Jennifer is a professor of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University and Shamus is a professor of Sociology and American Studies at Princeton University. Jennifer knew she’d need a partner to do deep-dive, immersive research into sexual assault among Columbia and Barnard undergraduates, and Shamus was recommended to her. It was kismet. In 2014, they sat down to chat over coffee. They’ve spoken nearly every day since — with such a strong partnership and friendship that they celebrate their workiversary every year.

The duo led a team that interviewed more than 150 Columbia and Barnard students, some up to three times because they’d experienced so much sexual violence. But what set the research apart was the hundreds of hours of hanging out — not only going to parties but also playing Catan and attending church — to understand the joys and struggles of college life and how many aspects of campus life produce situations in which assaults occur. Their work presents an entirely new way to understand sexual assault. Their insights transcend current debates about consent, predators in a “hunting ground” or the dangers of hooking up.

Sexual Citizens emerged out of a much larger sexual assault research project: the Sexual Health Initiative to Foster Transformation, or SHIFT, which Jennifer co-directed. Sexual Citizens primarily draws on the ethnographic component of the SHIFT research — the part that Jennifer and Shamus led together. 

Jennifer’s four prior books examine love, sex and gender inequality (including the surprising public health consequences of modern ideas about marital companionship). She has also published more than 120 articles, book chapters and essays (in both scholarly and popular venues) on health and inequality, sexual, reproductive and HIV risk practices, and sexual assault and undergraduate well-being. Her research on sexual violence, for which she was selected as one of New York City’s 16 “Heroes in the Fight Against Gender-Based Violence” in 2017, builds on three decades spent studying sexual intimacy and social inequality — almost always with a focus on generating actionable strategies. 

Shamus (who was at Columbia, where he and Jennifer met, before joining Princeton’s faculty in 2021) is the author or editor of five books and over 100 articles and essays, including Privilege: The Making of an Adolescent Elite at St. Paul’s School (Princeton). He directed the working group on the political influence of economic elites at the Russell Sage Foundation, was the series editor of The Middle Range at Columbia University Press and served as the editor of the journal Public Culture. He writes regularly for the popular press, such as The New Yorker, The New York Times and The Washington Post, and has served as a columnist for TIME magazine. In 2016, he was awarded Columbia University’s highest teaching honor, the Presidential Teaching Award, and in 2018 he was awarded the Hans L. Zetterberg Prize from Upsala University for “the best sociologist under 40.” Read Less ^