Julie McWilliams is a 4th year PhD candidate at UPenn’s Graduate School of Education pursuing a joint-degree in education and cultural anthropology. Her research lies at the intersection of urban education reform, race, and immigration. She is currently writing a dissertation about the impact of the school closure policy on the social and organizational dynamics of a neighborhood high school slated for closure in Philadelphia. Alongside her dissertation, she is also studying the effects of education reform in Philadelphia on the academic transitions of recently resettled refugee populations. Prior to graduate school she received a BA in political economy from Princeton University and then spent several years teaching Lao youth in a small Australian college in Vientiane, Laos.