The Immigration Lab

The Immigration Lab is directed by Dr. Ernesto Castañeda, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, College of Arts and Sciences at American University in Washington, DC. The Immigration Lab conducts research on all things migration including: immigration (settling in), emigration (leaving), transnationalism, integration, categorical inequality, health disparities, demographics, social mobility, racism and exclusion, exiles and refugees, social movements and contentious politics, race and immigration history, ethnicity and space. We are not limited to any geographic area, disciplinary approach, or methodology. Instead, we seek to engage research across disciplines and in a collaborative process at all levels. We work closely with all the students in American University’s MA program in Sociology Research and Practice (SORP). We actively engage undergraduate and graduate students in research, thus building their research and writing skills. Lab members have co-authored scholarly articles, op-ed pieces, newsletter contributions, blog posts, and more. Several current members of the lab are going on to become fully-funded PhD students at prestigious universities. We are also working on several larger projects that will culminate with books, op-eds, online panels and webinars to educate the greater public on issues of importance surrounding immigration.