annowens@usc.edu / (213) 821-5730 / HSH 204
2012 Ph.D., Sociology and Social Policy, Harvard University
A.B., Sociology, University of Chicago
Ann Owens is Professor in the Sociology Department at the University of Southern California (USC). She received her PhD in Sociology and Social Policy from Harvard University. Owens was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Center on Poverty and Inequality at Stanford University. She is a faculty affiliate of the Spatial Sciences Institute at USC.
Her research centers on the causes and consequences of social inequality, with a focus on urban neighborhoods, housing, education, and geographic and social mobility. Her research also examines how social policies cause or alleviate social inequalities.
Current research projects include an examination of how subsidized housing policy shapes neighborhood and metropolitan well-being; documenting trends, causes, and consequences of school segregation; and understanding how families and young adults make residential choices.
