Demetrius Murphy ’15

Ph.D. Candidate in Sociology at the University of Southern California

Major: Management Consulting and Africana Studies

Committed to advancing dignity and human flourishing

An ongoing devotion to examining race, ethnicity, culture, mental health, and cities consumes the days of Demetrius Murphy ’15. as a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at the University of Southern California, Murphy is working on his dissertation, Flourishing in LA: Making Place in an Anti-Black Metropolis. The research focuses on where Black people feel good and how they do well in Los Angeles County. As part of the research, he is conducting a multi-year ethnography of Destination Crenshaw, a $100 million reparative development project, open-air museum, and nonprofit in the epicenter of Black culture in Los Angeles.

Murphy also researches Blackness and the responses to anti-Blackness in Brazil as racial demographics shift over the 21st century. His line of research explores placemaking, entrepreneurship, police killings, and racial ideologies in this country.

Murphy’s commitment to Notre Dame continues beyond his academic pursuits and graduation. He is involved with the Notre Dame Club of Los Angeles and previously served on the Black Alumni Board and the Undergraduate Experience Advisory Council. In 2019, he received a master’s degree in Latin American Studies from Vanderbilt University.