Meet Our Team

Christopher Oliver joined the Tulane faculty in 2014, as Senior Professor of Practice jointly between the Department of Sociology and the Environmental Studies program. Dr. Oliver is also affiliate faculty in the Urban Studies and City, Culture, and Community program. He teaches courses on the environment and society, urban sociology, environmental crime and security, science and technology studies, labor sociology, and economic sociology. His substantive work focuses on urban development, housing, environmental policy, management, and regulation. Starting July 1, 2019, Oliver will serve as a faculty fellow in Tulane’s Mellon Graduate Program in Community Engaged Scholarship. As a Social Entrepreneurship Professor, Dr. Oliver will use his interests in innovative approaches to examining issues of social and environmental justice, by drawing upon design thinking and various forms of visual and spatial techniques of analysis including mapping, geographic information systems, and photographic and video approaches to qualitative and quantitative analysis. Additionally, he plans to use these techniques to continue his work exploring the relationship between access to safe and affordable housing and economic opportunity, as well as the creation of sound policies and regulatory frameworks to ensure all communities – especially communities of color and low-income neighborhoods – are protected against environmental and social injustices. Oliver received his Ph.D. in sociology from Michigan State University. Oliver has taught courses at Michigan State University, Oregon State University, Kalamazoo College, and the University of Kentucky. Oliver earned a B.S. in geography from California Polytechnic State University at Pomona, specializing in geographic information science and environmental management. In addition, he completed graduate work at Oregon State University in geosciences and resource management prior to transferring to Michigan State University. Oliver is Jill H. and Avram A. Glazer Professor of Social Entrepreneurship and Carnegie Corporation of New York Professor of Social Entrepreneurship III.