Robert C. Smith

Smith, Robert C. “Transnational Communities,” in Encyclopedia of Community, K. Christensen and D. Levinson eds.,(Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2003), pp. 1402-1404

Smith, Robert C. “Al Este de Aztlan: La Migracion Mexicana al Este de Estados Unidos,” Aztlan East: Mexican Migration to the East Coast, (Letras Libres, Mexico City, Mexico, 2002).

Smith, Robert C. “Mexican-ness in New York: Migrants Seek New Place in Old Racial Order,” North American Congress on Latin America: Report on the Americas, New York, 2001.

Smith, Robert C. “Mexican Immigrants, the Mexican State and the Transnational Practice of Mexican Politics and Membership,” Latin American Studies Forum, (29 (2), 1998: 19-21).

Smith, Robert C. “Closing the Door on the Undocumented,” North American Congress on Latin America: Report on the Americas, 1997.

Smith, Robert C. “Street Vendors in New York City,” North American Congress on Latin America: Report on the Americas, 1996.

Smith, Robert C. “Una comunidad transnacional (A Transnational Community)” Ojarasca, Mexico City, 1993.

Smith, Robert C. “Mixteca in New York; New York in the Mixteca,” North American Congress on Latin America: Report on the Americas, 1992.

Smith, Robert C. “Mexicanos En Nueva York,” Nexos. Mexico City, Mexico. March 1992.

OTHER REPORTS/MONOGRAPHS

Final Reports:

Smith, Robert, and Ernesto Castaneda, Leslie Martino Martino, John Coffey, Adrian Franco, and Charles Landow. The New York-Mixteca Transnational Study. Final Report to No Borders, Inc. (revised second version, 2004).


McNees, Molly, Nina Siulc and Robert C. Smith. Mexican Health in New York, Final Report to the United Hospital Fund, 2003.

PRESENTATIONS

“Communal, Market and Developmental Logics and Issues in Transnational Communities”.
Paper to be presented at the Transnational Community Development Conference, organized by Ford Foundation, Santo Domingo, February 2005.

“Transnational Life and Theories: Hard and Easy Lessons for Community Development”.
Presentation at the Latin American Studies Association, Las Vegas, NE; panel sponsored by the Inter-American Foundation. October 2004.

“The State of Undocumented Students in America”,
Presentation at the David Dinkins Forum, Columbia University, New York, October 2004.

“Gender Bargains and Transnational Life”.
Paper presented at the American Sociological Association Meetings, San Francisco, August 2004.

“‘Illegal’ but politically active: Latino immigrants reactions to the aftermath of 9-11”,
Paper presented at the Oral History Association Meetings, Bethesda, MD, October 2003.

“Gender Strategies, Settlement and Transnational Life”,
Paper presented at the American Sociological Association Meetings, Atlanta, August 2003.

“Diaspora, Immigration and Transnational Life”,
invited speaker series, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, PA, September 2003.

“Gender and Lifecourse in Transnational Life”,
Latin American Studies Association, Houston, March 2003.

“Globalization, Adolescence and the Transnationalization of Mexican Gangs between New York and Mexico”,
Paper presented at American Sociological Association meetings, Chicago, 2002.

“Mexico-US relations and immigration reform after 9-11”,
invited guest, New School University Forum, New York, 2002.

“Transnational Life in Historical and Theoretical Perspective”,
paper presented at the American Sociological Association Meetings, Irvine, CA, 2001.

“Imagining Alternative Futures for Mexican and Mexican American Students in New York City”,
Paper presented at Steinhardt School of Education, New York University, New York, May 2001.

“Migration, Transnational Life, and Globalization, paper presented at Journalists Briefing on Migration”,
David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University, May 2001.

“Three strategic sites for investigating gender’s effects on Mexican Americans school and work trajectories”,
Conference on Latinos: Remaking America, Harvard Graduate School of Education, Cambridge, MA, April 2000.

“Ethnic Girls and Racialized Boys: Preliminary Findings from research with second generation Mexican Americans in New York”,
paper presented at the National Academy of Education Annual Meeting /Spencer Foundation Fellowship Meeting, New York University, March 2000.

“Sacred, Secular and Profane Space: Religion as an organizing structure in local level transnational life”,
Pew Speaker Series on Migration, New School University. New York, April 2000.

“‘Why you gotta mess up a good place’”?: the transnationalization of adolescence and gangs between New York and rural Mexico”,
Oral History Rockefeller Fellowship Presentation, Columbia University, May 2000.

“Historical Retrieval in Transnational Research: Comparing Italian and Mexican State-Diaspora Relations in Historical Perspective”,
Comparison of Transnational Life, Oxford University, Transnational Communities Program, Oxford, England, July 2000.

“School Selection, Gender and Migration in producing school outcomes among Mexican American students”,
National Academy of Education Annual Meeting/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship Meeting, New York University, October 2000.

“Migrant membership, democratization and political calculation: Why Mexico cares so much now about its absent migrants”,
Seminar given at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico, Mexico City, September, 2000.

“Thick and Thin Memberships in Transnational Public Spheres, Invited, Thematic Session, Paper presented at the American Sociological Association Meetings”,
Chicago, 1999.

New York City Department of Health, Presentation and Workshop on Mexican population in New York, August 1999.

“Migrant Membership and Mexican Politics in the U.S.”, Paper presenter for and participant in Workshop on “Migrants and the Vote in 2000, Zacatecas,” Zacatecas, Mexico, July 1999.

“Doing Research with immigrant children in the New York City public schools: first reflections”,
Paper presented at the National Academy of Education Annual Meeting/Spencer Foundation Fellowship Meeting, University of Pittsburgh, September 1999.

“Mexican Prospects of Second Generation Mexicans in New York”,
Conference on Racial and Ethnic Minorities Mobility, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN., March 1999.

“The Educational and Economic Mobility of Second Generation Mexicans in New York City”,
(with Sandra Lara), Paper presented at the American Sociological Association Meetings, Chicago, 1999.

“Changing State-Diaspora Relations and Implications for Transnational Theory”,
Conference on Transnational Social Spaces, University of Gottigen, Germany, March 1999.

“Gender, Strategic Sites and Soft Skills: Explaining Divergence in Second Generation Boys and Girls Work and Educational Success”,
Eastern Sociological Association, Boston, MA, March 1999.

“Transnational and Local Migrants, Communities, Problems and Solutions: Some Practical Reflections on How to Address Migrant related problems”,
Paper presented at a conference organized by the Integrated Family Development Department of the Mexican government and the University of Texas, Austin, held at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Tijuana, Mexico, March 1999.

“Italian and Mexican Transnational Life in Historical Perspective”,
Paper presented at the American Historical Association Meetings, Toronto, Canada, April 1999.

“Oral History, Interview and other Research with First and Second Generation Immigrants”,
Paper presented, Oral History Seminar, Columbia University Oral History Research Office, New York, May 1999.

“Work and Educational Mobility of the Second Generation: How do current theories help us and fail us in understanding the Mexican case in New York City”,
Paper presented at Conference on "Mexican Migrants in New York and Mexico." Barnard College and the New School, New York, October 1998.

“Changing Conceptions of Nationality, Citizenship and Membership: Comparative Insights from the Mexican and Italian Cases”,
Transnationalism Conference, University of Manchester, England, May 1998.

“Ethnic Girls and Racial Boys: The Negotiation of Ethnic Identity at the Workplace, in School and in the Community for Second Generation Mexican Americans in New York City”,
Paper presented at the Eastern Sociological Association Meetings, Philadelphia, March 1998.

“Reinas, Homeboys and The Committee: Gender, Cohort and Patriarchy in Second Generation Transnationalism”,
Conference on Second Generation Transnationalism, Harvard University, Cambridge. April 1998.

"Reflexiones Sobre Migracion, El Estado, y la Novedad y Durabilidad de la Vida Transnacional, Keynote Address (invited), XX Coloquio El Colegio de Michoacan, "Fronteras Fragmentadas", Zamora, Michoacan, Mexico October 1998.

“Current Prospects and Future Dilemmas of the Inter-American Migration System”,
Conference on Global Migrants, Global Refugees: Problems and Solutions, New School University, New York, March 1997.

“Does it really matter how the demand for labor became embedded in the U.S. economy”,
Conference on Immigration and the Socio-cultural Remaking of the North American Space, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, April 1997.

“Undergraduate Research Experience and Professional Research in the Social Sciences”,
Keynote speaker, Honors Program Graduation, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, June 1997.

“Race, Immigration and DuBois’ ‘Public Wage’: Fictive Co-Ethnicity and Immigrant Socio-Economic Mobility”,
Conference on Transnational Communities and the Political Economy of New York, New School University, New York, February 1997

“Scope and Usage of Migrant Remittances”,
Workshop Participant, Mexican Consulate, Washington D.C., December 1997.

“Domestic Politics Abroad, Diasporic Politics at Home: Chicano-Mexican relations, Neoliberalism, and the Program for Mexican Communities Abroad”,
Paper presented at the American Political Science Association Meeting, San Francisco, 1996.

Domestic Politics Abroad, Diasporic Politics at Home: Chicano-Mexican relations, Neoliberalism, and the Program for Mexican Communities Abroad”,
Paper presented at the American Sociological Association Meeting, San Francisco, CA., August 1996.

“Social Ties and Transnational Migration between the U.S. and Mexico”,
Conference on Current European Research on Mexico and the Caribbean, Institute on Latin American Studies, University College, London, May 1996.

“Degrees of membership and citizenship in the Mexican Diaspora”,
American Ethnological Society Meetings, Puerto Rico, April 1996.

“Incorporating Second Generation Immigrants into New York City: gender, race and labor markets in structuring inequality and upward mobility”,
American Planning Association Meeting, New York City, February 1996.

“Political Conflict and Transnational Community Formation”,
American Sociological Association Meetings, New York City, August 1995.

“Fictive Co-Ethnicity for Mexican employees and their Korean and Greek employers”,
Social Science History Association, Chicago, November 1995.

“The Rhetoric and Reality of Migration”,
Paper presenter and Workshop participant, Pew Trusts Global Migration Seminar, New School University, New York, September 1995.

“Mapping Migration”,
Pew Trusts Workshop, New School University, New York, November 1995.

“Transnational Communities and Politics”,
Institute for Latin American and Iberian Studies, Columbia University, New York, December 1995.

“Political Contestation and Transnational Community Formation”,
Paper presented at the Latin American Studies Association, Atlanta, GA, October 1995.

PAPERS SUBMITTED TO JOURNALS

None

OTHER WORKS IN PROGRESS

Smith, Robert C. “Actual and Possible Uses of Cyberspace by and among States, Diasporas and Migrants,”
in Virtual Diasporas and Global Problem Solving, J. Hunter and P. Hayes, eds., Berkeley: Nautilus, (forthcoming).

Smith, Robert C. “Globalization, Transnational Political Life and Latinos.”
In Oxford Encyclopedia of Latinos and Latinas in the US. Editor, Pedro Caban. New York: Oxford University Press (forthcoming).

Globalization, Adolescence and the Transnationalization of Mexican Gangs between New York and Mexico”
(paper presented at American Sociological Association meetings; being revised to be submitted during Spring 2005 to a refereed journal)

RESEARCH IN PROGRESS

Gendered Ethnicity: Diverging School and Work Fates of Mexican American Boys and Girls. (Research done; chapters for the book being drafted).

Comparing Migration Systems: Insights from the Inter-American and Maghrebi-European Experiences (Co-authored with Ari Zolberg), Report for US State Department (being revised into manuscript, forthcoming, Routledge Press).

The State of Undocumented America. In proposal stage; will be an edited book.

“Gendered Ethnicity at Three Strategic Sites” (outlined, to be submitted to refereed journal)

“‘Black Mexicans’, Nerds and Cosmopolitans: Successfully Negotiating Badly Segmented Assimilation Within New York City’s School and Racial Hierarchies”
(drafted; to be revised and submitted to a journal)

“Racial Science on the Street: Racial Mexican-ness and Ethnic Passing in Everyday Life in New York”
(being drafted for submission to a journal)

“Illegal but politically active: Undocumented students theory and practice of citizenship”
(interviews on-going for a paper to be drafted during 2005)

PROFESSIONAL HONORS, PRIZES, FELLOWSHIPS

Faculty Research Fellow, Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy, Columbia University, 2001-2005.

Rockefeller Postdoctoral Fellow, Oral History Research Program, Columbia University, 2000-2001.

Postdoctoral Fellow, Spencer Foundation/National Academy of Education 2000-2001.

Postdoctoral Fellow, Program in International Migration, Social Science Research Council, 1999.

GRANTS-IN-AID

Current Activity
Oral History “Narrative and Memory Project on the World Trade Center Disaster,” Rockefeller Foundation, $132,894, Co-Investigator, 2002-2004.

“Quantitative analysis of qualitative ethnographic and interview data,” Faculty Fellow, Institute for Social and Economic Theory and Research, Columbia University, Principal Investigator, $7,000, 2002-2004.

“Transitions through Adolescence to Early Adulthood: The Effects of Family, School and Labor Market Contexts”. William T. Grant Foundation. Drafted, to be submitted, February, 2005. Approximately $200,000. 2005-2007.

Assimilation and Early Adulthood among Children of Immigrants. National Science Foundation. $199,000. Submitted, January, 2005 for 2005-07.

Russell Sage Foundation. $40,000. “Moral Narratives of Adolescent to Early Adult Transition among Second Generation Youth and Their Parents.” Presidential Authority Grant. To be submitted during February 2005 for 2005-07.

New York Community Trust/ Fund for New Americans. $32,000 for a proposal for a Mexican Mentorship Network between the Mexican American Students Alliance and the Mexican Educational Fund of New York. Submitted during January 2005.

Prior Activity
"Mexican Health Project," United Hospital Fund to Lutheran Medical Center, Co-Principal Investigator (with Molly McNees), $73,000, 2001-2003.

“Narrative Networks: Oral Histories of the World Trade Center Disaster,” National Science Foundation, Co–Investigator, $50,000, 2001-2002.

“Gender, race and ethnicity and social organization: determinants of second generation Mexican American educational and work mobility in New York City,” National Science, Foundation, Social, Behavioral and Economic Research Directorate, Principle Investigator, $134,389, ($101,389, original grant; supplement, $33,000) 1998-2002.

“Gendered ethnicity at three strategic sites: Explaining variation in second generation Mexican American men and women's work and school mobility,” Social Science Research Council, Program in International Migration, Post-doctoral Fellowship, $20,000, 1999-2000.

Writing Grant for, Mexican New York: Transnational Worlds of New Immigrants, from Oral History Research Program, Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Rockefeller Foundation, $35,000, 1999-2001.

“Gendered ethnicity at three strategic sites: Explaining variation in second generation Mexican American men and women's work and school mobility,” National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship, $45,000, 1999-2001.

As a Graduate Student

National Science Foundation, Doctoral Dissertation Research, Sociology Program, $3600, 1993-1994. “Mexican Immigrants, Labor Market Niche and the Underclass Debate.”

Visiting Research Fellow, El Colegio de la Frontera Norte Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico (residence in New York), Dissertation writing grant, $10,000, 1992-1993.

Social Science Research Council, Research on the Urban Underclass, Dissertation Fellowship, $21,000, 1990-1992.

Undergraduate

Dolan Scholar (full tuition senior year), Roland Award, Society for Study of Social Problems, 1985-1986.

INSTITUTIONAL SERVICE

A. Service to the Department:Not applicable

B. Service to the School:

Committee of Undergraduate Committee Planning (Chair, Nancy Aires) Fall 2004.
Committee on Strategic Planning (Lynne Weikart, Chair) Fall 2004.
Moderator: CUNY Immigration Forum on the Future of Mexican Americans in the US; at Baruch, guest speakers Marcelo Suarez-Orozco (NYU), John Logan (Brown), Richard Alba (Albany). September 2004.
Drafted Funding Pitch for Scholarship Program at SPA for Undocumented Students. 11-05 Draft proposal for funding for a Conference/book on the Status of Undocumented America. Winter 2005.

C. Service to the Graduate Center:

Dissertation Committees: Carolyn Turnofsky & Joana Dreby, Sociology Ph.D. students. 2004 to present.
Panel Moderator, Cuba Today, October 4, 2004, Bildner Center.
Speaker, Panel on Transnational Life: Comparing Mexico and China. March 3, 2005.
Center for Urban Studies. Organizer: Phil Kasinitz.

D. Service to the University:

Teaching Honors Class “The Peopling of New York” Spring 2005.
Wrote entry on Latinos for the CUNY Civil Rights Calendar, 2004-2005.

OFFICES HELD IN PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES

None

OTHER PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AND PUBLIC SERVICE

Associate Editor, Global Networks: A Journal of Transnational Research, 1998-present.

Panelist, Review Panel, National Science Foundation. Sociology, Grants to Improve Doctoral Dissertation Research, 2003-2005.

Social Science Research Council. Summer Institute on Migration. Institute Faculty Member. June 2004.

Visiting Faculty Fellow, Institute for Study of North American-Mexican Relations, National Autonomous University of Mexico and Rockefeller Foundation, Cuernavaca. May-June 2004.

Workshop on Scientific Foundations of Qualitative Research National Science Foundation, Conference to orient its new funding initiative on qualitative research, July 2003.

Youth, Migration and Citizenship Social Science Research Council, Workshop, May 2003.

Analytical Potentials and Pitfalls of Transnational Research: The Stapling Problem and Beyond, Invited Seminar, International Speaker Series, Universidad Autonoma de Mexico, Iztapalapa, 2003.

(Invited). Imagining Mexican Immigrants Alternative Educational Futures, Presentation at Latin American Students Association Conference on Mexican Immigrants and Human Rights, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, October 2003.

Mentor to 2002 Fellows, National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellows, 2002.

Vice President and Co-Founder, Mexican Educational Foundation of New York, A 501c3 organization founded using the insights from my second generation project to help Mexican and Mexican American students in New York succeed academically, 1999-present.

Grant Writer-Program Developer – Mexican Educational Foundation of New York and Mexican American Students Alliance partnership mentor program. Application for funding submitted to the New York Community Trust; Fund for New Americans has requested a proposal too. 2004-05

(Invited). Undocumented College Students, Casa Mexico, Mexican American Students Alliance, Several talks and advising, New York, September 2003.

(Invited). Practical and Theoretical Approaches to Transnational Life, Opening Address, Foundation Conference on Creative Engagement with Diasporas, CUNY Graduate Center, Sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation, March 2003.

Testimony, City Council of New York, supporting The Dream Act for undocumented students. February 2003.

Consultant, The Sixth Section, a documentary on Public Broadcasting Station’s (PBS) program, POV (Point of View), September 2003.

2002. Edinburgh Declaration of the Migrant Rights and State Responsibilities. Drafting Committee member.

2002. Testimony, City Council of New York, supporting New York State law supporting in-tuition to undocumented students.

2002. Mentor to 2002 Fellows, National Academy of Education/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellows.

2000. “Mexico’s Relations with its diaspora in the United States: Past Errors, Future Potentials.” Day long seminar in Mexico City with the Transition Team of President-elect of Mexico, Vicente Fox.

1999. “Transnational and Local Communities, Problems and Solutions.” Paper and policy recommendations presented for the Integrated Family Development Department of the Mexican Government. Tijuana, Mexico

Advisor, Catholic Church, Mexican Immigration Task Force, 1998-2002.

Latino Advisory Committee on the Census, Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund, Inaugural Meetings, New York City, August and September 1999.

1998. Conference Organized. "Mexican Migrants in Mexico and New York: New Analytical and Practical Perspectives on Transnationalization and Immigrant Incorporation." Co-organized with Ale Leal, sponsored by Barnard

Forum on Migration, New School for Social Research, Mexican Cultural Institute, and ILAIS at Columbia. October.

1998. Conference Organized. "States and Diasporas.” Held at Italian Academy, Columbia University. Sponsored by the Barnard Forum on Migration, and Institute for Latin American and Iberian Studies, Columbia University.

1997. Conference Organized. "Transnational Communities and the Political Economy of New York in the 1990s.” At the New School for Social Research. Co-organized w/H. Cordero-Guzman and R. Grosfoguel. February.

Peer Reviewing.
Books.

University of California Press; Johns Hopkins University Press; University of Arizona Press ;Palgrave- MacMillan

Journals – peer reviewing.

Global Networks: A Journal of Transnational Research; Ethnic and Racial Studies; International Migration Review; Sociological Theory; Ethnography; American Journal of Education; Diaspora; Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies; Political Power and Social Theory; Journal of Marriage and the Family; Ethnomusicology; Identities; Latino Studies; Social Problems.

Grants

National Science Foundation; William T. Grant Foundation; CUNY Research Foundation; Mexico-US Fund for Culture

Doctoral Student Research Supervision and Mentorship (at Barnard/Columbia)


Principal Sponsor. Columbia Sociology Department.
Norma Fuentes (expected, 2005).
Cynthia Duarte (expected, 2005).

On Dissertation Defense Committee (date indicates year of defense; no date indicates not defended yet).
Norma Fuentes, CU Sociology.
Cynthia Duarte, CU Sociology.
Andrew Korvetaris, CU Sociology, 2005.
Gustavo Cano, CU Political Science.
Izle Earner, Social Work, 2004.
Sara Lee, CU Sociology, 2002.
Arturo Sanchez, CU Urban Planning. 2002.
Carol Hafford, TC, Anthropology. 2002.
Sarah Brewster, TC, Curriculum. 2002.
Sandra Lara, TC, Developmental Psychology. 2001.
Maritsa Poros, CU Sociology, 2001.
Richard Brender, Political Science, 2000.
Jose Magadia, CU Political Science. 1999.
Jennifer Lee, CU Sociology. 1998.
Margaret Chin, CU Sociology. 1998.

On Dissertation Proposal Defense Committee or other pre-Defense Advising.
All listed above (except Magadia, Brewster, and Hafford). In addition: Melanie Hildebrandt, CU Sociology. 2001.
Ilze Earner, Social Work, 2002.

2003. Sponsored Student Paper Presentations. American Sociological Association Meetings. Yaromil Fong Olivares presented her senior thesis findings. Chicago.

2000. Sponsored Student Paper Presentations. Dickinson College, Oral History Meetings. Griscelda Perez, Carolina Perez and Linda Rodriguez presented papers drawing on my Second Generation study. Dickinson, PA.

1999. Sponsored Student Paper Presentations. Eastern Sociological Association Meetings. Sandra Lara and Sara Guerrero Rippberger presented papers based on their work on my second generation project. Boston.