Areas of research
Identity, Immigration & Racism
SP2 Faculty exhibit the School’s understanding of how personal, cultural, and social factors impact important issues concerning inclusion, economic injustices, and policy within marginalized communities.
FEATURED FACULTY
Amy Hillier, MSW, PhD
Associate Professor; PhD, University of Pennsylvania, 1991. Youth gender identity; parents of transgender children; WEB Du Bois and The Philadelphia Negro; food access; outdoor advertising.
FEATURED FACULTY
Yoosun Park, MSW, PhD
Associate Professor; PhD, University of Washington. Critical history of social work; historical and contemporary immigration; discourse analysis; critical theories and methodologies for social work research and education.
FEATURED FACULTY
Joretha N. Bourjolly, MSW, PhD
Associate Professor and Associate Dean, Community Cultivation & Engagement; PhD, Bryn Mawr, 1996. Management of multicultural conflict; effects of chronic illness on individuals and family members; impact of racial and economic factors on the delivery of health care.
FEATURED FACULTY
Alice Xu, PhD
Assistant Professor; PhD, Harvard University. Inequality and social policy, urban and distributive politics, environmental politics, quantitative and spatial methods, Latin America, Global South.
FEATURED FACULTY
DeMarcus A. Jenkins, PhD
Assistant Professor; PhD, University of California, Los Angeles. Education policy, housing policy, criminal/juvenile justice, school safety & discipline, gentrification, anti-Black racism, Critical Race Theory, social movements.
Related News
Faculty & Research
01/09
SP2 at SSWR 2026: Leading for Transformative Change
Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) is proud to participate in the 30th Annual Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) Conference, taking place January 14 –18, 2026, in Washington, D.C.
Student Life
12/11
SP2 student among two from Penn chosen as Marshall Scholars
School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) student Adeliade Lyall is among two Penn students chosen as 2026 Marshall Scholars.
Faculty & Research
02/03
SP2 faculty among “World’s Top 2% Scientists”
Nine SP2 faculty are listed among the Stanford University-Elsevier World’s Top 2% Scientists for the past two years or on the basis of career-long data. The ranking is calculated with data representing academic citations and peer-reviewed journal publications.