Research
I am a sociologist who studies the relationship between people and place, following that question across three dimensions, culture, health, and crime, and at the intersections of race and ethnicity, local politics, consumption, and migration. My research asks how spatial arrangements are produced and sustained both through material structures (segregation, urban renewal, and policy regimes) and through cultural processes that shape perception, taste, and belonging. Methodologically, I combine computational text analysis, spatial analysis, and qualitative approaches.
Research Interests
- Race and Ethnicity
- Place and Space
- Local Politics
- Culture and Consumption
- Migration and Immigrant Incorporation
- Social Policy
Selected Presentations
- “The Cosmopolitan Paradox: Whitespaces and Taste in Post-War America.” Southern Sociological Society Conference, Jacksonville, FL, 2026.
- “Flavors and Fences: White Habitus and the Making of Urban Foodscapes.” American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, Montreal, 2024.
- with Suleyman Kiroglu. “Classification, Organization, Distribution, and Density of Hometown Associations in Istanbul.” Migration Studies Graduate Student Conference, Istanbul Bilgi University, 2022.
- with Muhammed Hasan Celik. “Discursive Framing of Syrian Immigration in the Turkish Twittersphere.” Population Association of America & European Sociological Association (virtual), 2021.
- with Jennifer Karas Montez & Julene Cooney. “Political Economy and Death in the American States.” American Sociological Association & Society for Life Course and Longitudinal Studies, 2019.
Research Experience
- Twittersphere.net, Co-founder & Research Team Leader, 2020–2023.
- Policy, Place, and Population Health Lab, Aging Studies Institute, Syracuse University, Research Assistant, 2018–2020.
Grants & Awards
- Research Excellence Doctoral Funding ($28,000), Syracuse University, 2024.
- Summer Dissertation Fellowship ($4,000), Syracuse University, 2022.
- Center for European Studies Graduate Student Grant ($1,500), Syracuse University, 2022.
- Roscoe Martin Fund for Graduate Research ($1,000), Syracuse University, 2022.
- Goekjian / Middle East Research Grant ($1,500), Syracuse University, 2021.
- Honorable Mention, ASA Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship in Population, 2021.
Methods & Tools
Python, STATA, SPSS, ArcGIS, and ATLAS.ti, supporting natural language processing, spatial analysis, statistical modeling, and qualitative coding.