Associate Professor of Geography
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Madhuri Sharma's (PhD) research interests include racial/ethnic diversity, segregation and contemporary housing markets; racial/ethnic diversity, economy and industry; gentrification, new urbanism and placemaking; poverty and income inequality; gender economic and social disparity; informal economy; and the geographies of the underprivileged in the developed and the developing world.
Sharma uses a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods in answering research questions focusing on a variety of urban social-economic issues within the sub-discipline of human geography. Her work currently focuses on the cities and metropolises of USA and India/South Asia. Her graduate students work on a variety of topics, ranging from gendered decision making in livelihood options in the climate-induced districts of Bangladesh, rental burden and housing burden issues across racial/ethnic groups in U.S. metropolises, housing disparity and the role of policing in gentrifying U.S. metropolises, gendered dimensions in urban design and policy making, black emotional geographies, geography of crime and fear, and the like. She likes working with graduate and undergraduate students on topics and issues that largely pertain to bridging gaps in human/gender development and social (in)equity concerns.