Margarethe Kusenbach

Margarethe Kusenbach is a Professor of Sociology at the University of South Florida, affiliated with the College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Sociology & Interdisciplinary Social Sciences. She holds a Ph.D. from UCLA and has held academic leadership roles, including Director of Graduate Programs and Associate Chair. Her research focuses on urban sociology, space/place, emotions/identity, and environment/disasters, with a particular emphasis on mobile home communities, disaster resilience, and street art's role in urban development.

• Education: Ph.D. in Sociology, UCLA (2003); M.A. in Sociology, University of Constance (1992).
• Research: Explores home/belonging, disaster vulnerability, qualitative methods (e.g., the 'go-along' technique), and urban ethnography. Her book Home: International Perspectives on Culture, Identity, and Belonging (2013) and co-edited Climate Cultures (2022) are seminal works.
• Grants & Awards: NSF grants for disaster research, Fulbright Scholarships (2021, 2010), and recognition as a leader in symbolic interactionism and urban sociology.
• Service: Vice-President of ISA Research Committee 21, former SSSI President, and active in academic service at USF and globally.

Her work bridges theory and practice, advising over 60 graduate students and collaborating internationally. Current projects include a book on street art and urban politics, and a handbook on interpretive research methods.