Jamie Lew

Dr. Lew's research interests lie broadly within the fields of sociology of education, immigration and international migration, race and ethnicity. Her work explores intersections of immigration and race, particularly as it relates to education for migrant youths in urban space. In the context of black and white binary system inherent in the U.S. history, She is interested in understanding how geographical and metaphorical color line, in given space and time, changes and shifts in urban schools and contemporary cities. By paying particular attention to these changing race relations at the ground level, Dr. Lew examines the ways in which various migrant and racialized groups create spaces for articulating new politics of change.

Her current research project explores how urban refugee families and children negotiate their sense of belonging and placemaking in cities in the U.S. and abroad. In this study of urban refugees, She explores how urban spaces and its institutions of schooling, housing, and work are changing and being changed by contemporary migration. She explore how refugees with their own legal and political status, in relation to other migrants and native-born populations in cities, for instance, build relationships and produce political spaces with other spaces of urban marginality that have been historically disenfranchised. In exploring some of these questions, she uses a wide range of social science methodologies, including visual images and approaches. Her hope is that in doing so, she can cross boundaries of disciplines, theories, and methods to engage and understand a complex and changing social phenomenon of migration that is rapidly transforming our cities and society at large.

Dr. Lew's previous work examined social and economic inequalities faced by Asian American youths in urban schools. This three-year study resulted in a book titled, “Asian Americans in Class: Charting the Achievement Gap Among Korean American Youths” (Teachers College Press, 2006).  By using Korean Americans in New York City public schools as a case study, the book focused on how stratifying forces of class and race broadly, and social capital and racial segregation specifically, impact academic achievement of 1.5- and second-generation Asian American youths in urban context.  In comparing experiences of low- and high-achieving Asian American students, the findings challenge model minority stereotype and underscore the significance of structural resources all children need in order to achieve academically and social mobility.

Publications:

• Lew, J. (2023). “Refugees and Claims-Making in Spaces of Urban Marginality: Syrian Refugees Build Alliances Across Racial Lines for Collective Action” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.

• Lew, J. & Villanueva, V. (2022). “Urban Refugees and Education Advocacy: A Case of Syrian Refugees and Coalition Building in Urban Education” in C. Magno, J. Lew, & S. Rodriguez, (Re)Mapping Migration and Education: Centering Methods and Methodologies, Brill Press, pg. 89-111.

Media Appearances/Speaking Engagements:

• “Building Racial Solidarity Across Black and Asian American History in K-20 Education: Spencer Conference” Guest Faculty & Facilitator, Teachers College Columbia University, November 2023.

• “Migration, Race Relations, and Urban Communities in the Making” organizer and speaker, “Community is a Safety Net is a Trampoline: New Art Installation”, Art Opening at the Newark Public Library, Racial Healing & Community Arts Collaborative Project, May 2023.

• “Violence, Empowerment, and Allyship: The Asian Experience in America”, guest speaker, New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), Newark, New Jersey, May 2021.

Previous Organizations: 

• Columbia University

• The Newark Public Library

• Graduate Center, CUNY

Accomplishments:

• The Scholar-Teacher Award, Co-Director, Global Urban Studies, PhD Program in Urban Systems, 2019-2020

• Faculty Fellow, Institute for the Study of Global Racial Justice (ISGRJ), Rutgers University, Newark, 2021-2022

Upcoming Projects:

• Forced Migration and Urbanism: Comparative Study

• Refugees and Mass Displacement: Sociospatial Marginalization and Encampment

My work explores how forced migrants build political alliances with other minoritized communities in urban spaces to resist inequality and articulate new politics of change.