I am a doctoral candidate in the Sociology department at Cornell University, with research interests in community and urban sociology, the sociology of education, and criminology. Prior to Cornell, I worked at a research and policy center at Drexel University's School of Public Health on issues related broadly to U.S. social policy and welfare programming. Most recently, I served as a high school educator and administrator in Philadelphia for five years. I earned my MSEd in Education Policy from the University of Pennsylvania and my BA in English from Georgetown University.
Welcome!
A Quick Bit About Me
When I was a kid, I had a dream of being a writer. And being the pragmatic planner I have been essentially since Kindergarten, I decided I would publish under the name “Lillian Harris” so that I could easily tell who only knew me by my work (and ~*fame*~) and who really knew me.
I suppose in a way I’m living out that fantasy now in academia – my research is published and my presentations are typically given under my legal name, Lillian Dodderidge, but please call me Lili.
I’m a Delco-raised Philly girl, an English major turned administrative coordinator for a social policy research organization, a former high school teacher and administrator (and, briefly, a baseball coach), a PhD candidate in Sociology, and – most recently – a mom. These pieces of my history continually shape my teaching identity, inspire my research interests in community and urban sociology, the sociology of education, and criminology, and motivate my dissertation.
When I’m not dissertating or writing about my dissertation on Substack, I am likely either meal-prepping while listening to a murder mystery on audiobook, running with our aging pup along the coast of New England, or, depending on the season, spotting as many plow trucks, doggies, and/or bicycles that my toddler and I can from our front window or stoop.
