Interview with Tahseen Shams, Ph.D.

Résumé

In April 2023, The Sociology Graduate Student Association (SGSA) at the University of Kansas invited Dr. Shams to present her research for her book Here, There, and Elsewhere: The Making of Immigrant Identities in a Globalized World. This work illustrates how immigrants are “vectors of globalization” who are both subject to and an agent within the interconnectedness of societies. She argues that immigrants exist in a space that is neither the immigrants’ homeland nor hostland- a place Shams calls “elsewhere.” Dr. Shams’ book has received multiple awards including ASA’s 2021 Thomas and Znaniecki Award (International Migration Section), ASA’s 2021 Distinguished Book Award (Sociology of Religion Section), ASAs 2021 Asian American Book Award (Asian and American Section), and the Pacific Sociological Association’s 2021 Distinguished Scholarship Award. In this interview we discuss her book, how she came to research this topic, implications of this research for sociology, and general insight into her journey as both graduate student and early career scholar.