I am sociologist at the Max Planck Institute, which is in Germany, but I am neither German nor live there.  Instead, I live in New York City, where I conduct research on immigration, race and ethnicity, and public space.  As part of my work, I recently traveled to South Africa, Singapore, and Germany.  I got my PhD from Princeton University, where I wrote a dissertation about immigrant naturalization, which will soon appear as a book.  I enjoy reading contemporary novels, urban gardening, hiking, and kayaking New York waterways.  I am also involved in local activism.  Over the holiday break, I visited the Grand Canyon for the first time.

I am an immigrant.  I moved to New York from Moscow with my family when I was 12 years old.  My parents, like many of their peers, took advantage of the American initiative to ‘rescue’ Soviet Jews, and arrived to the United States as political refugees in 1991.  As refugees, my family received assistance with settlement, including initial help with rent and English classes. I grew up in Bensonhurst, where I attended IS 281.  I commuted to Manhattan to attend Stuyvesant High School.  After high school, I left New York, living in Connecticut, Texas, and New Jersey, before returning to Brooklyn three years ago.