School of Liberal Studies

Ragnhild Utheim, Director, is Associate Professor and Chair of the Liberal Studies program at Purchase College. She received her PhD in cultural anthropology from the Graduate School and University Center, City University of New York. Her scholarship has focused on prison studies and the anthropology of mass incarceration, critical education, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, globalization and social justice, and more recently, global sustainability.

Ragnhild’s early ethnographic research examined the use of restorative practices as an intervention alternative to zero-tolerance policies, particularly among court-involved youth in high school settings. She has taught anthropology and sociology courses in the college program at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility since 2008, and is currently working on a research project that explores the impact of “combined classes” (courses that bring students inside and outside prison together) on students, faculty and learning. At Purchase she has taught a range of courses, including: Structured Inquiry Across the Disciplines, Theories of Justice, Food for Thought, and Science of Happiness.

Education

PhD, Graduate School and University Center, CUNY

Awards

Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service

Chancellor’s Award for Innovative Study Abroad

Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Adjunct Teaching