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.

PhD candidate Yijia Zhang among 2022 Microsoft Research PhD Fellowship recipients

Zhang received the fellowship within the Race & Technology stream. Her research focuses on examining ethnic community members’ motivations and experiences of working at ethnic platforms.

Prof. Karimi to speak as part of the Center for Migration Studies New Voices Speaker Series on November 7th

In his lecture, Prof. Karimi aims to address the theoretical impasse faced by migration studies by examining existing assimilation theories against the Popperian scientific criteria.

Prof. Lauster comments on likely housing policy evolution in aftermath of Vancouver’s municipal election for the Vancouver Sun

Prof. Lauster told the Vancouver Sun it is not likely the new ABC council will entertain proposals endorsed by centre-left parties, but will presumably back more developments along major streets.

Celebrating our Faculty’s Recent Publications

Last month, UBC Sociology held a Book Launch Party to celebrate some of our faculty who published new books during the pandemic. After a long time of doing research and writing remotely, it was wonderful to come together to share what we had learned.

Study abroad with a Global Seminar in Guatemala

Study Power and Oppression and Theories of Civil Society on location in rural Guatemala! UBC Professors Sylvia Berryman (Philosophy) and Thomas Kemple (Sociology) are teaming up once again with Go Global to offer a unique encounter with global systems, oppression, poverty, and civil society activism.

Prof. Aryan Karimi to deliver talk “Reconsidering the Origins of Assimilation Theories” as part of the Center for Migration Studies New Voices Speaker Series

In his lecture, Prof. Karimi aims to address the theoretical impasse faced by migration studies by examining existing assimilation theories against the Popperian scientific criteria.

Watch: Dr. Allison Pugh’s Distinguished Speaker Lecture

Thanks to Dr. Allison Pugh for kicking off our 2022/2023 Distinguished Speaker Series with her lecture, “The Stratification of Human Contact: The Present and Future of Connective Labour.”

Prof. Musto comments on the separation of sport by gender in recent Atlantic piece

Prof. Musto argued that “part of the reason why we have this belief that boys are inherently stronger than girls, and even the fact that we believe that gender is a binary, is because of sport itself, not the other way around”.

Prof. Wilkes co-authors paper on cultural and institutional theories of trust for Socius Journal

The paper “Can Bureaucrats Break Trust? Testing Cultural and Institutional Theories of Trust with Chinese Panel Data” aims to test cultural and institutional theories using data from three waves of the China Family Panel Studies, assessing how political and social trust respond to treatment by public officials that respondents consider unfair.

Prof. Aryan Karimi writes op-ed for The Conversation, discussing the failure of implementing multiculturalism techniques in Europe as compared to Canada

Prof. Karimi’s piece argues the transplantation of Canadian style multiculturalism is bound to fail in European countries characterized by monoculturalism, lest a a new form of multi-ethnicity make a comeback in the region.