Kevin Loughran

Kevin Loughran is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Temple University's College of Liberal Arts. His research critically investigates urban development, environmental justice, race, inequality, and the politics of knowledge production, particularly in postindustrial cities.

His research focuses on how urban parks and climate adaptation policies reflect and reproduce social inequalities. He examines the role of private interests in public space development and the racialized impacts of environmental policy. His work draws on urban sociology, social theory, and research methodology.

His recent publications explore the symbolic economy of urban parks, the sociological methods of W.E.B. Du Bois, and racial disparities in climate retreat policies. These works reveal a consistent focus on the interplay between culture, power, and inequality in urban environmental governance.

Loughran's research has been supported by the National Science Foundation and published in leading journals such as Urban Studies, Social Problems, Housing Policy Debate, and Qualitative Sociology. He is currently working on a book about Du Bois’s research methods with Jordan A. Conwell, under contract with the University of Chicago Press.

He teaches undergraduate courses including Urban Sociology, Research Design and Methods, Development of Sociological Thought, and Classical Social Theory. His public scholarship has been featured in Bloomberg CityLab, the NY Daily News, and The Grid, where he advocates for equitable and publicly accountable urban development.