Skip to main content

Rachael Woldoff, Ph.D.

Professor - Sociology

CURRICULUM VITAE  

Rachael A. Woldoff is an urban sociologist and Professor of Sociology. She received a PhD in sociology from The Ohio State University, specializing in crime and community. Her research and publications have focused on neighborhood crime and disorder, urban redevelopment, and racial/ethnic differences in neighborhood attainment, as well as the subjects of neighborhood racial change, gentrification, housing, and creative class cities. Her work has appeared in journals such as Social Forces , Urban Affairs Review, and Urban Studies. Her book,  White Flight/Black Flight: The Dynamics of Racial Change in an American Neighborhood, was awarded the Best Book Award from the Urban Affairs Association. Dr. Woldoff received the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Researcher Award. She has coauthored three other books including  High Stakes: Big Time Sports and Downtown Redevelopment (The Ohio State University Press 2004) and  Priced Out: Stuyvesant Town and the Loss of Middle-Class Neighborhoods  (New York University Press 2016). Dr. Woldoff was elected Chair of the American Sociological Association’s Community and Urban Sociology Section (CUSS). She is Deputy Editor of the ASA journal City and Community . She has also been elected to the Governing Board of the Urban Affairs Association (UAA). Her newest book,  Digital Nomads: In Search of Freedom, Community, and Meaningful Work in the New Economy  (Oxford University Press 2021), examines community, creative class cities, and the rise of remote work. Her newest research is on public housing residents and their experiences of forced relocation.

Newest Release

           Digital Nomads: In Search of Freedom, Community, and Meaningful Work in                                                      the  New  Economy (Oxford University Press, 2021)

                                                               Digital Nomads book cover of a white petite woman with blonde hair holding a silver MacBook and a coffee cup near her glasses

       Click here to order my new book on remote work, community, and creative class cities.

Selected Publications

Woldoff, Rachael A. White Flight/Black Flight: The Dynamics of Racial Change in an American Neighborhood. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.  

Woldoff, Rachael A. and Seth Ovadia. “Not Getting Their Money’s Worth: African American Disadvantages in Converting Income, Wealth, and Education into Residential Quality.” Urban Affairs Review 45(1): 66-91.  

Woldoff, Rachael A. "The Effects of Local Stressors on Neighborhood Attachment." Social Forces 81(1): 87-116.

Courses Taught  

  • SOCA 101 Introduction to Sociology
  • SOCA 233 Juvenile Delinquency
  • SOCA 389 Writing in Sociology and Anthropology
  • SOCA 444 Neighborhoods and Crime
  • SOCA 470 Cities and Urban Life
  • SOCA 488 The Capstone Experience
  • SOCA 510 Principles of Research Design 
  • SOCA 760 Space, Place, and Community
  • SOCA 793C Urban Sociology