Immigration

Department of Sociology
University of California, Irvine
2007-08
Overview

International migration is a burgeoning field in sociology, and the UCI's immigration program in sociology ranks among the best in the world. Renowned faculty members work with graduate students on a variety of funded projects, focusing in particular on how immigrants are incorporated into the United States. Through brown-bag seminars at the Center for Research in Immigration, Population, and Public Policy , faculty and students throughout the social sciences share their research. Research is wide-ranging, multi-method, and interdisciplinary. Among the full listing of funded projects are studies of:

•  Intergenerational mobility in metropolitan Los Angeles. This is a three-year, mixed-methods project involving a large-scale survey, in-depth oral histories, and targeted ethnographies. The study examines how the adult offspring of immigrants are faring in terms of education, jobs, living arrangements, ethnic identity, political participation and a host of other indicators of social and economic mobility.

•  Racial and ethnic diversity, intermarriage, and m ultiracial identification, based on interviews with multiracial families and census data.

•  Ways that 9/11 has affected the incorporation of Arab-Americans.

•  Naturalization and immigrant public assistance.

•  The children of immigrants. This longitudinal survey, now in its third wave, is following respondents through early adulthood.

 

FACULTY

Stanley R. Bailey Latin America, race and ethnicity, religion, US-Mexico border	Jennifer Lee race & ethnicity, international migration, social inequality, urban sociology, Asian American studies
Frank Bean international migration, demography, racial & ethnic relations, economic sociology, family	John Liu race & ethnicity, social theory
Susan Brown* immigration, inequality, urban sociology	Jen'nan Read gender, ethnicity, religion, health, Arab Americans, U.S. Muslims

Cynthia Feliciano race/ethnicity/minority relations, migration and immigration, education	Rubén G. Rumbaut international migration, the "1.5" generation, comparative race and ethnic relations, structural inequality, identity, health and mental health
Lin Freeman social networks, quantitative methods

* Cluster coordinator

 

For this year's schedule of The Center for Research on Immigration, Population and Public Polcity Talks, click here.

 

FIELD EXAMS & GRADUATE COURSES

To take the field exam in immigration, students must take three of the core courses in migration. These core courses are:

•  Immigrant America (Rumbaut). Focuses on theories of migration and the contexts of reception.
•  Immigrant Group Incorporation (Bean/Brown) Focuses on conceptualizations of incorporation, theories of immigrant group incorporation, and research results about incorporation.
•  Immigration and the New Second Generation (Lee). Focuses on the sociocultural and economic incorporation of immigrants and the new second generation.
•  Comparative International Migration (Liu).

In addition, we recommend that majors take at least one specialized seminar, such as Mexican migration and U.S. policy, and one class in a related field, such as race/ethnicity or population.

Two Year Teaching Plan (subject to change, check with the department or a cluster coordinator)

• Immigrant America -- Rumbaut (offered annually in fall)
• Immigrant Group Incorporation -- Bean/Brown (annually in winter)
• Immigration and the New Second Generation -- Lee/Feliciano (annually in winter, but will not be taught in 2008)
• Comparative Immigration -- Liu (annually, but quarter varies; will be taught in spring 2008)
• Mexican Migration and U.S. Policy -- Bean (biennially; offered fall 2007)
• Race/Ethnicity and Immigration -- Lee (biennially; not offered 2007-08)
• Community and Immigration -- Brown (new in spring 2008)
• Immigration and Gender -- Read/Bean (new in 2008-09)

[top]