Sudhir A. Venkatesh
William B. Ransford Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology

My Contact Info

Knox Hall, 606 West 122nd Street, MC 9649, new york NY 10027, United States

[email protected]

Sudhir A. Venkatesh

Research Interest

Ethnography

Bio

Sudhir Venkatesh is William B Ransford Professor of Sociology & African-American Studies, a position he has held continuously since 1999. He previously served as Head of the Integrity Research in the Growth org at Facebook.. He is currently advising Twitter as the Lead Social Scientist for initiatives to improve the online health of the platform, a position he has held since Autumn 2018. ?In 2009 he served as Senior Research Advisor to the Office of the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for 2 years. He was elected a Junior Fellow, in the Society of Fellows, Harvard University, 1996-1999.

Education

MA, Mathematics, UC San Diego, 1988
Ph.D University of Chicago, Sociology 1997
Junior Fellowship, Society of Fellows, Harvard University.

Publications

Creativity & Technology
Thinking Small: Remaining Creative in a World of Big Data.?Fast Company.
How to Use Conflict to Unlock Creativity.?Fast Company.
The Science of Awards. Fast Company.
The Myth of Advertising and the Art of Legitimacy.?Public Culture. 2015.
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Public Housing
American Project: The Rise and Fall of an Urban Ghetto. Harvard University Press.
?“Growing Up in the Projects: The Economic Lives of a Cohort of Men who Came of Age in Chicago Public Housing.” (w/ Steven D. Levitt)?American Economic Review?(May 2001).
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Underground Economies
Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor. Harvard University Press.
"The Financial Activities of an Urban Street Gang" (with Steven D. Levitt).?Quarterly Journal of Economics. 2000 (August). Volume 115(3): 755-789.?
Gang Leader for a Day. Penguin Press.
Floating City. Penguin Press.
"’Are We a Family or a Business?’ History and Disjuncture in the Urban American Street Gang" (w/ Steven D. Levitt).?Theory and Society?29: 427-462 (Autumn 2000).
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Popular Writings & Films
Writings and stories have appeared in The New York TImes, This American Life, Fresh Air, The American Prospect, the Washington Post and National Public Radio.?
Dislocation documentary film (appearing on PBS)
At the Top of My Voice documentary film.
Abhidya (scripted film).

Awards

Best Book awards from The Economist,
Best Book from?Slate.Com,?
NSF CAREER award winner in 2001.?
C. Wright Mills Book Award. 2007.
Best Documentary Series Award for “Transformation: The State and Future of Chicago Public Houisng,” Associated Press. 2002.