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Jennifer Leeman is a Professor at George Mason University , focusing on the sociopolitics of language, with emphasis on multilingualism, Spanish in the US, and heritage language education. Her interdisciplinary work bridges critical applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, education, Latinx studies, and linguistic anthropology. BA in Spanish, University of Pennsylvania MA in Hispanic Civilization, New York University in Madrid MAT in TESOL & Bilingual Education, Georgetown University PhD in Hispanic Linguistics, Georgetown University Her research examines: Language ideologies and racialization processes in censuses Antiracist pedagogical frameworks for Spanish teaching Multilingual policy analysis across education and governance Critical service-learning in heritage language contexts Recent publications analyze census categorization, language and immigration policies, and critical pedagogy implementation. She received a 2024-25 Fulbright Senior Scholar award for research at the University of Murcia, Spain, and a 2023-24 Residential fellowship at Mason's Center for Humanities Research. Key scientific contributions include: Pioneering the online graduate certificate in Spanish Heritage Language Education (2021) Leadership roles in AAAL, MLA, and Instituto Cervantes’ advisory committees Editorial board memberships across journals like Language Policy and Hispania Her 15 most recent articles (2018-2025) reveal trends in: Language-race-national identity intersections Census-driven ethnoracial classifications Antiracist pedagogy in language classrooms Heritage speaker identity dynamics Monolingual policy critiques Transnational demographic analysis Contact: jleeman@gmu.edu | Office: Horizon Hall 5132

• Sociolinguistics
• Language Policy
• Critical Applied Linguistics
• +6 more

Loïc Wacquant is a Professor at the University of Chicago in the Department of Sociology , College of Social Science. His research spans ethnography, social theory, urban marginality, and racial domination with a focus on the penal state and neoliberal governance. Academic Contributions: Expanded Bourdieu's habitus theory through carnal sociology in Body and Soul: Notebooks of an Apprentice Boxer (2022) and Journey to the Land of Boxers (2022). Conceptual Innovations: Developed 'thick construction' methodology and critiqued 'ethnographism' in The Poverty of the Ethnography of Poverty (2023). Sociopolitical Analysis: Mapped the caste-terror framework of Jim Crow in Jim Crow: Caste Terrorism in America (2024) and Racial Domination (2024), deconstructing 'race' as denegated ethnicity. Scientific Awards: Guggenheim Fellowship ASA Best Book Award for Body and Soul French Ministry of Defense Prix de la Recherche

• Ethnography
• Social Theory
• Urban Inequality
• +4 more

Michael Rodríguez-Muñiz is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, where he co-directs the Latinx Social Science Pipeline initiative and the Anticolonial Lab. He joined Berkeley's faculty through the Latinx and Democracy cluster, focusing on critical race and Latinx studies within academic and community contexts. His educational background includes: PhD in Sociology from Brown University MA in Sociology from the University of Illinois-Chicago BA in Political Science and Mexican and Caribbean Studies from Northeastern Illinois University His research centers on race, knowledge production, and temporality within Latinx communities, with emphasis on demographic politics, anticolonial movements, and Du Boisian theory . Current projects examine Puerto Rican diasporic resistance, state repression, and the political construction of population statistics, utilizing ethnographic and qualitative methodologies to challenge dominant demographic narratives. His publication portfolio reveals consistent engagement with Latinx political representation, demographic change discourse, and racial knowledge systems. Recent works critically analyze majority-minority projections, ethnoracial diversification attitudes, and the intersection of race with political trust, demonstrating methodological rigor through community-engaged scholarship. His award-winning book Figures of the Future: Latino Civil Rights and the Politics of Demographic Change (2021) received: Otis Dudley Duncan Book Award (2023) Mary Douglas Book Prize (2022) ASA Latino/a Section Best Book Award (2022) Charles Tilly Distinguished Book Award Honorable Mention (2022) As co-director of the Anticolonial Lab and Latinx Social Science Pipeline, Rodríguez-Muñiz bridges academic research with community action through initiatives like Digitizing the Barrio—a Puerto Rican community archive in Chicago—advancing anticolonial praxis and Latinx representation in knowledge production.

• Race and Ethnicity
• Sociology of Knowledge and Culture
• Latinx Politics and Identity
• +6 more

Dr. Jack Turban is an Assistant Professor of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine, where he serves as Director of the Gender Psychiatry Program. He is also Affiliate Faculty at The Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies. Dr. Turban is a leading researcher on transgender and gender diverse youth mental health, with his work cited in major court cases and legislative debates regarding transgender civil rights. Dr. Turban's educational background includes: BA in Neuroscience from Harvard College MD and MHS degrees from Yale School of Medicine General Psychiatry Residency at Massachusetts General Hospital/McLean Hospital (Harvard Medical School) Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at Stanford University School of Medicine, where he served as chief fellow Dr. Turban's research focuses on the mental health of transgender and gender diverse youth, with particular emphasis on how public policy affects this population. His groundbreaking work includes the first study linking gender identity conversion efforts to adverse mental health outcomes and the first study connecting access to pubertal suppression during adolescence to lower odds of suicidality among transgender adults. He is co-editor of the textbook "Pediatric Gender Identity: Gender-affirming Care for Transgender and Gender Diverse Youth" and has published in top journals including The New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, and JAMA Psychiatry. Analysis of Dr. Turban's recent publications reveals a consistent focus on transgender health policy, gender identity development, and the mental health impacts of gender-affirming care. His work spans multiple disciplines including psychiatry, public health, and policy research, with particular attention to legislative impacts on transgender youth healthcare access. Recent publications show increasing attention to specific aspects of transgender healthcare including pubertal suppression, gender identity conversion efforts, and health disparities among ethnoracial minority transgender populations. Dr. Turban has received several notable awards: US Preventative Health Service Excellence in Public Health Award NBC Pride 30 Innovator Dr. Turban is a frequent op-ed contributor to major media outlets including The New York Times and The Washington Post, and has been quoted over 100 times in media coverage of LGBTQ health issues. He teaches op-ed writing at Harvard and for professional organizations, and has consulted for the U.S. Department of Defense and major tech companies on LGBTQ mental health issues. He currently serves on the scientific advisory board for The Upswing Fund, created by Melinda Gates to support adolescent mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Turban is actively engaged with multiple professional organizations, serving on the media committee of The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, the communications council of The American Psychiatric Association, and the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports. His editorial roles include contributing editor for The Journal of The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and academic editor for PLoS One.

• Transgender Mental Health
• Gender Identity Research
• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• +3 more

Haley McAvay is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) within the Department of Sociology, based in room OLD.M2.09. Her research focuses on social inequalities impacting migrants and their descendants in European societies, utilizing quantitative methods to analyze migration, race/ethnicity, and spatial dynamics. Her expertise spans inequality between native and immigrant-origin populations, ethnoracial classification and identity, residential segregation, neighborhood effects, political behavior, and citizenship. She employs survey and census data with emphasis on longitudinal analysis to examine how spatial contexts shape socioeconomic and political outcomes, particularly in French contexts where she investigates discrimination discrepancies and structural barriers to integration. Recent publications (2018-2024) reveal consistent thematic focus across American Sociological Review, Journal of Politics, and Demography, with recurring examination of neighborhood effects on voter registration, citizenship trajectories, and ethnoracial segregation patterns. Her methodological approach emphasizes quantitative rigor in analyzing large-scale datasets to uncover trends in immigrant spatial incorporation and political disenfranchisement. McAvay teaches Advanced Social Theory and Advanced Social Research Methods while supervising MSc Dissertations in the MSc in Inequalities and Social Science program. She actively seeks PhD candidates interested in migration and inequality, ethnoracial discrimination, and residential segregation research, providing methodological guidance in quantitative analysis of spatial and longitudinal data.

• Inequality
• Migration
• Race and Ethnicity
• +3 more

Ariela Schachter is Associate Professor of Sociology at Washington University in St. Louis, serving as Department Associate Chair and Associate Director of the Weidenbaum Center. She holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University and specializes in immigration, race relations, and inequality. Her research employs experimental methods and computational text analysis to study public attitudes toward immigrants, racial classification, and neighborhood inequality. Current NSF-funded projects investigate information inequalities in online rental housing markets. Schachter has received prestigious awards including the Oliver Cox Cromwell Article Award (2022) and Louis Wirth Best Article Award (2017). Her work appears in leading journals such as American Sociological Review, PNAS, and Social Forces. She teaches courses on immigration sociology and quantitative methods while mentoring graduate students in causal inference techniques. As Graduate Diversity Officer, she develops initiatives to support underrepresented scholars.

• Immigration Studies
• Race Relations
• Social Inequality
• +1 more

Nikki Khanna is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Vermont's College of Arts and Sciences, specializing in race/ethnicity, social psychology, and multiracial identity. She earned her Ph.D. from Emory University in 2007. Her research investigates racial identity formation among biracial individuals, colorism in Asian American communities, and the role of race in adoption. She authored books including Biracial in America (2011), Whiter: Asian American Women on Skin Color and Colorism (2020), and Race Relations in America (2021). Her publications analyze racial socialization pedagogy, transnational adoption dynamics, and housing disparities affecting marginalized groups. Recent work critiques post-racial narratives through media analysis and explores identity negotiation strategies. She actively teaches courses on race relations, social identity, and inequality, emphasizing experiential learning and critical discourse analysis.

• Race and Ethnicity
• Multiracial Identity
• Colorism
• +2 more

Velichkovska Bojana is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies (FEIT) of the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje. Her research focuses on machine learning applications in healthcare, IoT security, and algorithmic bias detection. She actively contributes to addressing ethical challenges in clinical AI through studies on demographic bias in medical datasets and vital sign analysis. Her academic work spans over a decade, with notable contributions in: Machine learning for early cancer diagnosis 3D sign language animation systems IoT traffic classification Racial bias detection in healthcare algorithms Her recent publications emphasize critical analysis of AI fairness in clinical contexts, including groundbreaking work on how vital signs data can inadvertently encode racial biases. Methodologically, she combines computer vision techniques like image segmentation with advanced machine learning models to enhance algorithm transparency. Bojana maintains active collaboration with industry partners in developing wearable sensor systems for healthcare applications. Her pedagogical contributions include teaching advanced machine learning courses at FEIT and supervising multiple research teams in applied AI ethics.

• Machine Learning
• Healthcare Informatics
• Data Science
• +3 more

Dr. Sarah Bloch-Elkouby serves as an Assistant Professor in Clinical Psychology at Yeshiva University's Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology and holds a concurrent part-time Assistant Clinical Professor position in Psychiatry at Mount Sinai Behavioral Health Center. With over a decade of clinical experience in hospital settings, she integrates suicide prevention research with psychotherapy process studies to develop empirically supported interventions for high-risk populations. Her academic credentials include: PhD in Psychology from Derner School of Psychology at Adelphi University MA in Psychology from Derner School of Psychology at Adelphi University BSW from Weisfeld School of Social Work at Bar-Ilan University LLB in Law from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Dr. Bloch-Elkouby's research program bridges two interconnected domains: suicide prevention and psychotherapy process research. Her suicide prevention work focuses on developing AI-enhanced clinical training tools for suicide risk assessment among diverse populations, particularly adolescents from marginalized backgrounds. In psychotherapy research, she investigates therapeutic alliance dynamics, racial microaggressions in cross-cultural therapy, and mechanisms of treatment deterioration. Her innovative approach combines the Narrative-Crisis Model of Suicide with Alliance-Focused Training to create collaborative, destigmatizing intervention frameworks. Her recent publications demonstrate consistent focus on validating the Suicide Crisis Inventory across cultures, developing virtual human interaction tools for clinician training, and examining multicultural dynamics in therapy. These works employ advanced methodologies including machine learning, cross-cultural validation studies, and mixed-methods analyses of therapeutic interactions, establishing new paradigms for suicide risk assessment and culturally responsive care. Dr. Bloch-Elkouby's scientific recognition includes: Bergin and Garfield Emerging Scholar Award (2023-2024) from the Society for Psychotherapy Research Career Development Leadership Award (2019-2020) from the Anxiety and Depression Association of America Multiple graduate fellowships including the Sylvia Sanger Foundation Award for Psychotherapy Research She directs the Bloch-Elkouby Lab for Suicide Prevention & Psychotherapy Research, securing over $1.6 million in competitive grants including a $1.5 million American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Focus Grant as Co-investigator and a $90,000 Young Investigator Grant as Principal Investigator. Her lab actively mentors graduate students in grant-funded projects examining virtual patient technologies, multicultural therapy dynamics, and suicide risk prediction models. The Bloch-Elkouby Lab operates as a collaborative hub connecting Yeshiva University with Mount Sinai, international academic institutions, and community healthcare organizations. Current initiatives focus on developing observer-based coding schemes for ethnoracial microaggressions, validating suicide assessment tools across cultural contexts, and implementing AI-powered training for clinicians managing suicidal crises among diverse adolescent populations.

• Suicide Prevention
• Psychotherapy Process Research
• Multicultural Therapy
• +3 more

Eduardo Bonilla-Silva is the James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Duke University, affiliated with the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences. He holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1993), an M.A. from the same institution (1987), and a B.A. from the University of Puerto Rico (1984). His research focuses on systemic racism, color-blind racism, racial stratification, and the intersection of race with education, public health, and global scholarship. He has authored seminal works such as Racism Without Racists , challenging the myth of a post-racial society. Recent publications explore pandemic-era racial inequities, systemic racism measurement, and structural barriers in computing education. Prof. Bonilla-Silva has been recognized with prestigious awards, including the W.E.B. Du Bois Career Award (2023), Cox-Johnson-Frazier Award (2011), and Russell Sage Foundation Fellowship (2022–2023). He leads grants on topics like ethnoracial classification in Mexico and postdoctoral fellowships in computing education. His teaching includes courses on the sociology of racism and race-related research teams. Prof. Bonilla-Silva’s work emphasizes racialized social systems, advocating for structural interventions to address systemic inequality. He critiques color-blind ideologies and advocates for collective, policy-driven solutions to racial disparities.

• Sociology
• Racial Theory
• Systemic Racism
• +6 more

G. Cristina Mora is the Chancellor's Professor of Sociology and Chicano/Latino Studies (by courtesy) at UC Berkeley, serving as Co-Director of the Institute of Governmental Studies. Her research focuses on racial and ethnic categorization, inequality, and immigration, with notable work examining the construction of the 'Hispanic/Latino' panethnic identity in the U.S. She holds a B.A. (2003) and Ph.D. (2009) in Sociology from UC Berkeley and Princeton University, respectively. Her award-winning book *Making Hispanics* (2014) traces the socio-historical rise of the Hispanic/Latino category, earning accolades such as the ASA Best Dissertation Award and the 2018 Early Career Award. Current projects include *Normalizing Inequality: How Californians Make Sense of the Growing Divide* (with T. Paschel) and a mixed-methods study on race and political trust in the U.S. (with J. Dowling and M. Rodriguez-Muniz). Mora has received grants such as a $1M federal initiative for the *Latino Social Science Pipeline* and recognition for mentoring (2021 UCB Graduate Mentoring Award) and advancing equity (2022 Chancellor’s Award). She leads surveys on California’s political attitudes, including the 2020 IGS-COVID poll with 8,000+ respondents. Key Awards: ASA Best Dissertation Award, 2018 SREM Early Career Award Grants: $1M DoE grant (2023), Russell Sage Foundation funding Labs/Initiatives: Berkeley IGS Voter Poll, Latino Social Science Pipeline Her work bridges academia and public discourse through media contributions (NPR, LA Times) and advocacy for Latino representation in social sciences.

• Inequality
• Race and Ethnicity
• Immigration
• +3 more

Edward Telles is a distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Irvine. Previously, he held positions at the University of California, Santa Barbara; Princeton University; and UCLA. He currently serves as a Research Associate and board member at the Centre de Estudis Demogràfics in Barcelona, Spain. A member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, his research redefined global sociological perspectives beyond U.S.-centric racial paradigms, focusing on Latin America and Latino communities in the U.S. His research interests include race, ethnicity, social inequality, and immigration. He pioneered large-scale social surveys like the Project on Ethnicity and Race in Latin America (PERLA), analyzing ethnoracial dynamics through multi-country comparative studies. His work emphasizes pigmentocracies, intermarriage trends, and the intersection of economic status with racial identity. Telles’ publications explore themes such as skin color stratification in Brazil, misalignment between state and popular understandings of race in Mexico, and the impacts of U.S. census methodologies. His articles consistently bridge empirical data with theoretical frameworks, addressing global racial inequities and policy implications. His awards include membership in the Academy of Arts and Sciences. As a principal investigator, he leads interdisciplinary teams examining transnational racial dynamics. His future work expands on global ethnoracial classification systems and their societal impacts.

• Race and Ethnicity Studies
• Sociology of Inequality
• Latin American Studies
• +3 more

Chris Fowler is a Professor of Geography at Pennsylvania State University's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, with concurrent appointments in Demography and the Peter R. Gould Center for Geography Education and Outreach. He co-directs the GeoGraphics Lab and serves as Associate Head of Undergraduate Programs. Professor of Geography and Demography Co-Director, GeoGraphics Lab Associate Head of Undergraduate Programs His research examines how geographic boundaries shape socioeconomic outcomes, focusing on racial and income segregation , school district boundaries , congressional representation , and spatial poverty patterns . He employs spatial statistics and census data analysis to study segregation dynamics and boundary effects on inequality. Recent work includes optimized commuting zone delineations (2024), attendance zone impacts on school diversity (2024), and multiscale segregation analysis (2018). His publications reveal consistent focus on boundary-induced measurement uncertainty and its policy implications. As Director of the Peter R. Gould Center, he bridges geographic theory with practical applications in educational equity , voting rights analysis , and urban planning . He actively recruits graduate students for research in redistricting and segregation dynamics.

• Urban and Economic Geography
• Demographics
• Poverty Analysis
• +7 more

Carson Byrd is an Associate Research Scientist and LEO Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Michigan's Center for the Study of Higher & Postsecondary Education (CSHPE). His work focuses on systemic racism in higher education, STEM equity, and critical quantitative methods. Byrd holds a PhD and MA in Sociology from Virginia Tech and a BA from Mars Hill College. He previously served as a Senior Fellow at the National Center for Institutional Diversity and as an Associate Professor at the University of Louisville. His research examines racial disparities in STEM education, the impact of affirmative action bans, and the role of institutional microclimates in perpetuating inequities. Byrd has been funded by the National Science Foundation and Spencer Foundation and was a William T. Grant Fellow. He is the author of Behind the Diversity Numbers and co-editor of Intersectionality and Higher Education , with articles in high-impact journals like Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science and Equity & Excellence in Education . Byrd teaches courses on power, privilege, and race in higher education, including EDUC 672 and EDUC 873. His work bridges academia and public discourse, with essays in outlets like the Washington Post and Chronicle of Higher Education . Key Research Themes: Racialization in science, intersectionality, and policy impacts on marginalized groups Awards: William T. Grant Advanced Quantitative and Computational Scholar Grants: NSF, Spencer Foundation

• Higher Education Policy
• Racial Inequality
• STEM Equity
• +3 more

Cecilia Menjívar is a Distinguished Professor and Dorothy L. Meier Social Equities Chair in the Department of Sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Her research examines how state power, legal frameworks, and bureaucratic systems perpetuate structural inequalities, particularly for immigrants and women in Latin America and the U.S. She focuses on Central American migration, gender-based violence, and the interplay between law, policy, and everyday life. Education: Ph.D. and M.A. in Sociology (University of California, Davis), M.S. in International Education, and B.A. in Psychology and Sociology (University of Southern California). Research Focus: Structural inequality, immigration, gender-based violence, and state institutions. She analyzes how legal systems marginalize immigrants through policies like Arizona’s SB 1070 and Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and investigates state-created gender violence in Latin America. Article Trends: Recent work explores immigration bureaucracies, asylum policies, and autocracy’s global rise. Her articles bridge sociology, law, and political science, emphasizing state violence, migration crises, and gender dynamics. Scientific Awards: Jessie Bernard Award (2024), Public Understanding of Sociology Award (2024), W.E.B. DuBois Fellow (2023), Guggenheim Fellowship (2014), William J. Goode Outstanding Book Award (2001), and others. Grants: Recipient of the Andrew Carnegie Fellowship (2017) and other research funding for migration and gender violence studies. She also received multiple teaching and mentorship awards, including the Outstanding Doctoral Mentor Award (2011).

• Structural Inequality
• Immigration
• Gender-Based Violence
• +7 more