Headlines

IIR Graduate Research Assistant, Anand Cherian’s recent article, “Middle-class Indian students: Migration recruiters and aspirations” was published in Population, Space and Place. Using ethnographic research as well as conducting in-depth and narrative biographical interviews, this article explores the perspectives of Indian middle-class aspirations regarding international migration and how they navigate educational mobility.

On September 23, 2024, the Department of Religious Studies hosts its third annual distinguished lecture in Judaic Studies. Aaron Dorfman, executive director of A More Perfect Union, will speak on "American Jews, American Democracy."

The Institute for Immigration Research (IIR) is excited to welcome Elyse Adams as program coordinator beginning in August 2024. Elyse has worked as an administrative assistant for the IIR since January of 2024, performing logistical, organizational, and operational duties for the institution while completing her graduate degree.

This year, George Mason University’s Sociology and Anthropology Department hosted a table in the Middle Atlantic Archaeological Conference bookroom to spread the word about the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and our Bioarchaeology program.

Mohamed Mohamed (PhD Candidate in Sociology) has been awarded the Student Paper Prize at the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES) annual conference. The winning paper, which is a chapter of Mohamed’s PhD dissertation (co-advisors: John Dale and Lester Kurtz) , was originally presented at the BRISMES annual conference in July 2023.

The Spring 2024 cohort of Next System Fellows is now open for applications, offering a unique path to realizing your ambitions. Creating a new world system is our ultimate goal and the focus of our research.

Laurie Schintler, Associate Professor, Schar School of Policy and Government, is set to receive funding from the National Science Foundation for the project: "Perceptions of Efficiency and Bias in Peer Review: Algorithmic versus Human Decision Making." This project is a collaboration between the Schar School of Policy and Government (GMU) and the Department of Sociology and Anthropology (CHSS-GMU). The investigators on the team include: PI Laurie A. Schintler; Co-PI Connie L. McNeely, Professor, Schar School of Policy and Government; and Co-PI James Witte, Professor, Sociology, Sociology and Anthropology; Director, Institute for Immigration Research.

James C. Witte, Professor, Sociology, Director, Institute for Immigration Research (IIR), and Michelle S. Dromgold-Sermen, Assistant Director, IIR, received funding for: "Refugee Resettlement and STEM Education." This conference will focus on how STEM-oriented educational opportunities through high schools, registered apprenticeships, community college, and four-year institutions can all play a significant role in addressing urgent humanitarian needs, while also expanding the nation’s STEM workforce.

Fellows from the Youth Research Council (YRC) presented on a paper panel at the annual meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society (ESS) in February of 2023 in Baltimore, MD! YRC's paper, titled "Youth Research Councils: youth-led research and social change", authored by the YRC leadership team, was part of the paper session "Coming of Age: Racism and Young People."

Youth Research Council fellows attended the 2023 annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). There, fellows presented a poster detailing the research project YRC has been conducting for the last two years, which asked the research questions: 1. What are the mental health effects of racial and ethnic microagggressions on high school students in Northern Virginia? and 2. How do high school students respond to and resist racial and ethnic microaggressions in school contexts?