Louise Seamster

Louise Seamster is a sociologist whose research examines contemporary mechanisms for the reproduction of racial and economic inequality. She is currently a nonresident fellow in governance studies at The Brookings Institution, as well as an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of Iowa.

Dr. Seamster's research centers on politics and urban development, emergency financial management, debt, and the myth of racial progress. Her current book project investigates the financial and political causes of the Flint Water Crisis. In parallel, Dr. Seamster's Flint Email Lab of graduate and undergraduate students is creating a website archive of public government email communications relating to the crisis. Another line of research examines racial disparities in debt. Her work on "predatory inclusion" in student debt has led to extensive policy advocacy, including research informing Senator Elizabeth Warren's student debt forgiveness plan.