Gwendolyn Purifoye
Keough School of Global Affairs
Assistant Professor of Racial Justice and Conflict Transformation
- Race and the built environment, especially public transportation
- Urban inequality and sociology
- Ethnographic observation
Purifoye’s Latest News
Purifoye in the News
The Analog Hour with Michelle Henery | Podcast
The Disappearance of Third Places with Dr. Gwendolyn Purifoye
Audio
May 15, 2026
When was the last time you lingered somewhere that wasn't home and wasn't work? A coffee shop, a park bench, a barbershop, a library — a place where you could just be around other people? Those places are disappearing. And Dr. Gwendolyn Purifoye, an urban ethnographer and Assistant Professor of Racial Justice and Conflict Transformation at the University of Notre Dame, has spent years studying why — and what it's costing us.
Sociology of Race and Ethnicity Podcast
Without Risk Reduction: How Black Men’s Well-being and Humanity Are Compromised in Mobile Public Spaces
Audio
July 14, 2025
Authors Gwendolyn Purifoye of the University of Notre Dame and Derrick Brooms of Morehouse College discuss the article, "Without Risk Reduction: How Black Men’s Well-being and Humanity Are Compromised in Mobile Public Spaces" published in the July 2025 issue of Sociology of Race and Ethnicity.
CBS News
Why some Bay Area stores are clocking in for work at a car dealership
May 16, 2025
Dr. Gwendolyn Purifoye, an urban sociologist at the University of Notre Dame, said third places build goodwill and keep the brand top of mind even when no one's buying.
The New York Times
Where Have All the ‘Third Places’ Gone?
March 03, 2025
Gwendolyn Purifoye, an assistant professor at the University of Notre Dame, examined the pandemic’s impact on third places in a September article in the journal Visual Studies. The physical constraints created by Covid protocols, she noted, kept people away from their favorite spots, and ultimately led many businesses to shutter, a permanent loss for communities.