Christi Smith
Associate Teaching Professor
How do politics and organizations (including education systems) shape processes of social inclusion and exclusion? I am fascinated by this question and have investigated related questions using a historical-sociological lens and in international comparison. My research has been published in several academic journals, including the DuBois Review, Law & Social Inquiry, and Race and Justice.
My first book, Reparation and Reconciliation: The Rise and Fall of Integrated Higher Education (UNC Press) examined the rise and fall of interracial higher education after the U.S. Civil War. Why didn't the U.S. develop as an interracial democracy after the abolition of oligarchies built on the labor of enslaved people? I examined a powerful and well-resourced movement that championed interracial higher education to promote equality in citizenship, sustain democratic rule, and quell political violence. As federal supports were undercut and philanthropy increasingly directed funding priorities, I traced the emergence of higher education as a competitive field that reduced opportunities by fitting educational programs to ideas about social groups. Reparation and Reconciliation was reviewed by the American Journal of Sociology, the American Journal of History, and Contemporary Sociology, among others.
I am currently researching policy for new arrivals (youth and adults) across Germany, Sweden, and the United States. What kinds of supports are needed to eradicate discrimination, enable social mobility, and foster democratic participation?
At Georgetown, I hold appointments in the Institute for the Study of International Migration at the School of Foreign Service, - where I direct the Graduate Certificate in Refugees, Migration, and Humanitarian Emergencies - and in the Education, Inquiry, and Justice program in the College.
I teach Global Education, Education and Social Policy, Research Methods, and Immigrants, Refugees, and the State.
I graduated from Smith College (A.B., Sociology) and hold a Masters in Education Policy and PhD in Sociology at Indiana University. My research has been funded by Spencer Foundation for Education Research, the Landesstiftung of Baden-Württemberg (Germany), and other sources.