Zach Richer

Zach Richer (Ph.D., University of Maryland) is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Research Affiliate in the Global Migration Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. His research and teaching are in the sociology of culture and political sociology, focusing on the manners in which social hierarchies are constructed and contested through everyday practices in cities.

Professor Richer teaches sociolegal studies in the Criminology, Law & Society program at UTM. Within this field, his courses focus on how law acts as a formal and institutional mechanism to clarify and stabilize relationships, codify and signal appropriate conduct in social settings, and promote moral commitments among citizens and residents. He also examines how this legal context shapes the efforts of social movements and civic organizations.

His current research investigates emotional dynamics in the civil sphere. Active projects include an ethnographic study on the civic outreach efforts of ethnic community organizations and (with Erik Schneiderhan) a focus group study on emotional reasoning in political deliberations.