Race, Ethnicity & Migration

Scholars in this area study how racial, ethnic, and national identities are salient and stratifying forces in people’s lives and across societies. Processes of immigration, migration, and colonialism shape racial and ethnic diversity, inequality, and settlement in Canada and other nations. Studies by UBC faculty focus on experiences of migration, settlement, dispossession, and discrimination as well as the ways difference and hierarchy are politically constructed and historically produced. Studies focus on histories of colonial dispossession, the experiences of undocumented and stateless peoples, the lived experiences of racialized refugees settling in Canada, and attitudes toward immigration and political trust among different racial and ethnic groups.

Prof. Wendy Rother featured in CBC Radio on people ‘cherry picking’ from their DNA results

A study published last year by Professor Roth found that many people who use DNA testing services tend to “cherry pick” the results, embracing some elements of their genetic heritage while disregarding others.

PhD Student Jennifer Adkins featured in Global News on how race shapes personal relationships in Canada

Jennifer Adkins, PhD. Student in Sociology, was interviewed by Global News on how race shapes personal relationships in Canada.

Prof. Wendy Roth featured in a Vox video on DNA ancestry tests

Prof. Roth was interviewed by Vox on what DNA ancestry tests can and can’t tell you.

Postdoc Research Fellow Amira Halperin is hosting a talk on, “Integration of Middle Eastern Migrants to Canada through Media, Information and Communication Technologies”

This talk will explore the impact of media and technology on immigrants and refugees. The technological revolution has transformed the experiences of refugees throughout the stages of their journeys: pre-migration, in transit, and in their new surroundings.

Prof. Rima Wilkes featured in the Vancouver Sun on the systematic exclusion of groups of people

Prof. Rima Wilkes, who studies issues around radicalization and political resistance, explores how in Canada, groups of people have been systematically excluded.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow Amira Halperin co-edited a special issue on Diasporas from the Middle East

Along with Bahar Baser, Halperin explores displacement, transnational identities, and homeland politics.

Prof. Rima Wilkes co-authors an op-ed in The Conversation about racism in the media.

The Conversation published an op-ed by Rima Wilkes, a sociology professor at UBC. Wilkes and co-author Howard Ramos of Dalhousie wrote about racism in the media.

PhD Student Jennifer Adkins was awarded the Public Scholar’s Initiative (PSI) Award

Inaugurated in 2015, the UBC Public Scholars Initiative (PSI) is designed to support UBC doctoral students as they strive for purposeful social contribution, produce new and creative forms of scholarship and dissertations, and explore diverse career pathways. With the PSI, UBC seeks to assist PhD students as they rise to address complex challenges in new, […]

Professor Renisa Mawani releases new book

Renisa Mawani examines the historical and conceptual stakes of situating histories of Indian migration within maritime worlds in her new book, “Across Oceans of Law: The Komagata Maru and Jurisdiction in the Time of Empire.”

PhD Student Kyle Sutherland has won the Amanda Araba Ocran Memorial Award

The Amanda Araba Ocran Memorial Award is for a graduate student whose research focuses on issues of social justice and racial or economic inequality, or a critical analysis of our society and its socio-economic structures.