Terry Williams

Terry Williams is a Professor of Sociology at The New School for Social Research within The New School. He has conducted groundbreaking ethnographic research on urban subcultures and social inequalities for over four decades.

• Academic Focus: Social inequalities, urban drug culture, sex work, gangs, and ethnographic methodology
• Affiliations: Senior Fellow of Yale Urban Ethnographic Project; contributor to Oxford Bibliographies Online

Research Interests center on micro-sociological analyses of marginalized groups in urban spaces, including:

• Drug dealers and users in NYC's crack houses
• Homeless individuals navigating social systems
• Teenagers surviving in illegal economies
• Sex workers' social networks
• Urban transformation and gentrification

Publication Trends show consistent exploration of urban marginalization through ethnographic lenses, with a five-volume Studies in Transgression series documenting NYC's evolving social landscape. His work bridges sociology, criminology, and cultural anthropology.

Scientific Awards include:

• MacArthur Foundation Award
• Russell Sage Foundation Fellowship
• Distinguished University Teaching Award (2020)
• Eastern Sociological Society Merit Award (2024-2025)

Public Engagement spans global lectures, film production (including Harlem Diary), and White House invitations. His Cocaine Kids (1989) and Crack House (1992) remain foundational texts in sociology.