Dr. Irene Bloemraad

Biography

Irene Bloemraad is a Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of British Columbia (UBC), where she holds the inaugural President’s Excellence Chair in Global Migration. Her research focuses on the incorporation of immigrants into political systems, examining how immigrants engage in civic life and influence migration politics in Western liberal democracies. Bloemraad's work intersects political science and sociology, particularly in migration studies, with a focus on the challenges and transformations immigrants face in terms of national identities and community-based political advocacy. She obtained her Ph.D. from Harvard University in Sociology in 2003. Prior to her appointment at UBC, she held the 1951 Chair in Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, where she also founded the Berkeley Interdisciplinary Migration Initiative. She has been involved in a wide range of research areas, including the acquisition of citizenship and the methods around studying vulnerable populations. Bloemraad has published extensively in reputable journals, contributing to the discourse on immigration, citizenship, and political representation. Her notable awards include being short-listed for the 2022 Martin Bulmer Prize and receiving the Best Article award from the American Political Science Association in 2013.

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