Profile
Bernadette Ludwig (PhD, Sociology, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York) is a part-time assistant faculty in Global Studies. She is also an associate professor of Sociology at Wagner College in Staten Island. Bernadette Ludwig received her joint BA and MA in Social and Cultural Anthropology from the University of Vienna in Austria. She is also a graduate of the University of Oxford’s International Summer School in Forced Migration.
Bernadette Ludwig's research focuses on the intersection of immigration, gender, and race, specifically how immigration and refugee resettlement policies affect refugee and immigrant families in U.S. cities, and how migrants assert their agency to respond to imposed racial and gender hierarchies. Her other research interests include urban inequality, applied sociology, service learning, and social policy. She is currently working on a book manuscript about the Liberian refugee and immigrant community in Staten Island’s North Shore, home to one of the largest Liberian populations in the United States.
Another research project investigates the significance and meaning of service learning opportunities for students, in particular those who are ethnoracial minorities, immigrants, and/or first-generation college students. Bernadette Ludwig is also interested in gaining a better understanding if and when students’ views about community engagement and social justice issues shift.
Prior to pursuing a PhD in Sociology, Bernadette Ludwig worked with refugee and immigrant communities in Atlanta GA. During that time she was the executive director of two non profit organizations, including Culture Connect, Inc. which she co-founded. Her years of working in the field with refugees and immigrants continue to inform her research and her teaching. She am also the vice board chair of Napela, Inc., a non-profit organization that offers support to African families in Staten Island’s North Shore.
As a first generation high school/college graduate and immigrant she is committed to mentoring students, in particular those from historically excluded groups.
Bernadette Ludwig also serve as a pro-bono country conditions expert for asylum and deportation claims/hearings.
Degrees Held
PhD in Sociology, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York
BA & MA in Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Vienna
Recent Publications
Ludwig, Bernadette and Connie Campbell. 2023. Changes in students’ attitudes toward service learning and immigrants/refugees in the U.S.: Insights from comparing first year learning communities. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 29(1), 75–97.
Ludwig, Bernadette. 2019. It's Tough to Be a Liberian Refugee in Staten Island, NY: The Importance of Context for Second Generation African Immigrant Youth. African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal. 12:2, pp. 189-210
Ludwig, Bernadette. 2017. Looking for Refuge in the Other New York City: Liberian Refugees in Staten Island. In D. W. Haines, J. Howell, & F. Keles (Eds.), Maintaining Refuge: Anthropological Reflections in Uncertain Times (pp. 11–17). Washington, D.C.: American Anthropological Association
Ludwig, Bernadette and Holly Reed. 2016. "'When You Are Here You Have High Blood Pressure': Liberian Refugees' Health and Access to Healthcare in Staten Island, NY." International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care. 12:1, p. 26-37
Ludwig, Bernadette. 2016. “From ‘Oh My Gosh I’m Going to Get Mugged’ To ‘See[ing] Them as People Who are Just Like Me.’” In Katia Gonzalez and Rhoda Frumkin(eds.) Handbook of Research on Effective Communication in Culturally Diverse Classrooms. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, p. 251-268.
Ludwig, Bernadette. 2016. "A Black Republic: Citizenship and Naturalisation Requirements in Liberia." Migration Letters. 13:1, p. 84-99.
Ludwig, Bernadette. 2016. “’Wiping the Refugee Dust from My Feet.’ Advantages and Burdens of Refugee Status and the Refugee Label.” International Migration. 54:1, p. 5-18. (first published online in 2013)
Reed, Holly, Bernadette Ludwig, and Laura Braslow. 2016. “Forced Migration” In Michael White and Josh DeWind (eds.) Handbook of Migration and Population Distribution. New York, NY: Springer, p. 605-625.
Ludwig, Bernadette. 2015. “The Different Meanings of the Word ‘Refugee’.” In Vai Ramanathan and Emily Feuerherm (eds.) Refugee Resettlement: Language, Policies, Pedagogies. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters, p. 34-52.
Ludwig, Bernadette. 2014. Book Review: “Safe Haven. A History of Refugees in America” by David W. Haines. Journal of American Ethnic History. 33: 3, p. 113-115.
Ludwig, Bernadette. 2013. “Liberians: Struggles for Refugee Families.” In Nancy Foner (ed.) One Out of Three: Immigrant New York in the Twenty-First Century. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 200-222.
Ludwig, Bernadette. 2013. "Reparations and Refugees." In Immanuel Ness (ed.) Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 2566-2570.
Ludwig, Bernadette. 2012. “The Role of Culture in Mentoring.” Forced Migration Review." 40:32.
Ludwig, Bernadette. 2011. “African Immigration Experience.” In Kathleen R. Arnold (ed.) Anti-Immigration in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, p. 2-4.
Ludwig, Bernadette and Erwin Ebermann. 2002. “Als ‘Afrikaner’ auf der Wohnungssuche” (“As ‘African’ on apartment hunt“) In Ebermann, Erwin (ed.) Afrikaner in Wien, (Africans in Vienna). Vienna, Austria: LIT-Verlag, p. 226-236.
Research Interests
Refugees, Forced Migration, Immigration, Race and Ethnicity, Gender, Civic Engagement