His main research and teaching interests lie at the intersections of racial and ethnic identity, labor market dynamics and the spatial realization of socioeconomic disadvantage. He also has strong interests and teaching expertise in the geographies of music and religion and has broad interests in two geographic regions; the U.S. South and Latin America and the Caribbean. He is presently researching the spatial dynamics of hip hop culture and rap music. He is also currently engaged in an investigation of neighborhood-level factors that influence disparities in infant mortality among racial and ethnic groups. Dr. Strait has directed or been involved with a number of teaching workshops or institutes that focus on developing educational curricula that incorporate the aforementioned topics and interests.