Ryan Enos

Photograph of Ryan Enos

Ryan Enos

Photograph by Stu Rosner

When government professor Ryan Enos was growing up, gifts always came wrapped in a map. His father was a navigator for the U.S. Air Force, who used a sextant and paper map to help him fly around the world. “Subconsciously, I think this fascination with maps filtered into me,” Enos says. As a political scientist, he studies “social geography,” or the way that different racial or ethnic groups are organized in space (intermingled, segregated, or completely removed from one another), and how that affects politics. After graduating from Berkeley in 2001, Enos taught with Teach For America on the South Side of Chicago, a city that “in many ways was defined by segregation,” he says. “Segregation was this overwhelming experience in my kids’ lives.” It felt dramatically different from his hometown of Merced, California, “an incredibly diverse place, where you had this big influx of immigrants from Southeast Asia and Latin America.” Enos was struck by that contrast. How do such different social environments come to be, and how do they shape what people think about themselves and each other? When he started graduate school at UCLA, he thought he would study institutional politics: things like why Congress does what it does. But when it came time to begin serious research, he realized his real interest was the intersection of geography and race. His timing was auspicious: his career has coincided with a renewed interest in race in political science. Newly tenured, Enos says, “All of a sudden I’ve got my whole future ahead of me….How does that change what I work on? I’m still sorting that out.” And though he’s finally switched to GPS, he still keeps giant stashes of old maps, to wrap gifts for his students. 

Click here for the November-December 2019 issue table of contents

Read more articles by Marina N. Bolotnikova

You might also like

This Astronomer is Sounding a Warning on 'Space Junk'

As debris accumulates in low Earth orbit, the danger of destructive collisions continues to rise.

Isaac Kohlberg to Step Down as Head of Harvard Technology Development

Partnerships and licensing office could become more critical as funding cuts loom

Can Citrus Stave Off Depression?

A research study digs into the gut microbiome.

Most popular

Trump Administration Alleges Harvard Violated Student Civil Rights

In a court filing, the University says government has ignored procedure to “inflict pain.”

House Committee Subpoenas Harvard Over Tuition Costs

The University must turn over all requested materials related to tuition and financial aid by mid-July. 

John Goldberg named Dean of Harvard Law School

A professor at HLS since 2008, he steps up from the interim role.

Explore More From Current Issue

Harvard Economist Nicole Maestas on Aging and Health Policy

The Harvard health economist not afraid to get in the weeds

A Look at Harvard’s Distinctive Doctoral Regalia

On regalia, a Jack-of-all-trades retirement, and a Bok’s office bon mot.

How AI Could Be Raising Your Energy Bill

Utilities shift AI infrastructure costs onto consumers.