Contemporary Ethnography and Inequality Workshop
The Contemporary Ethnography and Inequality Workshop showcases scholarship that uses ethnographic methods to address social, economic, and political inequality. The workshop offers a venue for leading scholars and graduate students to present ethnographic research and work-in-progress. Attendance is open to faculty and students from across Harvard, nearby universities, and throughout the country and globe. While regular attendance is the norm, visitors are welcome. The CEI workshop is supported by the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Department of Sociology, the Department of Anthropology, and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. We meet approximately six times each semester on Thursdays from noon to 1:30 PM Eastern time in William James Hall 450 (33 Kirkland Street, Cambridge) and via Zoom for those who cannot attend.
We are pleased to share our Spring 2026 schedule, including the following speakers. These dates are subject to change, and additional talks may be added as well:
February 19, 2026: Cat O'Donnell, PhD Student, Department of Sociology, Harvard University
March 5, 2026: Loren Beard, Harvard College Fellow, Department of Sociology, Harvard University
March 12, 2026: Madeline Phuong and Cy Schwalbe, Undergraduate Students and Refugee Fieldwork Program Officers, Department of Sociology, Harvard University
March 26, 2026: Kayla Thomas, Assistant Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies, Bates College
Our Fall 2025 schedule included:
September 11, 2025: Major Eason, PhD student, Department of Sociology, Harvard University
October 2, 2025: Aaron Benavidez, PhD student, Department of Sociology, Harvard University
October 16, 2025: Joanna Dreby, Professor of Sociology, SUNY at Albany
October 30, 2025: Sarah Vaughn, Associate professor of anthropology, UC Berkeley
November 13, 2025: Jon Wargo, Associate Professor of Education, University of Michigan
November 20, 2025: Derron Wallace, Associate Professor of Education Policy and Africana Studies, Brown University
All Zoom invites will be sent through our CEI Workshop mailing list, which can be joined here: https://web.lists.fas.harvard.edu/mailman/lists/cei.lists.fas.harvard.edu/. To keep our community secure, when joining the mailing list, please use your university/college-affiliated email address. You can also email Major Eason (majoreason@g.harvard.edu), Woohee Kim (woohee_kim@g.harvard.edu) or Zora Haque (zhaque@g.harvard.edu), Workshop Coordinators, for Zoom links.
Note to Harvard University students: Sociology 3327: Contemporary Ethnography and Inequality Workshop is the four-unit workshop course (SAT/UNSAT) for participating in our meetings from 12-1:30 PM. Consistent attendance is required to receive course credit. The CEI Workshop is directed by Gabrielle Oliveira, Jorge Paulo Lemann Associate Professor of Education and of Brazil Studies at Harvard University, and Dahlia Showalter, Assistant Professor of Sociology. The CEI Workshop is also grateful for support within the Department of Sociology from Christopher Winship, Diker-Tishman Professor of Sociology.