Shiloh L. Deitz

Assistant Professor of Sociology at Saint Louis University. I study infrastructural inequality and its uneven effects, applying disability justice theory to reimagine data science, AI, and GIS.

At Saint Louis University, I teach courses that bridge quantitative methods, spatial thinking, and social justice. My pedagogical approach emphasizes critical data literacy — helping students not only use data tools but interrogate what data can and cannot tell us, and who benefits from different ways of knowing.

I am part of the leadership team building curriculum for our minor in Geospatial Analysis and Visualization within the Sociology and Anthropology Department at SLU.

Courses

Introduction to Sociology Introduces students to the core concepts, theories, and methods of sociology. Students examine how social forces shape everyday life, exploring topics such as culture, race, gender, inequality, and health through contemporary issues in the United States.

Statistics and the Social World
An introduction to quantitative reasoning for social science students. Covers descriptive and inferential statistics with an emphasis on critical interpretation and real-world application.

Mapping Urban Inequity An intermediate course in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for social science research. Students use spatial analysis and tools like ArcGIS Pro to investigate patterns in areas such as public health, urban development, environmental justice, and crime while critically examining how inequality is structured across space.

Cartography for Social Justice
A hands-on course in mapmaking that centers questions of power, representation, and equity. Students learn GIS tools while critically examining how maps have historically been used to include and exclude.

Technology, Society, and Space Explores how emerging spatial technologies, including big data, sensors, GeoAI, and algorithmic mapping, are transforming how we understand cities, inequality, and the environment. Students learn tools such as Python and QGIS while critically examining who controls spatial data, whose stories maps represent, and how location-based technologies shape power and social life.

Our World in Big Data
Explores how large-scale datasets shape our understanding of social life. Students examine the promises and pitfalls of big data — including issues of bias, representation, and data ethics.

Teaching Interests

  • Quantitative and geospatial methods
  • Data ethics and critical data studies
  • Disability and accessibility in the built environment
  • Housing and infrastructure inequality
  • Community-engaged research methods