Michelle S. Dromgold-Sermen

Assistant Director

Assistant Professor

U.S. immigration law and policy; legality, citizenship, membership, and belonging; immigrant incorporation; refugee resettlement; global migration management; Middle East migration

Dr. Michelle S. Dromgold-Sermen is Assistant Director of the Institute for Immigration Research (IIR). Her areas of expertise include U.S. immigration law and policy, legality and membership, refugee resettlement, and global migration management. Her research is interdisciplinary and adopts multiple methods including computational, qualitative, and quantitative analysis to explore diverse questions about the impacts of migration systems and administration for the experiences of migrants and citizens. In her current research, she analyzes online immigration forum posts to examine the consequences of uncertain policymaking and waiting for visa-holders in the United States who are navigating the adjustment of status process to become legal permanent residents. She has spent extensive time researching and working with migrant and refugee populations in Germany, Türkiye, and the United States.

Selected Publications

Michelle S. Dromgold-Sermen. 2023. “The Bureaucratic Waiting Tolls: Social Consequences of Prolonged and Uncertain Waiting in U.S. Lawful Permanent Residence Processing.” American Behavioral Scientist. https://doi.org/10.1177/00027642231216727.

Hana Brown and Michelle S. Dromgold-Sermen (equal authorship). 2022 advance online. “Borders, Politics, and Bounded Sympathy: How US Television News Constructs Refugees, 1980-2016.” Social Problems. https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spac036.

Michelle S. Dromgold-Sermen. 2022. “Forced Migrants and Secure Belonging: A Case Study of Syrian Refugees Resettled in the United States.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 48(3): 635-654. https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183X.2020.1854087.

Expanded Publication List

Michelle S. Dromgold-Sermen. 2020. Farklılıkları Yönetme Kültürü: Göç Yönetimi Alanı ve Türkiye’ye Göç Eden Suriyeliler (A Culture of Managing Difference: The Field of Migration Management and Syrian Movers to Türkiye). Ankara: Middle East Technical University Press.

Kaitlyn Atkins, Bryan M. Dougan, Michelle S. Dromgold-Sermen, Hannah Potter, Viji Sathy, and A.T. Panter. 2020. “Looking at Myself in the Future”: How Mentoring Shapes Scientific Identity for STEM Students from Underrepresented Groups.” International Journal of STEM Education 7(42). DOI: 10.1186/s40594-020-00242-3.

Education

PhD Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Graduate Certificate, Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies
M.A. Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
M.S. Middle East Studies, Middle East Technical University, Ankara
B.A. International Studies, American University
B.A. German and Europe Area Studies, American University