The Center for the Study of Wealth and Inequality (CWI) Seminar Series is sponsored by Columbia University’s Institute for Social and Economic Research Policy (ISERP) and is devoted to the investigation of social and economic inequality. The Seminar invites speakers from both within and outside of Columbia to present recent papers covering a wide range of topics pertaining to inequality, such as poverty, labor market behavior, education, and the family. The research topics and methodologies are at the cutting edge of the interdisciplinary study of wealth and inequality, as the CWI Seminar invites speakers from multiple social science disciplines and fields. Past speakers include Annette Lareau, Adam Gamoran, Timothy Smeeding, Lisa Kahn, Mario Small, Rob Warren and Florencia Torche, among numerous others.
Spring 2026 Seminar Schedule
Talks will be held in person in Knox Hall, room 509, from 2-3:30 P.M.
January 29: Joel Mittleman, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, Gender Inequality Beyond the Gender Binary: Gender Norms and Academic Success, 1960 – 2012
February 5: Felix Elwert, Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Three Paths to Equality: On the Causal Decomposition of Group Disparities
February 19: Simone Zhang, Assistant Professor of Sociology at New York University, Scoring Justice: Risk Assessment Tools, Court Practices, and Fairness Perceptions
**RESCHEDULED for Fall 2026** February 26: Jake Rosenfeld, Chair and Professor of Sociology at Washington University in St. Louis, Meritocratic Pay Beliefs in the Contemporary U.S.
March 26: Hana Brown, Professor of Sociology at Wake Forest College, Organizing for Inclusion? Race-Making and the Quest for Immigrant Rights
April 2: Ofer Sharone, Professor of Sociology at University of Massachusetts Amherst, The Stigma Trap: College-educated, Experienced, and Long-Term Unemployed
April 23: Geoff Wodtke, Professor of Sociology and Associate Director of the Stone Center for Research on Wealth Inequality and Mobility at the University of Chicago, Poor Neighborhoods, Bad Schools? A High-dimensional Model of Place-based Disparities in Academic Achievement
April 30: Eric Grodsky, Chair and Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, TBA