Anthony Abraham Jack is a PhD. Candidate in Sociology and an Associate Doctoral Fellow in the Multidisciplinary Program in Inequality & Social Policy at Harvard University.
His work examines the present-day experiences of lower-income undergraduates at elite colleges and universities in the context of more expansive race- and class-based affirmative action measures. His dissertation, Same Folks, Different Strokes: Culture, Class, and the “New” Diversity at Elite Colleges and Universities, explores the experiences of lower-income undergraduates who enter college after graduating from boarding, day, and preparatory schools, those who he calls the Privileged Poor, and compares their experiences to their lower-income peers who travel the traditional path from local high schools to college, those who he calls the Doubly Disadvantaged.
Although they share similar origins with respect to family and neighborhoods, he documents how they live ever-more divergent lives before entering college which, then, influences their transition and integration into college. In outlining this overlooked diversity, he sheds new light on how class and culture matter in college. His research also examines how African Americans respond to racism and discrimination in their daily lives. His work appears in the Du Bois Review and Sociological Forum and has been featured in the New York Times, Boston Globe, and American RadioWorks. He holds fellowships from the Ford Foundation and the National Science Foundation, and is a 2015 National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Dissertation Fellow.
PhD Candidate in Sociology and Associate Doctoral Fellow in the Multidisciplinary Program in Inequality & Social Policy at Harvard University
Areas of expertise: (Higher) education, New diversity at elite colleges, Culture, Cultural capital, Race, Urban poverty, Inequality, Youth
Location: Boston, MA
Contact Info:
Email: aajack@fas.harvard.edu
Phone: 617-496-5889
Twitter: @tony_jack
Heard on American RadioWorks: The First Gen Movement
Added May 2015