PhD candidate in at UW-Madison with an interest in statistics and social class

Griffin Bur

EDUCATION

Ph.D. in Sociology \hfill May 2027 (expected)
University of Wisconsin \hfill Madison, WI

  • Dissertation: Measuring Income, Measuring Inequality: The Key Role of Capital in US Income Inequality. First chapter currently under review at American Journal of Sociology; second chapter currently under review at Social Indicators Research.

M.S. in Sociology \hfill 2019
University of Wisconsin \hfill Madison, WI

  • Thesis: Explaining the Early Decline in the Industrial Share of Employment in Argentina and Brazil: Theory and Evidence \

B.A. in Political Science and Global Studies, summa cum laude \hfill 2014
University of North Carolina \hfill Chapel Hill

  • Thesis: Amidst the Wonders We Have Made? On Some 20th Century Reworkings of Marx’s Theory of Value

MANUSCRIPTS UNDER REVIEW

“The Contribution of Capital to US Income Inequality, 1980–2016.” Under review at American Journal of Sociology.

“The Effects of Competing Definitions of Income on Measured Trends in Income Inequality.” Under review at Social Indicators Research.

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

RC28 \hfill August 2026

  • “The Contribution of Capital to US Income Inequality, 1980 – 2016”

American Sociological Association \hfill August 2026

  • “The Effects of Competing Definitions of Income on Measured Trends in Income Inequality”

American Sociological Association \hfill August 2024

  • “The Contribution of Factor Incomes to Economic Inequality: A Process Perspective on Class”

Conference of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE) \hfill July 2019

  • “Explaining ‘Premature’ Deindustrialization in Developing Countries”

ACADEMIC HONORS

  • RC28 Travel Award \hfill 2026
  • Wisconsin Scholarship Hub (WISH) Student Research Grants Competition Travel Award \hfill 2024
  • University Fellowship, UW-Madison \hfill 2023-2024
  • UW Sociology Nominee for 2023–2024 L&S Teaching Mentors Program \hfill 2023
  • UW Sociology Nominee for Campus Exceptional Service Award \hfill 2021
  • UW-Madison Winner of Excellence in Teaching by a Teaching Assistant \hfill 2020
  • Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship \hfill 2018
  • Highest honors for an undergraduate honors thesis, UNC-Chapel Hill \hfill 2014

TEACHING

Lecturer \hfill 2020-2024
University of Wisconsin \hfill Madison, WI \

  • Primary instructor for “Statistics for Sociologists” (SOC360), “Data Management for Social Science” (SOC365), and “Social Research Methods” (SOC357). Wrote a portion of my own introductory quantitative methods textbook available here and produced a lecture series about statistics and Stata (see respective links). Full description of my teaching portfolio, including lecture slides and code, is available here on my website. Received excellent reviews from students.

Teaching Assistant \hfill 2017-2020, 2024
University of Wisconsin \hfill Madison, WI \

  • Taught introductory sociology courses, averaging 60-80 students of my own. Primary courses taught: “American Society: How It Really Works” (SOC125) and “Population Problems” (SOC170), and “Statistics for Sociologists II” (SOC361). Received excellent reviews from students, available upon request.

Tutor \hfill 2017-present
Galin Education \hfill Madison, WI \

  • Tutor math and standardized test preparation. Received excellent reviews from students, available upon request.

REFERENCES

  • Christine Schwartz (Professor of Sociology, UW-Madison)
  • Gay Seidman (Professor of Sociology, UW-Madison)
    • 8112B Sewell Social Science, 1180 Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706
    • seidman@ssc.wisc.edu; 608-263-3887
  • Joel Rogers (Professor of Law, Public Affairs, and Sociology, UW-Madison)