Originally from Battle Creek, Michigan, Meghan Burke earned her M.A. and Ph.D. in sociology from Loyola University Chicago. Her dissertation examined three adjoining stably racially diverse Chicago communities through the lens of their most active residents.  Her study demonstrated that national color-blind discourses around race and diversity hold sway even in liberal, integrated communities, even as they take distinct, local forms.  Further, whites in these communities construct a racial identity that challenges hegemonic notions of whiteness, even when complicit with color-blind norms.  Meghan has taught extensively in race and ethnic relations and social inequalities, and credits an interest in social theory with becoming a sociologist as an undergraduate.  Meghan has won numerous awards for her teaching while at Loyola, as well as a number of research fellowships and grants, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Dissertation Research Grant.  Her primary teaching areas are in social theory and social inequalities.