Dr. Philip V. McHarris is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Black Studies and Frederick Douglas Institute at the University of Rochester. Before arriving at Rochester, McHarris was a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow at Princeton University in the Department of African American Studies and the Ida B. Wells Just Data Lab. He earned his PhD in Sociology and African American Studies at Yale University.
McHarris’ research focuses on racial inequality, housing, and policing. McHarris is the author of the book, Beyond Policing (Legacy Lit | Hachette, July 2024), which traces the historical arc of policing and presents transformative visions for safety and justice. He is also currently at work on Brick Dreams (under advanced contract with Princeton University Press), an ethnography-based manuscript focused on the New York City Housing Authority and the contemporary realities and challenges of public housing in America.
His work has been supported by the Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship and the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. In addition to his scholarly work, McHarris has written for outlets that include The New York Times, Washington Post, Slate, The Guardian, MTV, and Nickelodeon. His commentary has been featured on HBO, CNN, TIME, and PBS. In 2020, he was honored as one of the Root 100 Most Influential African Americans.
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Recent Publications:
Time: “Policing’s Illusion of Safety”
Inquest: “The Transformation of Justice”
New York Times: “No More Money for the Police“
The Nation: “When Police Traffic in Racism”
Washington Post: “Why does the Minneapolis police department look like a military unit?”
Al Jazeera: “It is time to cancel student debt and make higher education free”
Essence: “Public Housing Residents May Be Some Of The Hardest Hit By COVID-19 Outbreak“
Washington Post: “Democrats Are Ignoring a Key Piece of Criminal Justice Reform — Slicing Police Budgets.”