A headshot of Dr. Banerjee wearing a black blazer, hair down, by a tree.

Dr. Pallavi Banerjee

Ph.D.
Pronouns: she/her/they

Affiliations

Professor

Faculty of Arts, Department of Sociology

UCalgary Research Excellence Chair

University of Calgary

Contact information

Email

pallavi.banerjee@ucalgary.ca

Web presence

Research Group Website

BIPOC Youth and Anti-Racism Project Website (IRCC Funded)

Google Scholar Profile

Phone number

Office: 403-220-6511

Location

Office: Social Science926

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Preferred method of communication

Email

Background

Educational Background

Ph.D. Sociology, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2012

M.A. Sociology, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2007

M.A. Comparative Literature, Jadavpur University, 2000

Research

Areas of Research

Intersectionality, Sociology of Immigration and Refugee Studies; Global South and Transnationalism; Families; Gender and Feminism; Qualitative Methods; Community-Engaged Research

My research interests are at the intersection of sociology of immigration, refugee resettlement, gender, intersectional feminist theories, and families. In particular, I am concerned with how the intersections of gender, race, and class play out in the everyday lives and interactions of immigrants and transnational families as a consequence of Western state policies and other institutional mandates. 

Participation in university strategic initiatives

Human Dynamics in a Changing World (2015-2021)

Courses

Course number Course title Semester
SOCI 677 Graduate Seminar in Sociology of Gender Relations Fall 2026
SOCI 631 Graduate Seminar in Sociological Theory Winter 2026
SOCI 680 Course-Based Masters Major Research Paper Spring and Summer 2025
SOCI 701 Graduate Directed Reading in Racial Capitalism and Empire Spring and Summer 2025
SOCI 677 / SOCI 701 Graduate Seminar in Sociology of Gender Relations Winter 2021 and Fall 2024
SOCI 615 / SOCI 701.01 Graduate Seminar in Qualitative Method Winter 2023
SOCI 704 Directed Reading for Doctoral Students: Community Engaged research Fall 2022
SOCI 403.13 LEC 01 / GSXS 411 S01 Topics in Gender Relations (Feminist Theory) Winter 2022
Soci 413 LEC 01 Qualitative Research Methods Winter 2022
Soci 677 Graduate Seminar in Sociology of Gender Relations Winter 2021
SOCI 403.13 LEC 01 / GSXS 411 S01 Topics in Gender Relations (Feminist Theory) Winter 2021

Projects

Youth And Anti-Racism Integration - YARI Collective

A critical intersectional, anti-racist collaboration that brings together researchers from the University of Calgary, newcomer youth of colour, community partners from four Calgary-based resettlement agencies, and creative professionals.

Our goal: To co-develop programs and services undergirded by anti-racist frameworks that dismantle systems of oppression in the resettlement process and centre newcomer visions.

Funded by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.

https://www.yari-collective.com/

Critical Gender, Intersectionality & Migration Research Group

 

Our  research interests are situated at the intersection of sociology of immigration, refugee resettlement, gender, sexualities, intersectional feminist theories, and families. In particular, we are interested in how the intersections of gender, race, class and sexualities play out in the everyday lives and interactions of immigrants and transnational families as a consequence of Western state policies and other institutional mandates. At the heart of Dr. Banerjee's research program is the idea that minoritized families reside at the center of immigration and transnational governmental processes, and that these processes must be seen through intersectional lenses to understand the experiences of the different forms of families.  On empirical and theoretical levels, our group seeks to unravel the specific structural processes through which the state, corporations, and other related institutions operate together as gender and labor regimes to reconfigure the lived experiences of minority and transnational families in public and private spheres.  

https://www.criticalmigration.org/home

Awards

  • Thelma Margaret Horte Fellowship in Women and Society, University of Calgary. 2025
  • Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Team Award for Youth and Anti-Racism Integration (YARI) Collective, University of Calgary. 2025
  • Faculty of Arts, Justice, Equity, and Transformation, Research Impact Award, University of Calgary. 2025
  • Teaching Award for Graduate Supervision, University of Calgary. 2024
  • Silver Medalist, Independent Publisher Book Award, Non-Fiction Category, Canada West, IPPY Awards. 2024
  • Global Sociology Book Award, Canadian Sociological Association. 2024
  • Finalist, International Conference for Learning Sciences, Naomi Miyake Award, International Society of the Learning Sciences. 2024
  • Honorable Mention, Social Science Category Book Awards, Association for Asian American Studies. 2024
  • Best Book Award from the Asia and Asian American Section, American Sociological Association. 2023
  • Honorable Mention, Betty and McClung Lee Book Award, Association for Humanist Sociology. 2022
  • Honorable Mention, Excellence in Graduate Student Supervision , Graduate Students’ Association, University of Calgary. 2020
  • Honorable Mention, Distinguished Contribution to Scholarship Article Award, American Sociological Association Section on Race, Gender and Class. 2019
  • Nomination, Internationalization Achievement Award, Academic Staff Member Award Category, University of Calgary. 2018
  • David P. Street Dissertation Prize for outstanding dissertation and research in Engaged Sociology , University of Illinois at Chicago. 2014
  • Departmental Nominee, UIC Institute for the Humanities Dissertation Fellowship, University of Illinois at Chicago. 2011
  • Center for Research on Women and Gender, Alice Dan Dissertation Research Award, University of Illinois at Chicago. 2011
  • Honorable Mention, 2010 Rue Bucher Memorial Award , University of Illinois at Chicago. 2010

Publications

  • "Struggles of International Graduate Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic and the Spectre of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Policies at a University" In Unmasking Academia: Institutional inequities laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic. Pallavi Banerjee, Sepideh Boorzoo, Isabel Fandino. University of Alberta Press. 49-70. (2025)
  • “Self-Employment among Immigrant and Migrant Women and Reconstruction of Canadian Identity from an Intersecting Marginal Positions.” In Reconstructions of Canadian Identity. Pallavi Banerjee, Sepideh Borzoo. University of Manitoba Press. 358-374. (2024)
  • "Intersectionality, Citizenship and Labor.” In the Research Handbook on Intersectionality. Pallavi Banerjee, Carieta Thomas. Edward Elgar Publishing. (2023)
  • The Opportunity Trap: High-Skilled Workers, Indian Families, and the Failures of the Dependent Visa Program. Pallavi Banerjee. New York University Press.. 336. (2022)
  • "Gender and Law.” Handbook of Law and Society. Pallavi Banerjee, Pedrom Nasiri. Routledge. (2021)
  • “Gender and Resettlement of Yazidi Refugee Families in Calgary: A Deep Dive in the Resettlement, Health, Carework and Education Processes". Pallavi Banerjee, Annalee Coakley, Bindu Narula, Negin Saheb Javaher, Rowena Theodore, Sophia Thraya. Metropolis eBook, Beyond 2020: Renewing Canada’s Commitment to Immigration. 115-131. (2020)
  • “Race and ethnicity in the lives of sexual minority parents and their children: Perspectives from North America and Beyond.” in LGBT-Parent Families: Innovations in Research and Implications for Practice. Pallavi Banerjee, Amy Brainer, Mignon Moore. Springer. 86-103. (2020)
  • “What Do Visas Have to Do with Parenting? Middle-Class Dependent Visa Holders and Transcultural Parenting.” in Contemporary Parenting and Parenthood: From News Headlines to New Research. Pallavi Banerjee. Praeger/ABC-CLIO, New York. (2018)
  • "Gender Theory as Southern Theory." in The Handbook of the Sociology of Gender, Second Edition. Pallavi Banerjee, Raewyn Connel. Springer Press. 57- 68. (2018)
  • "Afterword: Global Hunger as Performance." In Anastasia Ulanowicz and Manisha Basu eds., The Aesthetics and Politics of Global Hunger. Pallavi Banerjee, Ray Ranita. Palgrave Macmillan. (2017)
  • “H-1B Visas” Contemporary Issues of People of Color: Surviving and Thriving in the U.S. Today.. Pallavi Banerjee, Namita N. Manohar. ABC-CLIO. 161-168. (2016)
  • “When Men Stay Home: Household Labor and Parenthood in Female-Led Families of Indian Migrant Nurses.” In Families as They Really Are. Vol. 2. . Pallavi Banerjee. Norton. (2015)
  • “Paradoxes of Patriarchy: South Asian Women in Ethnic Labor Markets.” In Immigrant Women Workers in the Neoliberal Age.. Pallavi Banerjee. University of Illinois Press. 96-116. (2013)
  • Dis/Orienting Computing Education Through Centring Carework of Newcomer Young Women Siblings of Color [Paper Presentation]. Sanyal Megha, Banerjee Pallavi, and Sengupta Pratim, Dutta Santanu, Helvaci-Ozacar Basak and Thraya Sophia. ISSE 2024: 8TH International STEM In Education Conference. (2024)
  • Migrant and Refugee Dis/Orientations for Maker Education [Symposium Presentation]. Sengupta Pratim and Banerjee Pallavi. ISSE 2024: 8TH International STEM In Education Conference. (2024)
  • Dis/Orienting Computing Education Through Centring Carework of Newcomer Young Women Siblings of Color [Symposium Presentation]. Sanyal, Megha, Banerjee Pallavi, and Sengupta Pratim. ISSE 2024: 8TH International STEM In Education Conference. (2024)
  • “Making” Animated Films as Counter Storytelling by Young Muslim Refugee Women [Symposium Presentation]. Dutta Santanu, Banerjee Pallavi, and Sengupta Pratim. ISSE 2024: 8TH International STEM In Education Conference. (2024)
  • STEM Futures Denied: The Racialized Politics of Exclusion of Newcomer Youth of Color in Schools and Workplaces [Paper Presentation]. Borzoo Sepideh, Sengupta Pratim, Banerjee Pallavi, Sanyal Megha and Dutta Santanu. ISSE 2024: 8TH International STEM In Education Conference. . (2024)
  • "Newcomer youths ethical stances in representing war and forced migration." In Proceedings of the 18th International Conference of the Learning Sciences-ICLS 2024. Dutta, Santanu, Pratim Sengupta, and Pallavi Banerjee.. International Society of the Learning Sciences. 841-848. (2024)
  • "River Crossings of our Childhood: Nezuko and Yasmine Dis/orient Computing Education." In Proceedings of the 18th International Conference of the Learning Sciences-ICLS 2024. Sanyal, Megha, Pratim Sengupta, Pallavi Banerjee, Santanu Dutta, and Basak Helvaci Ozacar. International Society of the Learning Sciences. 778-785. (2024)
  • "Newcomer youths’ ethical stances in representing war and forced migration." In Proceedings of the 18th International Conference of the Learning Sciences-ICLS 2024. Dutta, Santanu, Pratim Sengupta, and Pallavi Banerjee. International Society of the Learning Sciences. 841-848. (2024)
  • Co-Research in Video Analysis: Shifts Towards Ethical Validity. In Lindgren, R., Asino, T. I., Kyza, E. A., Looi, C. K., Keifert, D. T., & Suárez, E. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 18th International Conference of the Learning Sciences - ICLS 2024. Pierson, A., Keifert, D. T., Gentry, A., Vogelstein, L., Elliott, C. H., Ryan, Z., Horn, I., Spigner, H., Felder, S., Henrie, A., Johnson, H., Daniel, B., Lee, S., DeLiema, D., Goeke, M., Bye, J. K., Carpenter, Z., Marupudi, V., Vasquez, A. W., Shapiro, B. R., Gilliam, S., Garner, B., Nolting, K., Marin, A., Lopez, B., Lindberg, L., Davé, S., Burley, X., Springer, A., Champion, D., Wagh, A., Sengupta, ., Banerjee, P., Sanyal, M., Dutta, S., Khandelwal, C., Poppins, D., Poof, L., Book, B., , Bunny, Carrot, Flamingo, Dua, P., Alcatara, K., Arif, S., Arif, D., Sitwat, T., & Arif, F. . International Society of the Learning Sciences. 1894-1901. (2024)
  • "Under Neoliberal Blanket: Caregiving/Care Provision in the Resettlement of Yazidi Refugees in Calgary." In IV ISA Forum of Sociology. Javaher, Negin Saheb, and Pallavi Banerjee. International Sociological Association. (2021)
  • “Global Perspectives on Gender, Family, Labor, and Migration." In IV ISA Forum of Sociology. Banerjee, Pallavi., & Music, Leija. International Sociological Association. (2021)
  • “Beyond Diasporic Constraints: A Neoliberal It Approach to Scientific Citizenship” In 31st Annual Meeting. Rincon, Lina, & Banerjee, Pallavi. SASE. (2019)
  • "Muslim Immigrant Bangladeshi Women and the Politics of Gender, Class and Religion." In XIX ISA World Congress of Sociology. Banerjee, Pallavi. International Sociological Association. (2018)
  • “The Burgeoning Field of Gender, Work & Organization: Insights from the 6th Biennial International Conference.”. Banerjee. Pallavi. . Gender Work and Organizations Online Conference Proceedings. 1-15. (2012)

In the News

More Information

Doctoral Students 

Ongoing 

  1. Benedicta Asante, Department of Sociology, University of Calgary, 2026 - Ongoing.
  2. Rineem Saleh, Department of Sociology, University of Calgary. 2025 - Ongoing
  3. Riann Lognon, Department of Sociology, University of Calgary. 2025 - Ongoing.
  4. Anuneeta Chatterjee, Co-Supervisor, Department of Sociology, University of Calgary. 2025 - Ongoing
  5. Ruqayyah Baderinwa, Department of Sociology, University of Calgary. 2024 - Ongoing
  6. Chetna Khandelwal, Department of Sociology, University of Calgary. 2023 – Ongoing.
  7. Fatemeh Ejaredar,  Department of Sociology, University of Calgary. 2022 – Ongoing

Completed 

  1. Pedrom Nasiri, Department of Sociology, University of Calgary. 2020 –  2025 (Graduated)
  2. Sepideh Borzoo, Department of Sociology, University of Calgary. 2020 - 2023 (Graduated).
  3. Carieta Thomas, Co-Supervising with Naomi Lightman, Department of Sociology, University of Calgary. 2019 – 2023 (Graduated).​​​​​​

Masters Students 

Ongoing 

  1. Afrida Faiza, Co-Supervisor, Department of Anthropology, University of Calgary. 2023 - Ongoing

Completed

  1. Riann Lognon, Department of Sociology, University of Calgary. 2022-2024 (Graduated).
  2. Tanner Short, Department of Sociology, University of Calgary. 2020 - 2023. (Graduated).
  3. Lauren Rutherglen, Co-Supervisor, Department of Public Policy, University of Calgary. 2020-2021 (Graduated)
  4. Chetna Khandelwal, Department of Sociology, University of Calgary. 2020 – 2022 (Graduated).
  5. Melanie Jong, Department of Sociology, University of Calgary. 2020 – 2022 (Graduated).
  6. Isabel Fandino,  Department of Sociology, University of Calgary. 2018 – 2021. (Graduated).
  7. Negin Saheb Javaher, Department of Sociology, University of Calgary. 2018- 2020 (Graduated).

 

Honours Thesis Supervision

  1. Mercy Moro (2024-2025)
  2. Sheema Ahmad (2022-2023)
  3. Rupindar Brar (2020-2021)
  4. Juliana Castillo (2019-2020)
  5. Kennedy Novak (2018-2019)
  6. Isabel Fandino (2017-2018)
  7. Auska Adhikari (2017-2018)