Welcome new faculty

We are truly delighted to welcome several new faculty members to the Metropolitan Studies Program and the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis. 

Professor Michael Ralph (Ph.D. Anthropology, University of Chicago) will be joining us as Assistant Professor in Spring 2008. Michael received his Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of Chicago and most recently taught in the Department of Anthropology at Cornell University. His research interests include labor, sport, globalization, neoliberalism, diaspora and the commodification of the body in postcolonial Senegal and the postindustrial United States. He has done extensive research in Dakar, Senegal.

Professor Barbara Hooper (Ph.D. Urban Planning, UCLA) will be joining us as Assistant Professor / Faculty Fellow in Fall 2007. Barbara received her Ph.D. in Urban Planning from UCLA and most recently taught in the Geography Department and Border Studies Centre at the University of Nijmegen in the Netherlands. Her research interests include critical urban theory, the LA school, the body and sociospatial theory, sex trafficking and geopolitics. She has done extensive research in Europe and Los Angeles.

Professor Anne Rademacher (Ph.D., Anthropology and Environmental Studies, Yale), who previously served as Assistant Professor/Faculty Fellow in the Metropolitan Studies Program, has been appointed Assistant Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis and Environmental Studies at NYU. Anne will continue to serve as a key member of the Metropolitan Studies faculty. Her research focuses on the intersection of natural and social processes in cities, the political and cultural dimensions of urban sustainability, and cities in the developing world.  She has done extensive research in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Program directorship

Current program director, Prof. Neil Brenner, will be on sabbatical leave during the 2007-2008 academic year. Prof. Harvey Molotch will serve as Acting Director in Fall 2007. Prof. Daniel Walkowitz will serve as Acting Director in Spring 2008.

Study Abroad Update

The Metropolitan Studies Program is currently in the process of establishing a specialized urban studies curriculum in three of NYU's study-abroad campuses--London, Accra and Shanghai.  This curriculum will involve, among other courses, a lecture class exploring each city's "global connections." While MSP students are encouraged to study abroad at any of NYU's global sites, our programs in London, Accra and Shanghai are now being expanded and integrated into the Washington Square campus curriculum. Students should consult with an MSP faculty member to discuss study-abroad curriculum details.

Advisement for majors in Fall 2007

Following our successful and popular advisement luncheons last year, advisement will be conducted using this same format in the Fall 2007 semester.  All majors are required to attend one of the advisement luncheons. Please stay tuned for announcements regarding the times/dates of these important events later in the Fall semester.

Distinguished visitor, Fall 2007

Thanks to a generous grant from NYU's International Visiting Scholar's Program, Professor Stephen Graham of the University of Durham, UK, will be visiting the Metropolitan Studies Program and the Department of Sociology in late October 2007. Professor Graham is a distinguished, internationally acclaimed scholar of urban theory and urban political economy. He has written extensively on topics such as urban telecommunications infrastructures; surveillance; urban geopolitics; and cities, war and terrorism. During his visit to NYU, Professor Graham will give a lecture on his current research on cities and the "war on terror."

Faculty sabbaticals, 2007-2008

Profs. Neil Brenner and Caitlin Zaloom will both be on research sabbaticals in Fall 2007 and Spring 2008. Profs. Daniel Walkowitz and Anne Rademacher will be on research sabbatical in Fall 2007.