Institute for Immigration Research-GMU

04/27/2026

📣 Teachers: In uncertain times, it's more important than ever to be there for immigrant families.

Join us on April 28 at 4:00 PM ET for a webinar on diverse approaches to engaging immigrant families.

Hear from family literacy and family engagement experts on applying practical approaches to strengthen communication and partnerships so that immigrant children can succeed:

Prisila Isais, Ed.D. from Sacramento City Unified School District
Anna Gardner-Andrews, Home Works
Laura Straub, The Immigrant Learning Center

RSVP today 👉 https://www.ilctr.org/events/family-engagement-uncertain-times-webinar/

04/27/2026

Explore themes of immigration and community as experienced in present day Boston in conversation with the past in this dynamic book talk!

04/13/2026

Keynote Performance and Conversation at the Leaving and Belonging Symposium
Stories of Belonging: Immigration, Arts, and Community

Friday, April 17, 2026, 7 pm - 8:30 pm
George Mason University
4340 Chesapeake River Ln, Fairfax, VA 22030
Lecture Hall 1
RSVP: https://iir.gmu.edu/events/18108

The Middle East Institute’s Arts and Culture Center and George Mason University’s Institute for Immigration Research are pleased to present Stories of Belonging: Immigration, Art, and Community, a keynote panel featured in the Leaving and Belonging symposium, hosted by George Mason University.
This panel is MEI’s featured program in celebration of National Arab American Heritage Month. It will feature live performances by acclaimed artists Omar Offendum and Yasmine Elhady, who will be joined in conversation by Cara Mertes and Monna Kashfi, moderated by Lyne Sneige, MEI’s Arts and Culture Center Senior Director.

Parking: Visitor parking is available on campus in the Rappahannock (closest to symposium) or Mason Pond parking decks (findable on GPS).

Photo Credit: Image: Helen Zughaib, Coming to America (2021). Gouache on board, 15 x 20 in. Courtesy of the artist.

04/08/2026

The Institute for Immigration Research invites you to “Leaving and Belonging: Making an Impact on Immigration and Displacement through Arts, Culture, and Storytelling,” a two-day working symposium.

📅 April 17–18, 2026
📍 Lecture Hall, Fairfax Campus

The symposium focuses on immigration, displacement, and belonging, with a particular emphasis on how arts, culture, and storytelling can be effectively used to build community, shift public attitudes, and inform immigration-related policy in the United States. The goal of the symposium is to think together, share best practices, identify challenges and gaps, and develop strategies for impactful work at the intersection of immigration and arts.

The symposium is free and open to the public. Registration is required: https://iir.gmu.edu/events/17706

03/16/2026

We’re excited to invite you to an interactive workshop!

📖 Event: Student Workshop: Doing Research with Vulnerable Populations
🗓 Date: Wednesday, March 25, 2026
🕓 Time: 1:30-3:30 PM EST
📍 Location: Merten Hall 3300

Learn more and RSVP here: https://cglink.me/2d7/r2295332

This interactive workshop equips students with practical skills to conduct interviews on sensitive topics and with vulnerable populations. Participants will learn ethical approaches and practices asking thoughtful, respectful questions through guided activities. The session emphasizes empathy, professionalism, and confidence in navigating challenging conversations.

See you there!

03/06/2026

At the Fall for the Book Minifest, author, folklorist, and Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and Intercultural Studies, Ziying You presented insights from her latest book, “Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Chinese and Chinese American Women". You’s book explores how the COVID-19 pandemic and corresponding anti-Asian racism reshaped Chinese and Chinese American (CCA) women’s daily lives, foodways (e.g. navigating meals and inculcating vegetarianism), and identities.

Importantly, You’s book offers pathways for supporting Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women and confronting racism in times of crisis.

https://iir.gmu.edu/articles/23146

02/24/2026

We’re excited to invite you to an engaging event:

📖 Event: A Conversation with the Authors: Recent Books Published about Migration & Displacement
🗓 Date: Wednesday, March 4, 2026
🕓 Time: 6-8 PM EST
📍 Location: Merten Hall, Room 1204, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA

Learn more and RSVP here: https://cglink.me/2d7/r2294955

Join us for a timely and insightful panel discussion featuring Mason authors whose recent books examine migration and displacement from global, historical, and lived perspectives.

Featured books:

- Unsettled Families: Refugees, Humanitarianism, and the Politics of Kinship by Dr. Sophia Balakian (socio-cultural anthropologist and assistant professor in the School of Integrative Studies)
- Migration Stories: Connecting Activism, Policy, and Scholarship edited by Dr. Benjamin Gatling (folklorist and Associate Professor in the English Department)
- Activist Lifeworlds and Bounded Futures in Lebanon by Dr. Yasemin Ipek (Assistant Professor in the Global Affairs Program)
- Before and After the Border: One Man’s Journey Home by Dr. Ricardo O. Sánchez (Adjunct Professor in the College of Education and Human Development)
- Supporting College Students of Immigrant Origin: New Insights from Research, Policy, and Practice by Dr. Blake Silver (Associate Professor of Sociology, Director of Educational Pathways & Faculty Development in the Honors College and Director of the Education & Health Research Hub) and Dr. Graziella Pagliarulo McCarron (Associate Professor of Leadership Studies, Higher Education program faculty member in the School of Integrative Studies)

Speakers will share the motivations behind their work, key themes and findings, and the broader social, political, and human implications of migration today. There will be time for audience questions and dialogue following the moderated discussion.

This event is free and open to students, faculty, researchers, practitioners, and community members interested in migration and displacement. We hope you’ll join us for this enriching conversation.

Join us for a timely conversation with Mason authors whose recent books examine migration and displacement across global, historical, and lived contexts. Through an engaging panel discussion, the a...

02/24/2026

Are you ready to teach about America's 250th anniversary? Register now for our FREE WEBINAR to learn strategies for teaching about immigration during the American Revolution 👉 https://www.ilctr.org/events/teaching-250-years-of-immigration-webinar/

📅 Wednesday, February 25
🕟 4:30-5:30 PM ET
💻 On Zoom

Join Ariana Moir from The ILC's Public Education Institute, along with Michael Hensinger from Museum of the American Revolution and Marissa Kiss, PhD from George Mason University's Institute for Immigration Research-GMU, for a conversation on how immigration has shaped the United States and how to integrate that into your curricula.

02/17/2026

What did the pandemic mean for Chinese and Chinese American women?

Join us on Thursday, Feb 19 at 1:30 PM in the Fenwick Library for a compelling Fall for the Book Minifest event with folklorist Ziying You.

We’ll explore lived experiences at the intersection of gender, culture, and crisis. Free + open to all — see you there!

Learn more and add to your calendar: https://iir.gmu.edu/events/17949

01/26/2026

We’re thrilled to highlight Dr. Sophia Balakian, affiliate faculty at the Institute for Immigration Research (IIR), and her powerful new book Unsettled Families: Refugees, Humanitarianism, and the Politics of Kinship (Stanford University Press, 2025).

Her book has been named a 2025 Outstanding Academic Title, a prestigious honor recognizing excellence in academic publishing!

Unsettled Families explores the complex realities of family, migration, and humanitarian systems through rigorous ethnographic research bridging Nairobi and the U.S. — offering profound insights into how displaced families navigate systems that often misrecognize kinship.

Please join the book launch on Friday, February 6, 2026, 12-1 PM EST, Horizon Hall 6325, and Zoom. More information available at iir.gmu.edu

Check out the book here: https://www.sup.org/books/anthropology/unsettled-families

We’re proud to celebrate scholarships that deepen our understanding of migration, family, and belonging.

Against the backdrop of the global refugee crisis, Unsettled Families investigates the parameters that Global North governments and international humanitarian organizations use to classify most displaced families—more than 99% globally—as ineligible for resettlement, and often as fraudulent. But...