Sandra L. Barnes is a joint-appointed Professor in the Department of Human and Organizational Development and the Divinity School at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. Her research and teaching interests include urban sociology; the sociology of religion; statistics and methods; and race, class, and gender inequality. In addition to her book The Cost of Being Poor: A Comparative Study of Life in Poor Urban Neighborhoods in Gary, Indiana, Dr. Barnes' research has been published in Social Forces, Social Problems, the Journal of African American Studies, and Sociological Focus.