Program for Research on International Migration
The University of California at Irvine is a leading university in the study of international
migration. UCI has arguably the most scholars of international immigration in the
United States and probably the world. Spanning multiple disciplines in the Social
Sciences, Humanities, Medicine and Physical Sciences, UCI actively contributes to
understanding international migration in virtually all aspects of academic and human
life. A partial list of these scholars is listed below.
The Program for Research on International Migration (PRIM) includes the large subset of
UCI’s immigration scholars that carry out CPIP’s mission in population, inequality
and policy research. Specifically, PRIM’s purpose is to stimulate, plan and carry
out research on migration and immigration. In order to encourage and help develop
multi-investigator, multi-disciplinary, and interdisciplinary research projects, the
Program sponsors a number of activities, including meetings to discuss ideas for future
research projects, “brainstorming” and information sessions about research funding
opportunities, presentations of research findings and work in progress, seminars by
both UCI and external speakers, and workshops and conferences.
Examples of current or recent projects include studies examining:
- how immigration policies structure the lives of undocumented immigrants and their citizen family members (Enriquez)
- why some states make national citizenship accessible and others do not, and whether democratic pressure pushes states towards inclusion (Goodman)
- the immigration-crime nexus and considers the impact of immigration-related policy
on immigrants, immigrant families and immigrant communities (Kubrin)
- the disparate impacts of extreme wildfire events on undocumented Latino/a and Indigenous migrants (Mendez)
- how immigration status affects health outcomes among immigrant groups (Ro)
- The nature and extent of multiple kinds of incorporation among various second- and
later-generation groups (Telles)
Scholars contributing to PRIM use a variety of methods to conduct their research.
A subset conduct research aligning with the efforts of scholars who are affiliated
with the Center for Population, Inequality, and Policy (CPIP). To learn more about
CPIP, see the About webpage.
Frequently Asked Questions for University Employees About Possible Federal Immigration
Enforcement Actions on University Property
Director
- Distinguished Professor
Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, 1988
- immigration, race, ethnicity, latin america, latinos
- Social Science Plaza A, Room 4171 | (949) 824-6800
- e.telles@uci.edu
- Website
- CV
Scholars
- Assistant Professor, Economics
Ph.D., University of Oxford
- health, economic history, labor, development
- SSPB 3209 | 949-824-2182
- varthi@uci.edu
- Website
- CV
- Professor, Film and Media Studies
- Website
Susan Bibler Coutin
- Professor
Ph.D., Stanford University, 1990
- law, culture, immigration, human rights, citizenship, political activism, central
america
- SE2 3375 | 949-824-1447
- scoutin@uci.edu
Anke Biendarra
- Associate Professor, European Languages and Studies
Bernadette Boden-Albala
- Professor and Dean, Public Health
Ph.D., Columbia University
- 3082 Anteater Instruction and Research Building | 949-824-5735
- bbodenal@hs.uci.edu
- Professor and Chair
Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 2003
- culture, relationships, positive emotion, health
- SST 395 | 949-824-1792
- bcampos@uci.edu
- Website
- Lab
- Professor, Chicano/Latino Studies & History
Ph.D. United States Latina and Latin American History, University of California, San
Diego, 2011
- post-revolutionary cuban migration to u.s., symbolic uses of childhood in cuba and
cuban dispora, american politics and society
- Website
- Distinguished Professor Emeritus
Ph.D., Stanford University, 1982
- migration, media, discourse analysis, visual semiotics, medicine
- 3315 Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway
- lchavez@uci.edu
- Website
- CV
- Professor
Ph.D., Cornell University
- food, asian-american history, late 19th and 20th century american social and cultural
history, immigration history, china-u.s. economic and cultural interactions
- Krieger Hall 253 | 949-824-5557
- y3chen@uci.edu
- Website
- Professor
Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, 1993
- ethnic politics, latino politics, immigration, naturalization, u.s. electoral politics
- SSPB 5283 | 949-824-1420
- ldesipio@uci.edu
- Website
- CV
- Associate Professor
Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, 2014
- undocumented 1.5 generation young adults, immigration, citizenship, Latino families
- SST 387 | 949-824-6190
- laura.enriquez@uci.edu
- Website
- Assistant Professor, English
- Website
Rachel Goldberg
- Associate Professor & Director of DASA
Ph.D., Brown University, 2012
- health, social demography, family, children and youth, gender, migration
- SSPB 4289 | 949-824-9683
- goldber1@uci.edu
- CV
- Department Chair and Professor
Ph.D., Georgetown University, 2009
- citizenship, immigrant integration, identity
- SSPB 5257 | 949-824-0642
- swgood@uci.edu
- Website
- UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the Program of Public Health (Health, Society,
& Behavior)
Ph.D., UC Berkeley, 2023
- ayharo@hs.uci.edu
- Website
- Professor, Gender and Sexuality Studies
- Website
- Assistant Professor, Film and Media Studies
- Website
- Professor, Political Science and Asian American Studies
Ph.D., Yale University
- race, asian american politics, black politics, social movements, immigration, human-animal
studies
- SSPB 3251 | 949-824-3192
- cjkim@uci.edu
- Website
- Professor and Director of Graduate Admissions, Anthropology
Ph.D., New York University, 2007
- kinship, transnationalism, environment, korea
- SBSG 3332
- eleanak@uci.edu
- Website
- Professor, Criminology, Law & Society
- crime, neighborhood effects and social processes, race/ethnicity and violence, immigration
and crime
- SE2 3379 | 949-824-0704
- ckubrin@uci.edu
- Website
Génesis Lara
- Assistant Professor
Ph.D., University of California, Davis
- African diaspora studies, Caribbean history and diaspora studies, postcolonial and
revolutionary studies
- 355 Social Science Tower
- genesil1@uci.edu
- Professor, English
Ph.D., University of Arizona
- sociolinguistics of globalization, critical applied linguistics, cultural theory
- 301 HIB
- jwl@uci.edu
- Website
- Senior Lecturer, Asian American Studies School of Humanities Senior Lecturer, Sociology
School of Social Sciences
Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
- race, ethnic, and minority relations; economy and society
- 1408 Biological Sciences 3 | (949) 824-7164
- jmliu@uci.edu
- Website
- Associate Professor
Ph.D., Harvard University
- Europe, feminist ethnography, elites, race, the Right, liberalism, migration, secrecy
- SBSG 3312
- lmahmud@uci.edu
- Website
Mirian Martinez-Aranda
- Assistant Professor
Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, 2021
- international migration, immigration detention, law and society, race and ethnicity
- 4223 Social Science Plaza B
- miriangm@uci.edu
Mary McThomas
- Associate Professor
Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, 2007
- immigration, theories of citizenship, feminist political theory, gender and politics
- SSPB 5285
- mary.mcthomas@uci.edu
- Associate Professor, Psychological Science
- Website
Brittany Morey
- Assistant Professor, Health Sciences and Public Health
- 2071-B Anteater Instruction and Research Building | 949-824-6780
- bmorey1@uci.edu
- Professor, Planning, Policy & Design
- urban sociology, politics and policy, social movements, immigration, comparative urbanism,
theory, planning conflicts
- SE1 215C | 949-824-6323
- wnicholl@uci.edu
- Website
Brenda Nicolas
- Assistant Professor
Ph.D, Chicana/o and Central American Studies, University of California, Los Angeles
M.A., Latin American Studies, University of California, San Diego
B.A., Latin American Studies and Sociology, University of California, Riverside
- Indigenous studies, comunalidad, latin america, latinx studies, settler colonialism,
migration/transborder/intergenerational studies, mexico, gender and youth studies,
critical ethnography, oral histories, community-engaged methods
- 539 Social Science Tower
- nicolasb@uci.edu
- Professor in the Department of Criminology, Law, and Society | School of Social Ecology
Ph.D., University of Maryland at College Park
M.A., University of Maryland at College Park
- policing, sentencing, and the impact of local public policies on criminal behavior
- (949) 824-7929
- egowens@uci.edu
- Website
- CV
- Assistant Professor, Asian American Studies
- Website
- Professor, Comparative Literature
- Website
- Associate Professor, Planning, Policy & Design
- urban sociology, immigration, race/ethnicity, sociology of education and social policy
- SE1 212B | 949-824-5880
- mgrendon@uci.edu
- Website
- Associate Professor, Health, Society and Behavior
- Website
- Assistant Professor
Ph.D., American Studies, Harvard University, 2022
- latinx and black latinx studies, theater and performance studies, pre-1900 u.s. literary
and cultural history, relational studies of race and ethnicity, disability studies,
archival theory, feminist and queer of color critique, digital humanities
- 359 Social Science Tower
- crodelo@uci.edu
- Website
- Pronouns: they / he
Nancy Rodriguez
- Professor of Criminology, Law and Society
Ph.D., Washington State University
- race, crime, and justice; juvenile justice; collateral consequences of imprisonment;
criminal justice policy
- 3305 Social Ecology 2 | 949-824-4841
- rodrign6@uci.edu
- Active Associate Dean, Faculty Development and Diversity & Inclusive Excellence Professor
Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, 2012
- international migration, immigrant and ethnic economies, urban sociology, qualitative
methods, ethnography, latino/a studies, race and ethnicity, immigrant detention
- SSPA 4109 | 949-824-5859
- r.rosales@uci.edu
- Website
- CV
Kamal Sadiq
- Associate Professor, Political Science
Ph.D., The University of Chicago
- comparative politics, international relations, immigration and citizenship in developing
countries, asian security, india and southeast asia
- SSPB 5263 | 949-824-3126
- kamal@uci.edu
- Distinguished Professor
Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, 1988
- immigration, race, ethnicity, latin america, latinos
- Social Science Plaza A, Room 4171 | (949) 824-6800
- e.telles@uci.edu
- Website
- CV
- Professor Emeritus of Urban Planning | UCI School of Social Ecology
Ph.D. Administration, Planning and Social Policy, Claremont Graduate School, 1983
- heterodox political economy, the impact of climate change on refugees and asylum seekers,
Mexican American Labor and Class politics, U.S. urban economic restructuring, cooperatives,
and Los Angeles Studies
- 232C Social Ecology 1
- rudolphd@uci.edu
- Website
- Assistant Professor of Criminology, Law, and Society
Ph.D., Harvard University
- immigration, sociology of education, race and ethnicity, youth and families, social
movements
- c.valdivia@uci.edu
- Website
- Assistant Professor
Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, 2017
- international migration, racial group formation, socio-legal studies, educational
inequality
- SSPB 4275 | 949.824.5195
- ivega@uci.edu
- Website
- CV
- Assistant Professor, Education
- Website
- Assistant Professor
Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison
- comparative political economy, development, social welfare
- SSPB 5253
- s.vortherms@uci.edu
- Website
- Professor
Ph.D. History, Stanford
- Asian American Studies, race, empire, Pacific World, social movements, women, gender,
intersectionality
- Humanities Gateway 3120 | 949-824-9596
- j.wu@uci.edu
- Website
Graduate Students
Shannon Bae
- Graduate Student
M.A., University of California, Irvine
M.A., Hanyang University
B.A., Millikin University
- family, kinship, (trans)national belonging, gender, and South Korea
- shannon2@uci.edu
Tauhid Sayeed Bin Kashem
- Graduate Student
B.A., Amherst College
M.A., Johns Hopkins University
- refugee policy, international regimes, state capacity, bureaucratic politics, political
organizations
- SSPB 5282
- tbinkash@uci.edu
Maira Delgado Laurens
- Graduate Student
M.A., Migration Studies, University of San Francisco, 2021
B.A., Sociology, University of California Davis, 2015
- 507 Social Science Tower
- mairad@uci.edu
Nasim Fekrat
- Graduate Student
M.A., Anthropology, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2020
M.A., Religious Studies, University of Georgia, 2018
B.A., Political Science, Dickinson College, 2013
- nationalism; transnationalism and diaspora; colonial and postcolonial studies; genocide
studies; wars, empires and refugees; surrveillence and militarism; global war on terror;
Afghanistan, South Asia and the Middle east
- nfekrat@uci.edu
Brian Joseph Flores
- Graduate Student in English
M.A., English, University Of California, Irvine, 2019
- Latino/a American Literature, Hemispheric American Studies, 20th and 21st Century
American Literature, Transnational Identities, Cultural Studies
- brianjf@uci.edu
Jose Jesus Gutierrez
- Graduate Student
B.A., UC Santa Barbara
- race/ethnicity, immigration, education, social inequality, and mobility
- jjgutie6@uci.edu
- Graduate Student
M.A., Sociology, University of California, Irvine
B.A., Sociology, Peking University
B.A., Economics, Peking University
- Social Networks, Migration, Demography, Inequality, Mathematical Sociology, Methodology
- phuang5@uci.edu
- Website
- CV
Sofia Jaime
- Graduate Student
M.A. Social Sciences, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
B.A. Sociology, Universidad de Buenos Aires
- sofiaj2@uci.edu
- Graduate Student
M.F.A., Creative Writing, Cornell University
Certificate in Culture and Media, New York University
B.A., Chicano/Latino Studies, Stanford University
- citizenship and non-citizenship, biometric identification, state violence, border
and migration studies, social movement theory, chicanx/latinx studies, critical race
and ethnic studies, multimodal anthropology
- orlandl@uci.edu
- Website
Woo Jung (Amy) Lee
- Postdoctoral Fellow, UC Irvine Program in Public Health | Health, Society, & Behavior
Ph.D., University of Southern California
- wool2@hs.uci.edu
- Graduate Student
M.A., Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences
B.A., Bowdoin College
- Website
- Graduate Student, Public Health
MPH, Applied Epidemiology, , 2021
Ph.D. Candidate, UC Irvine Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health
- Behavioral risk factors and management of chronic diseases in Latino and Black adults
- celinm1@uci.edu
- Website
Martha Arhemi Morales Hernandez
Edward Kenneth Lazaro Nadurata
- Graduate Student
M.A., Asian American Studies, University of California, Los Angeles, 2019
B.A., Ethnic Studies and Political Science, University of California, San Diego, 2017
- aging and retirement, reproductive labor, mobilities, migration, Filipino Studies,
Disability Studies
- 531 Social Science Tower
- enadurat@uci.edu
Guillermo Paez Gallardo
- Graduate Student
B.A., University of California, Irvine
Jenniffer Cecilia Perez Lopez
Jozef Callán Robles
- Graduate Student
M.A., California State University, Fullerton
- Immigration, socio-legal studies, race/ethnicity, racialization, qualitative methods
- roblescu@uci.edu
Maribel Sandoval Contreras
- Graduate Student, Social Ecology
Master's, California State University, Northridge, 2020
- maribs3@uci.edu
- Graduate Student
B.A. International Studies, American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
- amaansid@uci.edu
- Website
Jessica Taghvaiee
- Graduate Student
M.A., Political Science, University of California, Irvine
B.A., Political Science and Spanish-Latin American Studies, Westminster College
- U.S. and comparative immigration politics, race/ethnicity and gender, Latinx and indigenous
politics, citizenship and borders, social media activism, and political participation/behavior
- jtaghvai@uci.edu
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