Julia McWilliams is an anthropologist of education and Co-Director of the Urban Studies Program. Her research interests are urban education policy, immigration, and urban ethnography.  Her book, Complete or Close: Neighborhood Schools under Pressure, and forthcoming manuscript Schools for Sale: Displacement, Dispossession, and School Reuse in Philadelphia (University of Chicago Press, June 2026) explore the politics of mass school closures as well as what happens to schools after they close.

Julia teaches the urban internship seminar, senior seminar, and historically also taught courses in critical writing, qualitative research methods, urban education, environmental justice, and immigration and education prior to coming to Urban Studies.

Contact Julie for issues related to Urban Studies advising, major/minor declaration in Urban Studies, alumni engagement, curriculum development, and community and academic partnerships.