Sofya Aptekar

Associate Professor of Urban Studies, City University of New York
I am a sociologist who studies immigration, the military, urban public spaces and gentrification, race and ethnicity, and alternatives to capitalism. In 2023, I am focused on sharing the findings of my new book, Green Card Soldier: Between Model Immigrant and Security Threat (MIT Press). The research for this book has allowed me to become an expert on immigrant enlistment in the US military, including through special programs like MAVNI, the role of race, gender, and immigrant status in the experience of military work and separation, and deportation of veterans. I also write about diversity discourse in the military, topical because of SCOTUS decisions on affirmative action in college admissions, which the US military consistently opposes.

With Dr. Hsin, I have examined the experience of undocumented college students in New York. We have published our findings in several articles, focusing on the experience of understudied groups, such as Asian undocumented youth. We have also published our findings on the tensions between college staff's understandings and goals in supporting undocumented students and the students' experiences and needs. We also developed the concept of stratified entry into illegality, analyzing the role of how one becomes undocumented on subsequent trajectories. My first book, The Road to Citizenship: What Naturalization Means for Immigrants and the United States (Rutgers) contains a unique analysis of naturalization ceremonies, as well as analysis of why immigrants seek citizenship and inequities in its acquisition.

While much of my recent work is centered on immigration, I have also researched and written about gentrification and public space. My research on community gardens, public libraries, parks, and farmer's markets has been well received, and I continue to engage with these subjects as a reviewer, book review editor, and in the classroom.