on the politics of racial inequality in education and housing. My first book, Knocking on the Door: The Federal Government’s Attempt to Desegregate the Suburbs, was published in 2006 by Princeton University Press. Southern Stalemate: Five Years without Public Education in Prince Edward County, Virginia was published in 2012 by the University of Chicago Press. My work has reached non-academic audiences with published essays in Slate and the Huffington Post. PBS Newshour used Southern Stalemate as its sole source for a widely distributed school handout on the abandonment of public education Prince Edward County, Virginia.

My latest book, The Battle Nearer to Home: The Persistence of School Segregation in New York City, is published by Stanford University Press.

During my time in graduate school at NYU, I was a regular DJ at a number of nightspots in New York City. I have been producing my own music since 1997. My group Luno Collision released two recordings on Are U Ready? Records between 1999 and 2001. Since then, I have created solo recordings under the name Uno Collision. I have created a soundtrack album for The Battle Nearer to Home that will be available soon on all major streaming platforms.

I have run 10 marathons, including Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York (five times). Getting slower as I get older is challenging to my ego. I live in Brooklyn with my partner and our son.