People

Faculty
Continuing Faculty

Afsoun Afsahi

I am interested in exploring the ways in which discourses around “welcoming immigrant and refugees” can be seen as an exercise of power and contribute to the reproduction of positional inequalities. In doing so, I aim at formulating a right to non-assimilation and right to one’s own community...Read more

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Political Science

Alessandra Santos

Alessandra Santos

Associate Professor

phone(604) 822-2346
My current research project addresses dislocations in the Latin American and Caribbean region in a hemispheric context, probing contemporary geographical, cultural and subjective displacements that occur due to economic globalization, new forms of cultural encounters, and conflicts arising from thes...Read more

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Theatre & Film
ON LEAVE
2024-25 School Year

Alexia Bloch

phone(604) 822-4635
My work has focused on mobility/immobility studies through ethnographic research in Russia and Eurasia. I have conducted research on migration, anthropology of gender, and statelessness. I have also analyzed the migration of post-Soviet labor migrants moving between Istanbul, Moscow, and southern Mo...Read more

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Anthropology

Alice Te Punga Somerville

As a Māori scholar, my interest has been in the mobility of Māori people around New Zealand and transnationally. I have researched and published in the area of Māori diasporas in several sites with a particular interest in how conversations about Indigenous diaspora can draw on work about settler...Read more

Alison Taylor

Alison Taylor

Professor

Thematic Research Area

School-to-Work Transition
I am currently leading a SSHRC-funded study on working university students, a number of whom are international students. We are employing two international students as RAs (also part of the WorkLearn program) in this study. I am also very interested in community-university partnerships and my previo...Read more

Thematic Research Area

School-to-Work Transition

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Educational Studies

Amanda Cheong

I am an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of British Columbia. My research examines the links between legal status and the reproduction of inequality, with a focus on undocumented migrants, stateless persons, and refugees. I am currently working on my book project, entitled Omitted...Read more

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Sociology

Anna Casas Aguilar

Anna Casas Aguilar

Assistant Professor

phone(604) 822-4023
I am an Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies in the Department of French, Hispanic and Italian Studies at the University of British Columbia. My work explores the intimate connections between gender, nationalisms, and regionalisms in modern Spanish and Catalan literature and visual cultur...Read more

Anna Jurkevics

Anna Jurkevics

Assistant Professor

phone(604) 827-3619
My research is in the fields of critical theory and democratic theory. I am particularly interested in theories of territory and land, conceptions of home, and my work challenges the concept of sovereign territoriality, suggesting a non-sovereign approach to territory and borders.

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Political Science

Anne Murphy

Anne Murphy

Associate Professor

phone(604) 822-5185
My work centres on the Punjab region of India and Pakistan, and Punjabi diaspora communities. My current research relates to advocacy for the Punjabi language both in South Asia and within diaspora Punjabi communities, with particular attention to literary/cultural production in Punjabi in these loc...Read more

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History

Antje Ellermann

My research focuses on the politics of migration and citizenship in liberal democracies. I am particularly interested in the nexus between immigration and the power of the law; the politics of immigration policy making; anti-immigration populism; and the intersection of migration, settler colonialis...Read more

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Political Science

Asha Kaushal

Asha Kaushal

Associate Professor

phone(604) 822-3905
Professor Kaushal researches and teaches immigration and citizenship law and theory, among other subjects. She is interested in how societies use law to negotiate admission, residence, and belonging.

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Allard School of Law

Ayaka Yoshimizu

My research examines cultural memories of transnational migrant sex workers and explores decolonial ways to memorialize histories of migration and sex work through performance ethnography. My current research looks at various forms of memorials of Japanese sex workers who lived in the transpacific w...Read more

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Asian Studies

Barbara Lee

Barbara Lee

Assistant Professor

phone(604) 822-9647

Benjamin Bryce

I am a historian of migration in the Americas, with a particular focus on both Argentina and Canada. In addition to my teaching in the UBC History Department, I am also chair of the Latin American Studies program (2022-2025). Beyond UBC, I am the editor-in-chief of the Journal of the Canadian Histor...Read more

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History

Benjamin Goold

My major research interests include privacy rights, the use of surveillance technologies by the police and intelligence communities, and the rhetoric and language of human rights. I have written numerous works on privacy, surveillance, and security, including CCTV and Policing (Oxford University Pre...Read more

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Allard School of Law

Bethany Hastie

Bethany Hastie

Associate Professor

phone(604) 827-2634
My research examines low-wage labour migration, and focuses on understanding how legal regulations governing work and immigration status create barriers to legal and social inclusion, and access to justice for migrant workers. I have explored these issues most directly in the context of the low-wage...Read more

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Allard School of Law

Catherine Dauvergne

Catherine Dauvergne

Professor

I have been working in the area of refugee, immigration, and citizenship law over the past quarter of a century. I have written three books that take a broad perspective on the theoretical underpinnings of these areas of law, including considering how human rights principles and discourses fit into ...Read more

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Allard School of Law

Christopher Lee

Christopher Lee

Associate Professor

phone(604) 822-4068

Claudio Vellutini

Claudio Vellutini

Associate Professor

phone(604) 822-6795
I am an opera scholar, studying the history, dissemination, and reception of nineteenth-century Italian and German opera. I am currently working on a book manuscript on opera networks and cultural exchange between Vienna and the Italian States in the first half of the nineteenth century. I am also i...Read more

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School of Music
ON LEAVE
July 1, 2024 - March 1, 2025

David Gramling

phone(520) 822-6251
Prof. Gramling (he/they) is author of The Invention of Monolingualism (Bloomsbury 2016, American Association for Applied Linguistics Book Award, 2018), co-author of Palliative Care Conversations: Clinical and Applied Linguistic Perspectives (De Gruyter 2019, with his brother Robert Gramling), ...Read more

David Green

David Green

Professor

phone(604) 822-8216
My research examines the impacts of migration of the receiving economy. Some of my work has explored how the impacts of the resource boom spread across Canada—more specifically, how wage increases in Alberta and Saskatchewan spread to the rest of the country; the impact of temporary foreign worker...Read more

Eagle Glassheim

Eagle Glassheim

Professor of History

Thematic Research Area

History of Migration
My main research areas include the history of East and Central Europe, Habsburg Central Europe, Modern Germany, and Environmental History.  Ongoing research interests include the environmental history of the "Black Triangle," an industrial and coal mining region spanning Poland, Chechoslovakia, and...Read more

Thematic Research Area

History of Migration

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History
ON LEAVE
2024-25 School Year

Efrat Arbel

My research examines how legal rights are negotiated and defined in liminal spaces like the border, the detention center, and the prison. My current research brings the insights of trauma-informed practice to the law and practice of Canadian immigration detention. Together with PhD candidate Molly J...Read more

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Allard School of Law

Elif Sari

My research draws on ethnographic and community-engaged fieldwork (2014-19) in Turkey with Iranian LGBTQ refugees awaiting resettlement to the United States and Canada. I explore how Iranian refugees cope with the precarious and uncertain form of waiting in small Turkish towns, while negotiating the...Read more

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Anthropology

Elizabeth "Biz" Nijdam

Elizabeth "Biz" Nijdam

Assistant Professor

phone(604) 827-6394
location_onBuchanan Tower 905
Elizabeth “Biz” Nijdam is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Department of Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, where she lives, works, and learns on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of Musqueam, Squ...Read more

Erin Baines

Erin Baines

Associate Professor

phone(604) 822-4579
Erin is the Ivan Head South-North Chair (supported by the International Development Research Centre – Canada) and an Associate Professor at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia. Her research attends to the ways former combatants, survivors of sexual ...Read more

Franco De Angelis

In my research, I have developed cross-cultural, interdisciplinary methodologies that employ not only all forms of ancient source, particularly archaeology (often the only form of contemporary evidence), but also a robust arsenal of theoretical tools to interpret this highly varied source base. Putt...Read more

Gage Averill

Gage Averill

Provost and Vice-President Academic

phone(604) 822-3751
Gage Averill is an ethnomusicologist. He has written on the role of music in both Haitian and Trinidadian migration to North America, especially on music’s contribution to a poetics of place that enacts nostalgia and memory, negotiates the relationship of migrant communities to host communities, a...Read more

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School of Music

Gaoheng Zhang

Gaoheng Zhang is Associate Professor of Italian Studies at the University of British Columbia. He researches broadly on Italy’s global history and connections using a cultural-studies approach. His more recent works address migration and mobilities in relation to Italian-Chinese exchanges, the lon...Read more

George Belliveau

George Belliveau

Professor

phone(604) 822-8654
I specialize in Theatre Education, where I integrate theatre as a form of research and artistic expression across multiple disciplines. My co-edited book, Research-based Theatre: An Artistic Methodology (2016, Intellect), establishes the complexity and richness of this emerging field of artistic res...Read more

Geraldine Pratt

Geraldine Pratt

Professor

phone(604) 822-5875
My research focuses on transnational migration, care economies and performance. I have collaborated with professional theater artists to create performances on the migration of Filipino domestic workers to Canada, on migration and settler colonialism, and on the migration from Europe and the United ...Read more

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Geography

Gillian Creese

Gillian Creese

Professor

phone(604) 822-2541
I research immigrant and refugee settlement in Canada with particular attention to intersections of gender, racialization and class. My recent research charts the emergence of a new African diaspora in metro Vancouver, and my current work explores gendered outcomes for the second generation of Afric...Read more

Guofang Li

Guofang Li

Professor

phone(604) 822-6954
My research interests include immigrant and refugee students’ language and literacy education, social integration, immigrant language policies and programs, parental engagement, as well as teacher education and professional development for these diverse populations. In particular, my work explores...Read more

Guy Stecklov

Guy Stecklov

Professor

phone(604) 822-2660
Much of my research focuses how incentives affect migration decisions in poor settings, often using experimental or quasi-experimental frameworks. In recent years I have been examining general patterns of rural-urban migration across the life course within sub-Saharan Africa and am currently studyin...Read more

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Sociology

Heidi Tworek

Heidi Tworek

Assistant Professor

phone(604) 822-5181

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History

Helena Zeweri

Using anthropological methods and concepts, my scholarship lies at the intersection of global migration studies, the social impacts of policy, and the political life of diasporas, with a focus on Australia, Afghanistan, and the US. Broadly speaking, my work aims to further conceptualizations of migr...Read more

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Anthropology

Henry Yu

Henry Yu

Associate Professor

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History

Hessam Dehghani

Hessam Dehghani

Assistant Professor of teaching Persian Language and Culture

I teach Persian language and culture, primarily to heritage students who are the children of Iranian and Afghan immigrants. These students are often navigating the complexities of reconnecting with their ancestral homeland and culture while simultaneously contending with the pressures of assimilatio...Read more

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Asian Studies

Hongxia Shan

Dr. Shan is interested in the changing work and learning practices in the context of immigration, globalization, and transnationalism. She has conducted research and published in the areas of work and learning, knowledge “transfer” and translation, lifelong learning, organizational learning, di...Read more

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Educational Studies

Irene Bloemraad

I study how immigrants become incorporated into political communities and the consequences of migration on politics and understandings of membership. My research stands at the intersection of migration studies and political sociology, with a strong interdisciplinary (and international) scope. I ...Read more

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Political Science | Sociology

Jemima Baada

Jemima Baada

Assistant Professor

My research uses a gendered lens to examine how diversely situated individuals and groups are affected by climate change, domestic and foreign investment, health inequalities and rural migration in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and other parts of the world. I am particularly interested in learning about ...Read more

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Geography

Jenny Peterson

Jenny Peterson

Associate Professor of Teaching

Dr. Jenny Peterson is broadly interested in the politics of international aid with her past work analysing process of liberal peacebuilding and critiques thereof. Finding much of this critical work homogenizing of a diverse range of processes she has recently began exploring conceptual and empirica...Read more

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Political Science

John Christopoulos

John Christopoulos

Associate Professor

phone(604) 822-5938

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History

Juanita Sundberg

I bring the insights of feminist political ecology and the sensibilities of an ethnographer to bear on nature conservation, border security, and militarization. My work seeks to foster conversations between feminist geopolitics, critical race theory, posthumanism, political ecology, and Latin Americ...Read more

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Geography

Julia Gabriele Harten

Julia Gabriele Harten

Assistant Professor

Today, private rental markets are pivotal to understanding housing and cities. Yet, private renting remains ill-understood because good data about renting is lacking. My work addresses this gap in two ways: (1) by developing innovative data strategies and (2) by studying the housing choices, outcome...Read more

Kai Ostwald

Kai Ostwald

Associate Professor

phone(604) 822-8723
My work focuses on how states accommodate ethnic diversity, and how those institutions and policies shape inter-ethnic attitudes and behaviours. I generally focus on Southeast Asia, where a significant portion of the diversity results from both historic and contemporary migration.

Katherine Bowers

Katherine Bowers

Associate Professor

phone(604) 822-6431
My research focuses, broadly speaking, on the migration and circulation of literary genres, forms, and texts across European space and the way they shape cultural production in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Russia. I am also interested in the movement of ideas and in the ways information travel...Read more

Kathryn McConnell

Kathryn McConnell

Assistant Professor

Thematic Research Area

Climate Migration
I study how increasingly frequent extreme weather events influence internal migration dynamics. My research in this area includes a national study of the effects of wildfire destruction on migration patterns in the United States and qualitative research on post-wildfire migration decision-making. I ...Read more

Thematic Research Area

Climate Migration

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Sociology

Kimberly Bain

Kimberly Bain

Assistant Professor

In my scholarly and critical-creative work, my most pressing and urgent concerns have consolidated around questions of the history, theory, and philosophy of the African diaspora. My work thinks about Black migration across the 18th century through the contemporary moment. I am currently at work on ...Read more

Mahtab Sirdani

My PhD dissertation is titled: "Migration and Hope: Muslim Iranians in North America" wherein I focus on the interplay between vulnerability, hope, and well-being of pious Muslim residents of Massachusetts in the United States and Vancouver, BC in Canada.

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Asian Studies

Marc-David Seidel

Marc-David Seidel

Associate Professor

phone(604) 827-5155
I am interested in the role of migration in the growth and death of innovation ecosystems. One example in a local context is understanding the role of migration in the growth of innovation in the Vancouver ecosystem. I’m particularly interested in alternative economic models of organization enable...Read more

Marie-Eve Bouchard

I am an Assistant Professor of Sociolinguistics in the Department of French, Hispanic and Italian Studies (FHIS). I hold a PhD degree from New York University, where I specialized in both sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology. As an anthropologically oriented sociolinguist, I tend to enjoy...Read more

Markus Hallensleben

My research project, situated within the wider context of the global mobility turn and critical European Culture Studies, investigates narratives of forced migration in contemporary German-language literature. Since the recent surge of asylum seekers into Europe, German-language literatures and cult...Read more

Matthew Wright

Matthew Wright

Associate Professor

Matthew Wright earned his BA in political science and history from McGill University, and his PhD in political science from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to joining UBC’s Department of Political Science, he was an Associate Professor of Government at American University in Washing...Read more

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Political Science

Megan Daniels

Megan Daniels

Assistant Professor

phone(604) 827-1635
My research focuses on cross-cultural interaction in the eastern Mediterranean and western Asia over the Late Bronze and Iron Ages (ca. 1500-500 BCE). A major component of these broad interests involves interdisciplinary approaches to the study of ancient migration, approaches which help us understa...Read more

Michael Hooper

Michael Hooper's research focuses on urban planning, policy and politics, with particular interest in three themes related to urban spatial transformation: displacement, disasters and densification. Much of his work has focused on the drivers and consequences of displacement, including displacement ...Read more

Michelle Stack

Michelle Stack

Associate Professor and Academic Director UBC Learning Exchange

Central research interest concerns how people, knowledge and institutions are categorized and the influence of these categorizations on our collective ability to respond to racism and debility. I have written about media representations of refugees, co-led media training for refugees, and photovoice...Read more

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Educational Studies

Minelle Mahtani

Minelle Mahtani

Associate Professor

I am an Associate Professor in the at the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Social Justice at UBC. I'm the co-editor of “Global Mixed Race” (NYU Press, 2014) and the author of “Mixed Race Amnesia: Resisting the Romanticization of Multiraciality in Canada” (UBC Press). My research ...Read more

Miu Chung Yan

My areas of migration related research includes policies and services to support immigrants/refugees for settlement and integration, labour market experience of and racism experienced by youth from immigrant families, roles and functions of place-based community organizations in supporting social in...Read more

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School of Social Work

Mohamed Ibrahim

Mohamed Ibrahim

Assistant Professor

phone(604) 822-2100

Nathan Nunn

Nathan Nunn has examined the causes and consequences of migration. He has studied the consequences of immigration within the United States for long-term economic development, as well as the psychological effects of immigration on immigrants and their children and grandchildren. He has also examined ...Read more

Neda Maghbouleh

Neda Maghbouleh

Associate Professor

Neda Maghbouleh studies the racialization of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) migrants in North America. She is an expert on ethnic and racial categories and identity formation as they relate to immigration processes and refugee resettlement.

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Sociology

Nikhita Obeegadoo

My research focuses on oceanic migrations in archipelagoes of the Indian Ocean, Caribbean and Pacific Ocean. Rooted in comparative literary practices, my work employs multilingual, multispecies and decolonial frameworks to ask: How are the entwined histories of the Middle Passage, the kala pani jour...Read more

Oral Robinson

Oral Robinson

Lecturer

Migration, Ethnic Relations, Social Interaction, Development, Research Methods and the scholarship of teaching and learning. I am currently working on the following projects: Intercultural Contact and Friendship formation in Canada; Migration and identities in the Caribbean

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Sociology

Pasang Sherpa

Pasang Sherpa

Assistant Professor

Tashi Delek! I am a Sharwa anthropologist from Pharak, southern part of Mt. Everest region in northeastern Nepal. My research, writing and pedagogy focus on climate change and Indigeneity among Himalayan communities, guided by the question: How do we live in the midst of dying? I am currently ...Read more

Peter Klein

Peter Klein

Professor

phone(604) 822-5823
I am collaborating on an ongoing project called Strangers at Home, which looks at xenophobia in Europe (tangentially connected to migration, since the rise of xenophobia is widely attributed in part to the rise of refugee migration).

Renisa Mawani

Renisa Mawani

Professor

My research coalesces at the juncture of critical theory and British colonial legal history. To date, my work has aimed to write histories of indigenous dispossession and "Asiatic" migration (from China and India, in particular) as conjoined and entangled colonial legal processes that are central t...Read more

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Sociology

Rima Wilkes

Rima Wilkes

Professor

phone(604) 822-6855
My research considers the relationship between politics and racial and ethnic inequality. I have written on the integration of racial minorities and immigrants in advanced industrial democracies; some of my current research focuses on the causes and consequences of political and social trust. I’m ...Read more

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Sociology

Rosanne Sia

I am Assistant Professor at the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Social Justice at the University of British Columbia. My first book project examines cultural histories of migration, race, and gender in the US-Mexico borderlands. Mujer Peregrina: Performing Race, Space, and Memory in th...Read more

Sara Shneiderman

I am a socio-cultural anthropologist with long-term ethnographic commitments in the Himalayas and South Asia, and emerging research engagements in British Columbia, Canada. My research explores how social transformation is shaped by dynamics of citizenship and belonging (in relation to Indigenous, e...Read more

Sarah Leavitt

Sarah Leavitt

Assistant Professor

My research focuses on storytelling through comics, particularly non-fiction stories. I was part of the Graphic Narratives of Migration project and am interested in how comics can be used to share experiences, ask questions and spark conversations about migration.

Sean Lauer

Sean Lauer

Professor | CMS Community Liaison

phone(604) 822-1609
My research explores the sociology of community and the experience of newcomers in Canada in particular. I am interested in studying the experience of newcomers in the network of community based organizations in Vancouver and how these organizations impact social capacity development. My work also e...Read more

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Sociology

Shannon Ward

Shannon Ward

Assistant Professor

phone(250) 807-8695
RESEARCH SUMMARY Linguistic Anthropology; language acquisition and socialization; language shift and endangerment; children and childhood; greater Tibetan and Himalayan communities. COURSES & TEACHING Linguistic Anthropology; multilingualism; language documentation and revitalization....Read more

Sofia Noori

Dr Noori’s research and writing focuses on young refugees who move to Canada and work to establish a stable sense of self and belonging. Her research and writing provide readers with a better understanding of how refugee youth identify. Her research demonstrates how these young people navigate var...Read more

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Educational Studies

Sophie Borwein

Sophie Borwein

Assistant Professor

My research engages with questions that connect political economy, political behaviour, and public policy. One area of my research is focused on the determinants of attitudes toward inequality and welfare states. I have previously written about how people's knowledge of immigration policy shapes the...Read more

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Political Science
ON LEAVE
2024-25 School Year

Suzanne Huot

My research explores humans in daily occupation and activities, that is, occupations beyond paid employments and all activities that occupy an individual’s time. Using approaches informed by occupational science, qualitative methodologies, and critical social theory, my research focuses on the occ...Read more

Terri Givens

Terri Givens is well-known as a researcher on the politics of immigration in Europe. Her more recent project focuses on the conflation of immigration and race on a more global scale. She has also written a textbook, Immigration in the 21st Century: The Comparative Politics of Immigration Policy

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Political Science
ON LEAVE
2022-25

Thomas Schneider

Thomas Schneider

ON LEAVE
2022-25

Professor

My research interests focus on interconnections between ancient Egypt and other civilizations of the ancient Near East, the Levant and Northeast Africa, including questions of migration and ethnic identity, cultural contact, as well as linguistic, literary and religious transfer. I am also intereste...Read more
ON LEAVE
September 1 - December 31, 2024

Uma Kumar

Uma Kumar moved to Vancouver from India in 2003 and has been teaching with CENES since 2007. She holds a PhD in German Studies, a Master’s in German Studies and a Master’s in English Literature from the University of Bombay, India. Uma spent six years at the University of Vienna, doing research ...Read more

Xiaojun Li

Xiaojun Li

Associate Professor

Xiaojun Li received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Stanford University. He is currently Associate Professor of Political Science at UBC and non-resident scholar at the 21st Century China Centre at UC San Diego School of Global Policy and Strategy. Previously, he was a Princeton-Harvard China an...Read more

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Political Science

Yue Qian

Yue Qian

Associate Professor

phone(604) 822-9972
Dr. Yue Qian is interested in understanding how gender intersects with family, work, and population processes—such as assortative mating (i.e., who marries whom), occupational segregation, and migration—to shape individual well-being and societal inequality.

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Sociology
Sessional Lecturers

Amanda Cardoso

My research focusses on understanding language variation and change, the role of population movements in these processes and the effect that attitudes to different languages or groups have in these situations, and the development of new methodologies for analysing speech sounds and sound patterns. R...Read more

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Linguistics

Amira Halperin

Amira Halperin

Sessional Lecturer

Dr. Halperin is an expert of immigration and media, researching Middle Eastern refugees and asylum seekers for the last 15 years, working from a community-base and using participatory methodology and an interdisciplinary approach. Amira consulted to the British Parliament on migrant communities in U...Read more

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Sociology

Ania Switzer

Ania Switzer

Sessional Lecturer

I am a historical-political sociologist, and have previously worked at Leo Baeck Institute in London, USC Shoah Foundation and Jagiellonian University in Krakow. My areas of specialisation are nationalism, post-war Central and Eastern Europe and its borderlands, production of knowledge and memory, a...Read more

Arianna Dagnino

My main research interests focus on the effects of migration, global mobility, neo-nomadism and complex cultural flows on cultural identities, creativity, and intercultural relations. Most of all, I am interested in how processes of transculturation shape creative artefacts (in particular literary ...Read more

Dorothee Leesing

Dorothee Leesing is a researcher who specializes in media representation, urban development, and education. Her doctoral thesis on urban densification’s media portrayal, particularly high-rise buildings, uncovers societal implications. She has published on digital media, gaming, and gamified learn...Read more

Hasrat Grewal Gill

My research focuses on decolonization of immigrant integration in Canada, while exploring the inclusion of Indigenous and immigrant perspectives into the idea of being “Canadian.” Apart from my academic research and teaching, over the last ten years I have continued to work in various capacities...Read more

John Culbert

Lisa Richlen

Lisa Richlen, a Canadian citizen through her mother, is originally from Seattle. She lived in Israel from 2000-2021 and, from 2004-2021 worked as an employee of and a consultant for tens of social change and human rights organizations. In 2021, Richlen completed a PhD at Ben Gurion University of the...Read more

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Sociology

Mahtab Sirdani

My PhD dissertation is titled: "Migration and Hope: Muslim Iranians in North America" wherein I focus on the interplay between vulnerability, hope, and well-being of pious Muslim residents of Massachusetts in the United States and Vancouver, BC in Canada.

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Asian Studies

Mehran Jamshidi

My research delves into the role of credentials in shaping the social and cultural capital of skilled immigrants in Canada, particularly in Metro Vancouver. I'm exploring how these credentials impact the ability of immigrant project managers to effectively integrate into the Canadian job market, des...Read more

Su-Anne Yeo

My research examines how screen-based media from Asia and the Asian diaspora help to constitute new identities and social imaginaries. Currently, I am working on a research-led, practice-based, and community-engaged project about the late Hong Kong singer, actor, and queer icon, Leslie Cheung, who m...Read more

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Asian Studies | Theatre & Film
Postdoctoral Fellows

Ashrafuzzaman Md

My research primarily focuses on understanding the socio-economic and environmental factors driving migration, particularly in regions affected by climate change and economic disparities. By examining the impact of sea level rise and changes in agricultural productivity on the Southwestern Coastal R...Read more

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Anthropology

Jennifer Ma

Jennifer Ma

Postdoctoral Fellow

My research focuses on systemic oppression and addressing social inequalities through a critical, anti-colonial framework and multi-method approach. I am interested in equity for Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) communities and building resilience in our communities. I have collaborat...Read more

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School of Social Work

Jessica Templeman

Jessica Templeman

Postdoctoral Fellow

My research examines the criminalization of migration in Canada. My doctoral work considered how s. 36(1)(a) of the IRPA impacts migrant sentencing in Canada. My postdoctoral work now investigates how officers decide on inadmissibility using criminal court materials.

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Allard School of Law

Kashif Raza

My research explores the intricate intersections of migration, education, and policy, and how this intersectionality shapes international mobility, policy choices, educational contexts, curricular and instructional decisions, and sense of belonging/citizenship. I have conducted research and publishe...Read more

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Educational Studies

Kevin Lee

A connective thread in much of my research is the political role of migrant civil society, particularly as organizational hubs of community organizing and policy advocacy. My current book project investigates these issues in the context of Indigenous Pacific Islander social movements in the continen...Read more

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Political Science

Monique Gagné

Monique Gagné

Research Associate

I am a Research Associate in the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP), part of the School of Population and Public Health. Much of my work is focused on understanding children’s development in the context of unprecedented levels of global migration and how settlement countries such as Canada c...Read more

Sandra Schinnerl

I am interested in the intersections between education and immigration policy and the migration pathways of economic migrants including those of international students. My postdoctoral research work contributes to the examination of how bureaucracies in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom navig...Read more

Shahin Kassam

Building upon my doctoral findings, my program of research centres on women impacted by forced migration. We know that most women forcibly displaced from their home countries have been, and continue to be, affected by gender-based violence. We know that settlement organizations are central to ensuri...Read more

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School of Nursing
Emeriti

Dan Hiebert

Dan Hiebert

Professor Emeritus

My areas of interest include how immigration reshapes cities; the relationship between immigrants and urban economies; immigrants and housing markets; and the social reordering of cities as a result of immigration. I’m also interested in the nature of what is increasingly referred to as “superdi...Read more

Group

Emeriti

Home Department

Geography

Richard Johnston

Richard Johnston

Professor Emeritus

phone(604) 822-5456
I’m interested in the relationships between native born settlers and immigrants in relation to the welfare state. My work ranges from survey- and experimentally-based work on civic (and uncivic) orientations to multi-country comparative work on immigration and social spending. Some of my research ...Read more

Group

Emeriti

Home Department

Political Science
Executive Committee
ON LEAVE
2024-25 School Year

Alexia Bloch

phone(604) 822-4635
My work has focused on mobility/immobility studies through ethnographic research in Russia and Eurasia. I have conducted research on migration, anthropology of gender, and statelessness. I have also analyzed the migration of post-Soviet labor migrants moving between Istanbul, Moscow, and southern Mo...Read more

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Anthropology

Amanda Cheong

I am an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of British Columbia. My research examines the links between legal status and the reproduction of inequality, with a focus on undocumented migrants, stateless persons, and refugees. I am currently working on my book project, entitled Omitted...Read more

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Sociology

Antje Ellermann

My research focuses on the politics of migration and citizenship in liberal democracies. I am particularly interested in the nexus between immigration and the power of the law; the politics of immigration policy making; anti-immigration populism; and the intersection of migration, settler colonialis...Read more

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Political Science

Antje Ziethen

Antje Ziethen

Assistant Professor

I specialize in francophone literatures with a particular focus on urban space, migration, and gender. My research spans several geographical areas such as West Africa, the Indian Ocean, the Caribbean, as well as North and South America. My most recent publications deal with the Black Mediterranean,...Read more

Catherine Dauvergne

Catherine Dauvergne

Professor

I have been working in the area of refugee, immigration, and citizenship law over the past quarter of a century. I have written three books that take a broad perspective on the theoretical underpinnings of these areas of law, including considering how human rights principles and discourses fit into ...Read more

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Allard School of Law
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2024-25 School Year

Efrat Arbel

My research examines how legal rights are negotiated and defined in liminal spaces like the border, the detention center, and the prison. My current research brings the insights of trauma-informed practice to the law and practice of Canadian immigration detention. Together with PhD candidate Molly J...Read more

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Allard School of Law

Elizabeth "Biz" Nijdam

Elizabeth "Biz" Nijdam

Assistant Professor

phone(604) 827-6394
location_onBuchanan Tower 905
Elizabeth “Biz” Nijdam is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Department of Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, where she lives, works, and learns on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of Musqueam, Squ...Read more

Gaoheng Zhang

Gaoheng Zhang is Associate Professor of Italian Studies at the University of British Columbia. He researches broadly on Italy’s global history and connections using a cultural-studies approach. His more recent works address migration and mobilities in relation to Italian-Chinese exchanges, the lon...Read more

Geraldine Pratt

Geraldine Pratt

Professor

phone(604) 822-5875
My research focuses on transnational migration, care economies and performance. I have collaborated with professional theater artists to create performances on the migration of Filipino domestic workers to Canada, on migration and settler colonialism, and on the migration from Europe and the United ...Read more

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Geography

Helena Zeweri

Using anthropological methods and concepts, my scholarship lies at the intersection of global migration studies, the social impacts of policy, and the political life of diasporas, with a focus on Australia, Afghanistan, and the US. Broadly speaking, my work aims to further conceptualizations of migr...Read more

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Anthropology

Irene Bloemraad

I study how immigrants become incorporated into political communities and the consequences of migration on politics and understandings of membership. My research stands at the intersection of migration studies and political sociology, with a strong interdisciplinary (and international) scope. I ...Read more

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Political Science | Sociology

Matthew Wright

Matthew Wright

Associate Professor

Matthew Wright earned his BA in political science and history from McGill University, and his PhD in political science from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to joining UBC’s Department of Political Science, he was an Associate Professor of Government at American University in Washing...Read more

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Political Science

Pasang Sherpa

Pasang Sherpa

Assistant Professor

Tashi Delek! I am a Sharwa anthropologist from Pharak, southern part of Mt. Everest region in northeastern Nepal. My research, writing and pedagogy focus on climate change and Indigeneity among Himalayan communities, guided by the question: How do we live in the midst of dying? I am currently ...Read more

Sean Lauer

Sean Lauer

Professor | CMS Community Liaison

phone(604) 822-1609
My research explores the sociology of community and the experience of newcomers in Canada in particular. I am interested in studying the experience of newcomers in the network of community based organizations in Vancouver and how these organizations impact social capacity development. My work also e...Read more

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Sociology
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2024-25 School Year

Suzanne Huot

My research explores humans in daily occupation and activities, that is, occupations beyond paid employments and all activities that occupy an individual’s time. Using approaches informed by occupational science, qualitative methodologies, and critical social theory, my research focuses on the occ...Read more

Terri Givens

Terri Givens is well-known as a researcher on the politics of immigration in Europe. Her more recent project focuses on the conflation of immigration and race on a more global scale. She has also written a textbook, Immigration in the 21st Century: The Comparative Politics of Immigration Policy

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Political Science
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Feb 15, 2025

Vince Hopkins

Vince is broadly interested in Canadian politics, with emphasis on applied social policy. Specifically, he examines low take-up of government programs—how political and psychological barriers prevent citizens from accessing the services they need. His current research aims to improve take-up of em...Read more

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Political Science
In Memoriam

Y-Dang Troeung

Y-Dang Troeung

Assistant Professor

Y-Dang Troeung was an Associate Professor of English at the University of British Columbia and a member of the CMS Research Creation research group. She researched and taught in the fields of transnational Asian literatures, critical refugee studies, global south studies, and critical disability stu...Read more