David Cort Featured as Spotlight Scholar

David Cort, associate professor of sociology, was honored as a Spotlight Scholar this month.

Image

Cort’s global perspective and ingrained understanding of poverty and social stratification was inspired by his childhood spent living in developing countries and immigrant communities in the United States. He began teaching at UMass Amherst in 2007, with his research focused on residential stratification of Black residents and undocumented immigrants in Los Angeles. He went on to refocus his attention on issues of public health and conducted research in South Africa and Latin America on the relationship between attitudes about HIV and sexual practices. Cort has also investigated how family structure and birth order affects risky sexual behavior. For his next project, he will return to his roots and study social stratification in South Africa.

Court serves as associate dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences. He hopes to foster and grow institutional connections between UMass Amherst and Walter Sisulu University in South Africa, where he taught as a Fulbright Fellow in 2018.

Learn more about David Cort and other Spotlight Scholars.