Faculty bio | Research page  

Claire Herbert is an academic expert in housing and homelessness, urban sociology, law and crime, property, race and colonialism. Her work centers on the intersection of housing and homelessness, law, and regulatory enforcement; focused especially on housing and sheltering practices that violate laws. For much of this work, she draws on global south literature to inform understanding of practices like squatting or homeless encampments. She drew on her broad knowledge and current research on unsheltered homelessness in Lane County, OR to help write two sections of the amicus brief for Grants Pass, Oregon v. Johnson, United States Supreme Court case about the legality of homelessness. 

Recent Media:
Grants Pass spends more from federal development grants on administrative costs than homeless services (Streetlight, July 23, 2024)
On a sweeping Supreme Court day, a trio of rulings that will affect millions of lives (The Christian Science Monitor, June 28, 2024)
A post-pandemic Bay Area concern: Who will be left to shape our communities? (San Francisco Chronicle, Oct. 26, 2020)