Sofya Aptekar

Personal Website

• sofyaaptekar.com

Other Media

• Slate’s What Next podcast episode
• Immigrantly podcast episode
• What a Hell of a Way to Die  – podcast episode
• New Books Network  – podcast episode

• “The US Military’s Defense of Affirmative Action Is Hypocritical and Self-Serving” – article in Jacobin
• I asked immigrants from 28 countries why they’re serving in the US military – and it’s not primarily to gain citizenship – article in The Conversation

Articles

• “Heterogeneous Effects of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) on Undocumented College Students’ Educational Outcomes in the United States” International Migration Review. with Keitaro Okura and Amy Hsin.“Stratified Entry into Illegality: How Immigration Policy Shapes Being Undocumented.” With Amy Hsin. Social Forces 102(1):45-62. With Amy Hsin.“Managing Illegality on Campus: Undocumented Mismatch between Students and Staff”. Harvard Educational Review 92(1): 32-54. With Holly Reed and Amy Hsin.“The Violence of Asylum: The Case of Undocumented Chinese Migration to the United States.” Social Forces 100(3): 1195–1217.
• “The Contemporary Immigrant Rights Movement in the United States and Capitalism,” Socialism and Democracy 33(3), 1-25. Special Issue on Seattle +20. With Marcel Paret and Shannon Gleeson.
• “The Tale of Two Community Gardens: Green Aesthetics versus Food Justice in the Big Apple,” Agriculture and Human Values. With Justin S. Myers.
• “Doctors as Migration Brokers in the Mandatory Medical Screenings of Immigrants to the United States.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 46(9): 1865-1885
• “The Public Library as Resistive Space in the Neoliberal City.” City & Community 18(4): 1203-1219.
• “The Unbearable Lightness of the Cosmopolitan Canopy: Accomplishment of Diversity at an Urban Farmers Market.” City & Community 18(1): 71-87.
• “Super-diversity as a Methodological Approach: Re-centering Power and Inequality.” Ethnic and Racial Studies. Special Issue: Super-diversity in Everyday Life. 42(1): 53-70.
• “Looking Forward, Looking Back: Collective Memory and Neighborhood Identity in Two Urban Parks.” Symbolic Interaction 40(1): 101-121.
• “Celebrating New Citizens, Defining the Nation.” Contexts 15(2): 46-51.
• “Gifts among Strangers: The Social Organization of Freecycle Giving.” Social Problems 63(2):266-283.
• “Making Sense of Naturalization: What Citizenship Means to Naturalizing Immigrants in Canada and the USA.” Journal of International Migration and Integration 17(4), 1143-1161.
• “Visions of Public Space: Reproducing and Resisting Social Hierarchies in a Diverse Community Garden.” Sociological Forum 30(1): 209-227.
• “Citizenship Status and Patterns of Inequality in the United States and Canada.” Social Science Quarterly 95(2): 343-359.
• “Naturalization Ceremonies and the Role of Immigrants in the American Nation.” Citizenship Studies. 16(7): 937-952.
• “Contexts of Exit in the Migration of Russian Speakers from the Baltic Countries to Ireland.” Ethnicities 9(4):507-526.
• “Organizational Life and Political Incorporation of Two Asian Immigrant Groups: A Case Study.” Ethnic and Racial Studies 32(9):1511-1533.

Presentations

• “Beyond Dreamers: The Under-analyzed Complexity of the Undocumented Youth Population.” Paper presentation at the CUNY Graduate Center Immigration Seminar Series and the American Sociology Association Annual Meeting. New York.
• Invited Panelist, Naturalization: Right, Responsibility, Obligation Panel. Global Migration Conference. Boston College.
• “Framing the immigrant in labor unions and the US military.” Social Science Research Council, Anxieties of Democracy. Immigration: The Politics of Inclusion and the Politics of Threat Workshop. New York City. with Shannon Gleeson.
• “Between diversity asset and security threat: Foreign nationals in the US military.” Paper presentation at Eastern Sociological Society Annual Meeting. Boston.
• “Co-ethnic communities and educational and occupational participation of Asian and Latino undocumented youth in New York City.” Paper presentation at Migrant Illegalities Conference. Brown University.
• “The public library as resistive space in the neoliberal city.” Keynote Address. Conferência Internacional Bibliotecas Públicas, políticas culturais e leitura pública. Lisbon, Portugal.
• “Co-ethnic Communities and Employment Trajectories of Asian and Latino Undocumented Youth in New York City.” Paper presentation at Law and Society Association Annual Meeting in Toronto.
• “On the Sidelines: Undocumented College Students Not Involved in Dreamer Activism. (with Amy Hsin) Paper presentation at Immigrant and Refugee Rights in Turbulent Times Conference at Baruch College, New York.
• “The Tale of Two Gardens: Reproducing and Contesting Social Inequities through Urban Agriculture.” Presentation at Urban Inequalities Workshop, Boston University. Invited.
• “The Green Card Army: Immigrant Enlistment in the US Military.” Presentation at conference workshop, “Towards a new research academic agenda of immigration and education for immigrants in U.S. and Mexico” at Centro de Investigaciones sobre América del Norte at Universitad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. Invited
• “Citizenship and Naturalization among Immigrant Members of the US Military: Meanings and Mechanisms.” Paper presentation at International Meeting on Law and Society, Mexico City.
• “The Whole Damn System is Guilty as Hell: Deportation and Exploitation in the US Immigration System.” The Common Sessions in Critical Criminology, John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Graduate Center, CUNY, New York. Invited Plenary Speaker.
• “Cultivating Diversity: Neighborhood Change and Place-Making in an Urban Community Garden.” Paper presentation at American Association of Geographers Annual Meeting, Boston, MA.
• “The Green Card Army: Immigrant Soldiers in the US Military.” Hunter College Public Sociology Lecture, New York, NY. Invited.
• “Looking Forward, Looking Back: Making Sense of a Changing Neighborhood through Two City Parks.” American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA.
• “Civil Surgeons and the Mandatory Medical Screenings of Immigrants to the United States.” Society for the Study of Social Problems Annual Meeting. Seattle, WA.
• “Super-diversity as a Methodological Approach: Ironing out Differences between Differences?” Workshop on Superdiversity: A Transatlantic Conversation. CUNY Graduate Center, New York, NY. Invited.
• “Civil Surgeons and the Work of Medical Screening of Immigrants to the US.” Eastern Sociological Society Annual Meeting. Boston, MA
• “Citizenship Acquisition Among Members of the Military.” Eastern Sociological Society Annual Meeting. Boston, MA
• “Race and Immigration.” Invited lecture. Boston University Core Curriculum.
• “Medical Gatekeepers of the Nation: Preliminary Findings from a Survey of Civil Surgeons.” Emerging Immigration Scholars Conference, UCLA Center for the Study of International Migration, Los Angeles, CA
• “Fighting for Voice: Reproducing Power in a Queens Community Garden. Paper presentation at Association for Humanist Sociology Annual Meeting, Portland, OR
• “The Road to Citizenship.” Invited talk. Queens College Sociology Colloquium, New York
• “Negotiating Diversity in Motion: Breakdowns and Emergent Affinities on Public Transportation.” Paper presentation at Eastern Sociological Society Annual Meeting, New York
• “Experiencing Loss and Change through Urban Public Space” Paper presentation at Eastern Sociological Society Annual Meeting, New York, NY.