Dr. Sandra Levitsky

Biography

Sandra Levitsky is a Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School, holding a courtesy appointment. She is also the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and Associate Professor of Sociology in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts at the same university. Her research interests lie at the intersection of sociology and law, focusing on political sociology and social movements. Levitsky’s work addresses contemporary social welfare challenges and the evolving cultural understandings of social needs and rights. Her book, "Caring Own: Political Demand New American Social Welfare Rights," published by Oxford University Press in 2014, reorients the conversation surrounding social welfare politics by questioning why American families do not view unmet social welfare needs as a basis for demanding new state entitlements. She is currently leading large studies examining the dramatic expansion of state-funded preschool programs, alongside the implications these programs have for working families. Additionally, her research explores how colleges and universities are responding to pressures to combat sexual violence on campuses, utilizing longitudinal analysis of policies and practices across a sample of 380 institutions.

Research Interests