Past Grantees and Fellows

Fermon-Leon's funding has been used to explore the archives of business journals and local development publications. The remainder of the funds will be used to carryout in-depth interviews and focus groups.

Gangrade recruited research participants for a virtual study exploring factors that influence snacking behaviors among adolescents from low-income, urban environments. The funding enabled her to conduct 30 phone interviews with adolescents from low-income neighborhoods in NYC during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The QuIRI grant enabled ILR Professor Shannon Gleeson to defray publication costs for her book manuscript "Portable Rights: Bringing the Sending State Back into the Local" (with Xóchitl Bada, under contract with the University of California Press). During this funding period, the research team prepared demographic tables and other figures for the introductory chapters, consolidated a database for the methodological appendix, and submitted chapter drafts to convenings hosted by the American Sociological Association, Texas A&M and the University of Colorado. The book will be under full review by Fall 2021, with an expected publication date of late 2022.

The funding enabled Harrison to (1) subscribe to a Zoom-compatible transcription service, and (2) will assist with future expenses associated with primary resource and document acquisition, by mail and in-person. This research will be presented at the 2021 Society for Social Studies of Science meeting and in Ms. Harrison’s forthcoming dissertation.

Hu intends to recruit interview participants for a study exploring the role of masks in constructing risks and governing social loves. He anticipates conducting 30 virtual interviews and multi-sited ethnography.

Negar's thesis is focused on understanding the challenges international students face as they communicate with their families remotely. Her goal is to contribute to theories related to family communication as well as designing new technological tools for this population. The grant also covered expenses of Atlas.ti and otter.ai (analysis and transcription tools).

Mendoza used semi-structured interviews to uncover the experiences, responses to, and consequences of housing precarity among mixed-status Latinx immigrant families in southern California. The funding helped with a transcription service. Preliminary findings demonstrate that a lack of legal status restricts individuals’ access to and participation in various social and economic benefits, which in turn inhibit their ability to find adequate housing.

Mingo conducted interviews with 22 junior high school students and 11 educators as part of her ethnographic study on schooling and discipline in the rural US South. This research will be presented at the American Sociological Association Annual Meeting in August 2021, and is included in manuscripts in progress.

Perera hired a research assistant to support the development of her book manuscript. The monograph documents and explains the varied development of mental health policy in different countries, including Norway and Sweden. With the help of the RA's language skills, the team collected descriptive statistics and translated key texts into English.

Sari conducted 10 follow-up interviews with Iranian LGBTQ refugees in Turkey to complete her dissertation on refugees’ lives and experiences. The funding also allowed her to organize two small group meetings, where Iranian refugees discussed how to establish collaboration and solidarity with Syrian LGBTQ refugees in the country and prepared a community-engaged project plan and a tentative division of labor. Accordingly, the group will organize 3 virtual meetings in Fall 2021 to bring Iranian and Syrian refugees together and develop strategies for transforming prejudices and preconceptions about each other.

Varanasi conducted mixed-methods research to explore low-income teachers’ inhibitions around seeking digital social support. He is conducting virtual interviews with teachers, higher management, and non-profit personnel, to gain insights into the challenges that low-income teachers are facing to seek digital support practices during pandemic. The funding is helping him to recruit 55 participants. The study will be making an important contribution towards inequity issues that impact women teachers’ overall job security and their daily work practices.