Yannick Coenders

Yannick Coenders is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Washington University in St. Louis, specializing in historical sociology, race, and urban studies. His research examines how colonial legacies and racial categorization persist in postcolonial societies, particularly in Europe and the Americas. He holds a PhD from Northwestern University and previously served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the same institution.

Education:

• PhD Sociology, Northwestern University (2023) – with certificate in African American and Diaspora Studies
• MA Sociology, Northwestern University (2020)
• MSc Social Sciences, University of Amsterdam (2015)
• BSc Human Geography, University of Amsterdam (2013)

Research focuses on racial governance in Western cities, interrogating how policies like residential dispersal reflect elite strategies to appease white populations while assimilating non-white groups. His current project, Dispersal, challenges assumptions about anti-racist urban policies through archival studies in Birmingham and Rotterdam.

Awards include the 2022 ASA Best Graduate Student Paper Award and multiple research grants from institutions like Northwestern University and the American Association for Netherlandic Studies. He has presented at conferences worldwide, including ASA Annual Meetings and the Social Science History Association.

Teaching includes courses on race theory and sociological methods at institutions like the School of the Art Institute Chicago. He mentors students on historical methods and critical race theory, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches. Coenders also reviews for journals such as American Journal of Cultural Sociology and serves on ASA committees.