The leadership committee is comprised of the following positions: Chair, Treasurer, and Webmaster. Every year, this group elects students to fill leadership roles. Our fearless leaders for the Fall 2021 – Spring 2022 are listed below.

FALL 2022 – SPRING 2023

Xuemeng Li is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at the Graduate Center. She holds a BA and MA in Sociology from Nanjing University and a graduate certificate in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University SAIS program at the Nanjing Center. As an immigrant herself, she studies Black-Asian relations and immigration in non-traditional immigration countries. Her dissertation research project “Seeing Africans in China” is funded by the 2020 GC Pre-dissertation Fellowship. She also publishes on drug and tobacco substance use. Xuemeng is serving as the co-Chair for the Fall 2022 – Spring 2023 term.

 

Bonnie H. Ip is a doctoral student in Sociology at the Graduate Center. Her scholarly interests revolve around issues of immigrant ethnic group boundaries and national belonging in relation to everyday experiences in family and community life. She is currently conducting interviews with the adult second-generation descendants of post-1965 immigrants comparing the experiences of Arab-Americans with those of East Asian-Americans. Bonnie is serving as the co-Chair and Treasurer for the Fall 2022 – Spring 2023 term.

 

Ivana Mellers is a Ph.D. candidate in the Sociology program at the Graduate Center. Her research interests include immigrant self-employment, the second generation, and Latinx workers in the U.S. food system. She is currently working on her dissertation on how Latinx small food business founders in New York are adapting during the pandemic. Previously, Ivana conducted ethnographic research on the social impact of UNESCO World Heritage status in Valparaíso, Chile as a Fulbright scholar. Ivana is serving as the Webmaster for the Fall 2022 – Spring 2023 term.

FALL 2021 – SPRING 2022

Xuemeng Li is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at the Graduate Center. She holds a BA and MA in Sociology from Nanjing University and a graduate certificate in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University SAIS program at the Nanjing Center. As an immigrant herself, she studies Black-Asian relations and immigration in non-traditional immigration countries. Her dissertation research project “Seeing Africans in China” is funded by the 2020 GC Pre-dissertation Fellowship. She also publishes on drug and tobacco substance use. Xuemeng is serving as the co-Chair for the Fall 2021 – Spring 2022 term.

 

Bonnie H. Ip is a doctoral student in Sociology at the Graduate Center. Her scholarly interests revolve around issues of immigrant ethnic group boundaries and national belonging in relation to everyday experiences in family and community life. She is currently conducting interviews with the adult second-generation descendants of post-1965 immigrants comparing the experiences of Arab-Americans with those of East Asian-Americans. Bonnie is serving as the co-Chair and Treasurer for the Fall 2021 – Spring 2022 term.

 

Ivana Mellers is a Ph.D. candidate in the Sociology program at the Graduate Center. Her research interests include immigrant self-employment, the second generation, and Latinx workers in the U.S. food system. She is currently working on her dissertation on how Latinx small food business founders in New York are adapting during the pandemic. Previously, Ivana conducted ethnographic research on the social impact of UNESCO World Heritage status in Valparaíso, Chile as a Fulbright scholar. Ivana is serving as the Webmaster for the Fall 2021 – Spring 2022 term.

 

FALL 2020 – SPRING 2021

Daeshin Hayden Ju is a Ph.D. candidate in the Sociology program at the Graduate Center. Her research interests include immigration, race/ethnicity, and family. Currently, she is working on a dissertation project that examines how Asian-White interracial couples experience race and ethnicity in their everyday lives. Please check out this page for more detail about her project. Hayden is serving as the co-Chair for the Fall 2020 – Spring 2021 term.

 

Janina L. Selzer is a doctoral student in Sociology at the Graduate Center. Her research looks at how racial and gender inequalities become inscribed in urban spaces. She is currently working on a cross-cultural project that analyzes how Iraqi refugees develop a sense of belonging in de-industrialized cities in Germany and the U.S. As an Advanced Research Collaborative (ARC) Fellow, Janina investigates the convergence of feminist and New Right anti-immigrant discourses. Janina is serving as the co-Chair for the Fall 2020 – Spring 2021 term.

 

Bonnie H. Ip is a doctoral student in Sociology at the Graduate Center. Her scholarly interests revolve around issues of immigrant ethnic group boundaries and national belonging in relation to everyday experiences in family and community life. She is currently conducting interviews with the adult second-generation descendants of post-1965 immigrants comparing the experiences of Arab-Americans with those of East Asian-Americans. Bonnie is serving as the Treasurer for the Fall 2020 – Spring 2021 term.

 

Karen Okigbo is a Ph.D. candidate in the Sociology program at the Graduate Center. Her research focuses on the assimilation and acculturation experiences of Nigerian immigrants in the United States. Karen currently teaches at the City College of New York. In addition, she serves as a Senior Quantitative Research Associate at CUNY’s Center for Latin American, Caribbean & Latino Studies (CLACLS) and a Research Fellow at the Office of Research, Evaluation & Program Support (REPS). Karen is serving as the Webmaster for the Fall 2020 – Spring 2021 term.

 

FALL 2019 – SPRING 2020

Daeshin Hayden Ju is a Ph.D. candidate in the Sociology program at the Graduate Center. Her research interests include immigration, race/ethnicity, and family. Currently, she is working on a dissertation project that examines how Asian-White interracial couples experience race and ethnicity in their everyday lives. Please check out this page for more detail about her project. Hayden is serving as the co-Chair for the Fall 2019 – Spring 2020 term.

 

Janina L. Selzer is a doctoral student in Sociology at the Graduate Center. Her research looks at how racial and gender inequalities become inscribed in urban spaces. She is currently working on a cross-cultural project that analyzes how Iraqi refugees develop a sense of belonging in de-industrialized cities in Germany and the U.S. As an Advanced Research Collaborative (ARC) Fellow, Janina investigates the convergence of feminist and New Right anti-immigrant discourses. Janina is serving as the co-Chair for the Fall 2019 – Spring 2020 term.

 

Bonnie H. Ip is a doctoral student in Sociology at the Graduate Center. Her scholarly interests revolve around issues of immigrant ethnic group boundaries and national belonging in relation to everyday experiences in family and community life. She is currently conducting interviews with the adult second-generation descendants of post-1965 immigrants comparing the experiences of Arab-Americans with those of East Asian-Americans. Bonnie is serving as the Treasurer for the Fall 2019 – Spring 2020 term.

 

Karen Okigbo is a Ph.D. candidate in the Sociology program at the Graduate Center. Her research focuses on the assimilation and acculturation experiences of Nigerian immigrants in the United States. Karen currently teaches at the City College of New York. In addition, she serves as a Senior Quantitative Research Associate at CUNY’s Center for Latin American, Caribbean & Latino Studies (CLACLS) and a Research Fellow at the Office of Research, Evaluation & Program Support (REPS). Karen is serving as the Webmaster for the Fall 2019 – Spring 2020 term.

 

 

FALL 2018 – SPRING 2019

Vadricka Etienne is a Ph.D. candidate in the Sociology program at the Graduate Center. Her research focuses on the racial and ethnic experiences of the children of black immigrants. More specifically, her work examines the ethnic socialization practices of second generation Haitian Americans living in Miami, FL to explore the continuance of ethnic culture into the third generation. Vadricka is serving as the Co-chair for the Fall 2018 – Spring 2019 term.

 

Sejung Sage Yim is a PhD student in the Sociology program at the Graduate Center. Her main research interests include immigration, race and ethnicity, and transnationalism focusing on contemporary immigrants’ experiences in the United States. Sejung currently teaches at Queens College, and she also works part-time at the Research Center for Korean Community (RCKC) at Queens College, where she is involved in various quantitative and qualitative projects related to the Korean American population. Sejung is serving as the Co-chair for the Fall 2018 – Spring 2019 term.

 

Bonnie H. Ip is a doctoral student in Sociology at the Graduate Center. Her scholarly interests revolve around issues of immigrant ethnic group boundaries and national belonging in relation to everyday experiences in family and community life. She is currently conducting interviews with the adult second-generation descendants of post-1965 immigrants comparing the experiences of Arab-Americans with those of East Asian-Americans. Bonnie is serving as the Treasurer for the Fall 2018 – Spring 2019 term.

 

Karen Okigbo is a Ph.D. candidate in the Sociology program at the Graduate Center. Her research focuses on the assimilation and acculturation experiences of Nigerian immigrants in the United States. Karen currently teaches at the City College of New York. In addition, she serves as a Senior Quantitative Research Associate at CUNY’s Center for Latin American, Caribbean & Latino Studies (CLACLS) and a Research Fellow at the Office of Research, Evaluation & Program Support (REPS). Karen is serving as the Webmaster for the Fall 2018 – Spring 2019 term.

 

 

 

 

FALL 2017 – SPRING 2018

Bonnie H. Ip is a doctoral student in Sociology at the Graduate Center, City University of New York. She holds a BA in English Literature from Binghamton University, an MA in American Studies from City College of New York, and an MA in sociology from The New School for Social Research. She is also currently a Graduate Research Assistant at University of Connecticut working on a Russell Sage Foundation funded project called “Etiquette of Inequality” that looks at the influence of background racial, ethnic, immigrant, and economic inequality on social relations in egalitarian settings in NYC. Her scholarly interests revolve around issues of intergenerational immigrant assimilation experiences, urban immigrant neighborhoods, and ethnic group boundaries.

 

Christopher Maggio received his BA and MA from New York University in Economics and Applied Quantitative Research, respectively. He focuses on quantitative research related to immigration to the United States over the past 25 years. Specifically, he is interested in comparative work on theexperiences of immigrants and racial minorities in the traditional and new immigrant destinations, particularly in the American South. This includes labor market outcomes, social and political life, experiences with discrimination, and neighborhood effects. Additionally, he is interested in the impacts of rapid immigrant growth on the communities in these new destinations.

 

Karen Okigbo is a Ph.D. student in the Sociology program at the Graduate Center. Her research focuses on the assimilation and acculturation experiences of Nigerian immigrants in the United States. Karen serves as a Senior Quantitative Research Associate at CUNY’s Center for Latin American, Caribbean & Latino Studies (CLACLS) and a Research Fellow at the Office of Research, Evaluation & Program Support (REPS). In 2009, she earned a Bachelor’s in Politics from Princeton University. She also holds Masters degrees in Sociology from North Dakota State University and Social Policy from the University of Pennsylvania.

 

Nga Than is a Ph.D. student in the Sociology program at the Graduate Center. Her research interests are in the subfields of immigration, globalization, nationalism, mixed methodology, urban sociology, race and ethnicity.

 

 

 

Siqi Tu’s work is primarily within the areas of urban sociology and immigration. She was born and raised in Shanghai, China and moved to New York City in 2012. She developed her interest in immigration and urban neighborhoods as an observer of diverse communities in different metropolitan areas. She is currently working on an experimental study on public opinion towards undocumented immigrants. Tu teaches mass communication at Brooklyn College beginning in Fall 2014. Siqi Tu on Linkedin and academia.edu.