Faculty Members
Afsoun Afsahi
Afsoun Afsahi
Assistant Professor
emailafsoun.afsahi@ubc.ca
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
Thematic Research Area
Citizenship | Diasporas and Transnationalism | Integration and Inclusion | Narratives and Politics of Belonging | Refugees and Forced Migration | Settler Colonialism and Decolonization | Undocumented Migration and StatelessnessHome Department
Political Science
Alessandra Santos
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
Geography and Methods
AREAS: Latin AmericaHome Department
Theatre & Film
Alexia Bloch
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
Home Department
Anthropology
Alice Te Punga Somerville
Alice Te Punga Somerville
Professor
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
Thematic Research Area
Borders and Sovereignty | Culture and Migration | Diasporas and Transnationalism | History of Migration | Indigenous Studies | Language, Literacy, and Linguistics | Narratives and Politics of Belonging | Settler Colonialism and DecolonizationGeography and Methods
METHODS: Research Creation and Interpretative Arts
Alison Taylor
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 TransitionHome Department
Educational Studies
Amanda Cardoso
Amanda Cardoso
Lecturer
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
Thematic Research Area
Culture and Migration | History of Migration | Integration and Inclusion | Language, Literacy, and Linguistics | Settler Colonialism and DecolonizationHome Department
Linguistics
Amanda Cheong
Amanda Cheong
Assistant Professor
emailamanda.cheong@ubc.ca
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
Thematic Research Area
Citizenship | Immigration Politics and Policy | Integration and Inclusion | Labour Migration | Narratives and Politics of Belonging | Refugees and Forced Migration | Undocumented Migration and StatelessnessGeography and Methods
AREAS: Asia and Asia-Pacific | AREAS: Canada | AREAS: United States | METHODS: Community-engaged research | METHODS: Qualitative MethodsHome Department
Sociology
Amira Halperin
Amira Halperin
Sessional Lecturer
emailamirahz@mail.ubc.ca
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
Home Department
Sociology
Ania Switzer
Ania Switzer
Sessional Lecturer
emailania.switzer@ubc.ca
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
Geography and Methods
AREAS: Europe | METHODS: Community-engaged research | METHODS: Qualitative Methods | METHODS: Survey ResearchHome Department
Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies
Anna Casas Aguilar
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
Home Department
French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies
Anna Jurkevics
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.
Home Department
Political Science
Anne Murphy
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
Home Department
History
Antje Ellermann
Antje Ellermann
Professor | CMS Director
phone(604) 822-4359
location_onDepartment of Political Science
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
Thematic Research Area
Borders and Sovereignty | Citizenship | Immigration Politics and Policy | Indigenous Studies | Integration and Inclusion | Narratives and Politics of Belonging | Settler Colonialism and Decolonization | Undocumented Migration and StatelessnessGeography and Methods
AREAS: Canada | AREAS: Europe | AREAS: United States | METHODS: Community-engaged research | METHODS: Qualitative MethodsHome Department
Political Science
Antje Ziethen
Antje Ziethen
Assistant Professor
emailantje.ziethen@ubc.ca
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
Home Department
French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies
Arianna Dagnino
Arianna Dagnino
Sessional Lecturer
phone(604) 822-5797
Thematic Research Area
Diasporas and Transnationalism | Language, Literacy, and Linguistics | Mobility Studies | Narratives and Politics of BelongingMy 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
Thematic Research Area
Diasporas and Transnationalism | Language, Literacy, and Linguistics | Mobility Studies | Narratives and Politics of BelongingGeography and Methods
AREAS: Canada | AREAS: Europe | METHODS: Qualitative Methods | METHODS: Research Creation and Interpretative ArtsHome Department
French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies
Aryan Karimi
Aryan Karimi
Assistant Professor
emailaryan.karimi@ubc.ca
Thematic Research Area
Diasporas and Transnationalism | Gender and Migration | Integration and Inclusion | Migration and Race | Refugees and Forced MigrationThematic Research Area
Diasporas and Transnationalism | Gender and Migration | Integration and Inclusion | Migration and Race | Refugees and Forced MigrationHome Department
Sociology
Asha Kaushal
Asha Kaushal
Associate Professor
phone(604) 822-3905
My research examines immigration laws through the lens of legal and political theory. I study the operation of laws to find their connections, oversights, and gaps. In the immigration field, I have written about the constitution, deportation, the pandemic, economic immigration, and citizenship.
Geography and Methods
AREAS: CanadaHome Department
Allard School of Law
Ayaka Yoshimizu
Ayaka Yoshimizu
Assistant Professor of Teaching
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
Thematic Research Area
Culture and Migration | Diasporas and Transnationalism | Digital and Media Studies | Gender and Migration | History of Migration | Migration and Race | Narratives and Politics of Belonging | Settler Colonialism and Decolonization | Undocumented Migration and StatelessnessGeography and Methods
AREAS: Asia and Asia-Pacific | AREAS: Canada | METHODS: Interpretive HumanitiesHome Department
Asian Studies
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
Thematic Research Area
Borders and Sovereignty | Citizenship | Diasporas and Transnationalism | History of Migration | Immigration Politics and Policy | Labour Migration | Language, Literacy, and Linguistics | Migration and RaceHome Department
History
Benjamin Goold
Benjamin Goold
Professor
emailgoold@allard.ubc.ca
phone(604) 822-9255
Thematic Research Area
Borders and Sovereignty | Immigration and Refugee Law | Immigration Politics and PolicyMy 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
Thematic Research Area
Borders and Sovereignty | Immigration and Refugee Law | Immigration Politics and PolicyHome Department
Allard School of Law
Bethany Hastie
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
Home Department
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
Home Department
Allard School of Law
Christina Yi
My current research project investigates the discursive formation and theoretical limits of “repatriation literature” (hikiage bungaku) through an examination of fiction, essays, and memoirs on the subject of repatriation to Japan. I bring together the writings of various individuals who were re...Read more
Home Department
Asian Studies
Christopher Lee
Home Department
English Language & Literatures
Claudio Vellutini
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
Home Department
School of Music
Dan Hiebert
Dan Hiebert
Professor Emeritus
emaildan.hiebert@ubc.ca
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
Home Department
Geography
David Gramling
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
Home Department
Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies
David Green
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
Home Department
Vancouver School of Economics
Dorothee Leesing
Dorothee Leesing
Sessional Lecturer
Thematic Research Area
Diasporas and Transnationalism | Digital and Media Studies | Mobility Studies | Narratives and Politics of BelongingDorothee Leesing is a Sessional Lecturer at the CENES Department at the University of British Columbia. Her research revolves around the perception of restructured cityscapes. She is interested in the representation of urban environments and mass dwellings in early digital gaming, post-migrant liter...Read more
Thematic Research Area
Diasporas and Transnationalism | Digital and Media Studies | Mobility Studies | Narratives and Politics of BelongingGeography and Methods
AREAS: Asia and Asia-Pacific | AREAS: Europe | METHODS: Qualitative Methods | METHODS: Research Creation and Interpretative ArtsHome Department
Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies
Eagle Glassheim
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 MigrationHome Department
History
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
Thematic Research Area
Borders and Sovereignty | Gender and Migration | Immigration and Refugee Law | Immigration Detention | Immigration Politics and Policy | Migration and Race | Narratives and Politics of Belonging | Refugees and Forced Migration | Settler Colonialism and DecolonizationGeography and Methods
AREAS: Canada | AREAS: United States | METHODS: Community-engaged research | METHODS: Quantitative MethodsHome Department
Allard School of Law
Elif Sari
Elif Sari
Assistant Professor
emailelif.sari@ubc.ca
Thematic Research Area
Borders and Sovereignty | Citizenship | Culture and Migration | Diasporas and Transnationalism | Gender and Migration | Immigration and Refugee Law | Migration and Race | Mobility Studies | Narratives and Politics of Belonging | Refugees and Forced Migration | Settler Colonialism and DecolonizationMy 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
Thematic Research Area
Borders and Sovereignty | Citizenship | Culture and Migration | Diasporas and Transnationalism | Gender and Migration | Immigration and Refugee Law | Migration and Race | Mobility Studies | Narratives and Politics of Belonging | Refugees and Forced Migration | Settler Colonialism and DecolonizationGeography and Methods
AREAS: Africa and the Middle East | AREAS: Canada | AREAS: Europe | AREAS: United States | METHODS: Community-engaged research | METHODS: Qualitative Methods | METHODS: Research Creation and Interpretative ArtsHome Department
Anthropology
Elizabeth "Biz" Nijdam
Elizabeth "Biz" Nijdam
Assistant Professor
emailbiz.nijdam@ubc.ca
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
Home Department
Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies
Erin Baines
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
Home Department
School of Public Policy and Global Affairs
Franco De Angelis
Franco De Angelis
Professor
phone(604) 822-6749
As an ancient historian and archaeologist, my research focuses on expanding the narrow story we tell about the ancient Greeks by examining their overlooked migrations and diasporas, which represent--literally--the other half of their story. I adopt a two-pronged approach: first, by paying close at...Read more
Thematic Research Area
Diasporas and Transnationalism | Economics of Migration | History of Migration | Integration and Inclusion | Labour Migration | Mobility Studies | Narratives and Politics of Belonging | Refugees and Forced Migration | Settler Colonialism and DecolonizationGeography and Methods
AREAS: Africa and the Middle East | AREAS: Asia and Asia-Pacific | AREAS: Europe | METHODS: Qualitative Methods | METHODS: Quantitative MethodsHome Department
Ancient Mediterranean & Near Eastern Studies
Gage Averill
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
Home Department
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
Thematic Research Area
Culture and Migration | Diasporas and Transnationalism | Digital and Media Studies | Gender and Migration | History of Migration | Integration and Inclusion | Language, Literacy, and Linguistics | Mobility Studies | Narratives and Politics of Belonging | Public OpinionGeography and Methods
AREAS: Africa and the Middle East | AREAS: Asia and Asia-Pacific | AREAS: Europe | METHODS: Interpretive Humanities | METHODS: Qualitative Methods | METHODS: Research Creation and Interpretative ArtsHome Department
French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies
George Belliveau
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
Home Department
Language and Literacy Education
Geraldine Pratt
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
Home Department
Geography
Gillian Creese
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
emailguofang.li@ubc.ca
phone(604) 822-6954
Thematic Research Area
Immigration Politics and Policy | Integration and Inclusion | Refugees and Forced MigrationMy 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
Thematic Research Area
Immigration Politics and Policy | Integration and Inclusion | Refugees and Forced MigrationGeography and Methods
AREAS: Asia and Asia-Pacific | AREAS: Canada | METHODS: Qualitative Methods | METHODS: Quantitative MethodsHome Department
Language and Literacy Education
Guy Stecklov
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
Home Department
Sociology
Heidi Tworek
Home Department
History
Helena Zeweri
Helena Zeweri
Assistant Professor
emailhzeweri@mail.ubc.ca
Thematic Research Area
Citizenship | Culture and Migration | Diasporas and Transnationalism | Gender and Migration | Migration and Race | Mobility Studies | Settler Colonialism and DecolonizationUsing 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
Thematic Research Area
Citizenship | Culture and Migration | Diasporas and Transnationalism | Gender and Migration | Migration and Race | Mobility Studies | Settler Colonialism and DecolonizationHome Department
Anthropology
Hongxia Shan
Hongxia Shan
Associate Professor
emailhongxia.shan@ubc.ca
phone(604) 822-3349
Thematic Research Area
Gender and Migration | Immigration Politics and Policy | Integration and Inclusion | Mobility Studies | Narratives and Politics of BelongingDr. 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
Thematic Research Area
Gender and Migration | Immigration Politics and Policy | Integration and Inclusion | Mobility Studies | Narratives and Politics of BelongingGeography and Methods
AREAS: Asia and Asia-Pacific | AREAS: Canada | METHODS: Community-engaged research | METHODS: Qualitative MethodsHome Department
Educational Studies
Jemima Baada
Jemima Baada
Assistant Professor
emailjemima.baada@ubc.ca
Thematic Research Area
Climate Migration | Economics of Migration | Gender and Migration | Migration and RaceMy 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
Thematic Research Area
Climate Migration | Economics of Migration | Gender and Migration | Migration and RaceGeography and Methods
AREAS: Africa and the Middle East | AREAS: Canada | METHODS: Qualitative Methods | METHODS: Quantitative MethodsHome Department
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
Home Department
Political Science
John Christopoulos
Home Department
History
Juanita Sundberg
Juanita Sundberg
Associate Professor
phone(604) 822-3535
Thematic Research Area
Borders and Sovereignty | Indigenous Studies | Narratives and Politics of Belonging | Settler Colonialism and DecolonizationI 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
Thematic Research Area
Borders and Sovereignty | Indigenous Studies | Narratives and Politics of Belonging | Settler Colonialism and DecolonizationHome Department
Geography
Kai Ostwald
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.
Home Department
School of Public Policy and Global Affairs
Karen O'Regan
Karen O'Regan
Sessional Instructor
emailkaren.oregan@ubc.ca
Home Department
English Language Institute
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
Home Department
Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies
Lisa Richlen
Lisa Richlen
Sessional Lecturer
emaillmrichlen@gmail.com
Thematic Research Area
Diasporas and Transnationalism | Indigenous Studies | Integration and Inclusion | Refugees and Forced MigrationLisa 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
Thematic Research Area
Diasporas and Transnationalism | Indigenous Studies | Integration and Inclusion | Refugees and Forced MigrationHome Department
Sociology
Marc-David Seidel
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
Home Department
Sauder School of Business
Marie-Eve Bouchard
Marie-Eve Bouchard
Assistant Professor
emailme.bouchard@ubc.ca
Thematic Research Area
Diasporas and Transnationalism | Integration and Inclusion | Language, Literacy, and Linguistics | Migration and RaceI 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
Thematic Research Area
Diasporas and Transnationalism | Integration and Inclusion | Language, Literacy, and Linguistics | Migration and RaceHome Department
French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies
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
Thematic Research Area
Diasporas and Transnationalism | Indigenous Studies | Integration and Inclusion | Mobility Studies | Narratives and Politics of Belonging | Refugees and Forced Migration | Settler Colonialism and DecolonizationGeography and Methods
AREAS: Canada | AREAS: Europe | AREAS: United States | METHODS: Research Creation and Interpretative ArtsHome Department
Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies
Matthew Wright
Matthew Wright
Associate Professor
I study political psychology, and in particular questions about how both political identities and core values influence peoples’ attitudes about immigrants, immigration policy and diversity more generally. My work has appeared in Comparative Political Studies, Journal of Ethnic and Migration St...Read more
Home Department
Political Science
Megan Daniels
Megan Daniels
Assistant Professor
emailmegan.daniels@ubc.ca
phone(604) 827-1635
Thematic Research Area
Culture and Migration | Diasporas and Transnationalism | History of Migration | Mobility StudiesMy 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
Thematic Research Area
Culture and Migration | Diasporas and Transnationalism | History of Migration | Mobility StudiesHome Department
Ancient Mediterranean & Near Eastern 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
Home Department
Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality & Social Justice
Miu Chung Yan
Miu Chung Yan
Professor
phone(604) 822-8688
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
Thematic Research Area
Diasporas and Transnationalism | Immigrant Services | Immigrant Youth | Immigration Politics and Policy | Integration and Inclusion | Mobility Studies | Narratives and Politics of Belonging | Refugees and Forced MigrationGeography and Methods
AREAS: Asia and Asia-Pacific | AREAS: Canada | METHODS: Community-engaged research | METHODS: Qualitative MethodsHome Department
School of Social Work
Mohamed Ibrahim
Home Department
School of Social Work
Nora Angeles
Leonora C. Angeles (UBC School of Community and Regional Planning & Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice) works in the area of community and international development, including immigrant integration, linked to transnational migration and feminist issues. Her most recent re...Read more
Oral Robinson
Oral Robinson
Lecturer
emailoral.robinson@ubc.ca
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
Home Department
Sociology
Pasang Sherpa
Pasang Sherpa
Assistant Professor
emailpasang.sherpa@ubc.ca
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
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).
Home Department
School of Journalism, Writing, and Media
Renisa Mawani
Renisa Mawani
Professor
emailRenisa@mail.ubc.ca
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
Home Department
Sociology
Richard Johnston
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
Home Department
Political Science
Rima Wilkes
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
Home Department
Sociology
Sara Shneiderman
Sara Shneiderman
Associate Professor
phone(604) 822-4387
Thematic Research Area
Borders and Sovereignty | Citizenship | Climate Migration | Culture and Migration | Indigenous Studies | Integration and Inclusion | Labour Migration | Undocumented Migration and StatelessnessI 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
Thematic Research Area
Borders and Sovereignty | Citizenship | Climate Migration | Culture and Migration | Indigenous Studies | Integration and Inclusion | Labour Migration | Undocumented Migration and StatelessnessGeography and Methods
AREAS: Asia and Asia-Pacific | AREAS: Canada | METHODS: Community-engaged research | METHODS: Qualitative Methods
Sean Lauer
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
Home Department
Sociology
Shannon Ward
Shannon Ward
Assistant Professor
emailshannon.ward@ubc.ca
phone(250) 807-8695
Thematic Research Area
Diasporas and Transnationalism | Language, Literacy, and Linguistics | Refugees and Forced MigrationRESEARCH 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.
Thematic Research Area
Diasporas and Transnationalism | Language, Literacy, and Linguistics | Refugees and Forced MigrationGeography and Methods
AREAS: Asia and Asia-Pacific | AREAS: Canada | METHODS: Community-engaged research | METHODS: Qualitative MethodsHome Department
Community, Culture and Global Studies – UBC Okanagan
Suzanne Huot
Suzanne Huot
Assistant Professor
emailsuzanne.huot@ubc.ca
phone(604) 822-7395
Thematic Research Area
Integration and Inclusion | Language, Literacy, and Linguistics | Narratives and Politics of BelongingMy 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
Thematic Research Area
Integration and Inclusion | Language, Literacy, and Linguistics | Narratives and Politics of BelongingGeography and Methods
AREAS: Canada | METHODS: Community-engaged research | METHODS: Qualitative MethodsHome Department
Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy
Thomas Schneider
Thomas Schneider
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
Home Department
Ancient Mediterranean & Near Eastern Studies
Uma Kumar
Uma Kumar
Lecturer
phone(604) 822-6329
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
Thematic Research Area
Borders and Sovereignty | Diasporas and Transnationalism | Gender and Migration | Indigenous Studies | Narratives and Politics of Belonging | Refugees and Forced MigrationHome Department
Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies
Vince Hopkins
emailvince.hopkins@ubc.ca
Thematic Research Area
Democratic Theory and Practice | Federalism and Local Politics | Migration Policy and Politics | Public Management | Public OpinionVince 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
Thematic Research Area
Democratic Theory and Practice | Federalism and Local Politics | Migration Policy and Politics | Public Management | Public OpinionGeography and Methods
AREAS: Canada | METHOD: Experimental and casual inference | METHODS: Quantitative Methods | METHODS: Survey ResearchHome Department
Political Science
Xiaojun Li
Xiaojun Li
Associate Professor
emailxiaojun.li@ubc.ca
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
Geography and Methods
AREAS: Asia and Asia-Pacific | AREAS: Canada | AREAS: United States | METHODS: Quantitative Methods | METHODS: Survey ResearchHome Department
Political Science
Y-Dang Troeung
Y-Dang Troeung
In Memoriam: 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
Home Department
English Language & Literatures
Postdocs
Jennifer Ma
Jennifer Ma
Postdoctoral Fellow
emailjenn.ma@ubc.ca
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
Home Department
School of Social Work
Lisa Brunner
Previous research projects involved refugee settlement in the US and Canada, the definition and measurement of refugee 'integration,' and the development of cultural orientation material. I currently research the relationship between higher education and immigration policies. I work professionally i...Read more
Thematic Research Area
Economics of Migration | Gender and Migration | Immigration Politics and Policy | Integration and Inclusion | International Students | Labour Migration | Mobility Studies | Refugees and Forced Migration | Settler Colonialism and DecolonizationGeography and Methods
AREAS: Canada | AREAS: United States | METHODS: Community-engaged research | METHODS: Qualitative Methods | METHODS: Survey ResearchHome Department
Educational Studies
Monique Gagné
Monique Gagné
Research Associate
emailmonique.gagne@ubc.ca
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
Home Department
School of Population and Public Health
Shahin Kassam
Shahin Kassam
Postdoctoral Fellow
emailshahin.kassam@ubc.ca
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
Thematic Research Area
Climate Migration | Immigration and Refugee Law | Integration and Inclusion | Labour Migration | Migration and Race | Narratives and Politics of Belonging | Refugees and Forced Migration | Undocumented Migration and StatelessnessGeography and Methods
AREAS: Africa and the Middle East | AREAS: Asia and Asia-Pacific | AREAS: Caribbean | AREAS: Europe | AREAS: Latin America | METHODS: Community-engaged research | METHODS: Qualitative Methods | METHODS: Quantitative MethodsHome Department
School of NursingExecutive Committee
Alexia Bloch
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
Home Department
Anthropology
Amanda Cheong
Amanda Cheong
Assistant Professor
emailamanda.cheong@ubc.ca
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
Thematic Research Area
Citizenship | Immigration Politics and Policy | Integration and Inclusion | Labour Migration | Narratives and Politics of Belonging | Refugees and Forced Migration | Undocumented Migration and StatelessnessGeography and Methods
AREAS: Asia and Asia-Pacific | AREAS: Canada | AREAS: United States | METHODS: Community-engaged research | METHODS: Qualitative MethodsHome Department
Sociology
Antje Ellermann
Antje Ellermann
Professor | CMS Director
phone(604) 822-4359
location_onDepartment of Political Science
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
Thematic Research Area
Borders and Sovereignty | Citizenship | Immigration Politics and Policy | Indigenous Studies | Integration and Inclusion | Narratives and Politics of Belonging | Settler Colonialism and Decolonization | Undocumented Migration and StatelessnessGeography and Methods
AREAS: Canada | AREAS: Europe | AREAS: United States | METHODS: Community-engaged research | METHODS: Qualitative MethodsHome Department
Political Science
Antje Ziethen
Antje Ziethen
Assistant Professor
emailantje.ziethen@ubc.ca
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
Home Department
French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies
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
Thematic Research Area
Borders and Sovereignty | Gender and Migration | Immigration and Refugee Law | Immigration Detention | Immigration Politics and Policy | Migration and Race | Narratives and Politics of Belonging | Refugees and Forced Migration | Settler Colonialism and DecolonizationGeography and Methods
AREAS: Canada | AREAS: United States | METHODS: Community-engaged research | METHODS: Quantitative MethodsHome Department
Allard School of Law
Elizabeth "Biz" Nijdam
Elizabeth "Biz" Nijdam
Assistant Professor
emailbiz.nijdam@ubc.ca
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
Home Department
Central, Eastern, and Northern European Studies
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
Thematic Research Area
Culture and Migration | Diasporas and Transnationalism | Digital and Media Studies | Gender and Migration | History of Migration | Integration and Inclusion | Language, Literacy, and Linguistics | Mobility Studies | Narratives and Politics of Belonging | Public OpinionGeography and Methods
AREAS: Africa and the Middle East | AREAS: Asia and Asia-Pacific | AREAS: Europe | METHODS: Interpretive Humanities | METHODS: Qualitative Methods | METHODS: Research Creation and Interpretative ArtsHome Department
French, Hispanic, and Italian Studies
Geraldine Pratt
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
Home Department
Geography
Helena Zeweri
Helena Zeweri
Assistant Professor
emailhzeweri@mail.ubc.ca
Thematic Research Area
Citizenship | Culture and Migration | Diasporas and Transnationalism | Gender and Migration | Migration and Race | Mobility Studies | Settler Colonialism and DecolonizationUsing 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
Thematic Research Area
Citizenship | Culture and Migration | Diasporas and Transnationalism | Gender and Migration | Migration and Race | Mobility Studies | Settler Colonialism and DecolonizationHome Department
Anthropology
Matthew Wright
Matthew Wright
Associate Professor
I study political psychology, and in particular questions about how both political identities and core values influence peoples’ attitudes about immigrants, immigration policy and diversity more generally. My work has appeared in Comparative Political Studies, Journal of Ethnic and Migration St...Read more
Home Department
Political Science
Pasang Sherpa
Pasang Sherpa
Assistant Professor
emailpasang.sherpa@ubc.ca
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
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
Home Department
Sociology
Suzanne Huot
Suzanne Huot
Assistant Professor
emailsuzanne.huot@ubc.ca
phone(604) 822-7395
Thematic Research Area
Integration and Inclusion | Language, Literacy, and Linguistics | Narratives and Politics of BelongingMy 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
Thematic Research Area
Integration and Inclusion | Language, Literacy, and Linguistics | Narratives and Politics of BelongingGeography and Methods
AREAS: Canada | METHODS: Community-engaged research | METHODS: Qualitative MethodsHome Department
Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy
Vince Hopkins
emailvince.hopkins@ubc.ca
Thematic Research Area
Democratic Theory and Practice | Federalism and Local Politics | Migration Policy and Politics | Public Management | Public OpinionVince 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
Thematic Research Area
Democratic Theory and Practice | Federalism and Local Politics | Migration Policy and Politics | Public Management | Public OpinionGeography and Methods
AREAS: Canada | METHOD: Experimental and casual inference | METHODS: Quantitative Methods | METHODS: Survey ResearchHome Department
Political Science