Global and International Studies Building, 1008
Research Summary
My research is united by an interest in social boundary making processes at various scales and temporalities within the context of globalized modernity. Such processes delineate the boundaries between group insiders and outsiders, i.e., ‘us’ versus ‘them.’ I have done this by looking at international migration as an instance of social boundary making and ask how boundaries between groups emerge, shift, or are reinforced in immigrant-receiving societies. Much of my work has focused on Muslim immigrants in Europe. From these interests, three themes emerge in my published work: 1) the forces that shape the public’s attitudes toward immigrants; 2) the consequences of migrant mobilities for inclusion, social cohesion, and imagined national and civilizational borders; and 3) the way the boundary making processes above implicate histories of colonialism and resulting global inequalities. Such boundary making processes are clearly relevant today as several global conflicts attest to.
Educational Background
Ph.D., Sociology, Indiana University, 2016
J.D., Law, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2010
M.A., Linguistics, University of Texas at Austin, 2006
B.A., International Studies, University of Miami, 2001
Research Topics
- international migration
- public attitudes
- race and ethnicity
- Islamophobia
Representative Publications
Listed on my website here.