About Us

GIRN Founding Members March 2016The Georgia Immigration Research Network (GIRN) was founded in 2015 by faculty from the WellStar College of Health and Human Services and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Kennesaw State University, the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University, and the School of City and Regional Planning at the Georgia Institute of Technology. 

The overall purpose of GIRN is to bring together those working on and interested in immigration policy as it relates to Georgia and the U.S. South, immigrant and refugee integration in Georgia and the U.S. South, and issues of concern to immigrant and refugee populations in Georgia, as well as the human, social, and/or service needs for immigrant populations. In particular, GIRN serves to provide opportunities and spaces for researchers, practitioners, and community members to:

  • Discuss available data sources, data gaps, and methodologies necessary to assess immigrant and refugee population needs, the needs of the organizations that serve them, and the needs of the broader community.
  • Prioritize issues impacting immigrant communities in the Atlanta Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and throughout Georgia and the U.S. South, including current and emerging issues.
  • Discuss ways in which to further refine community-based and community-engaged research trajectories that produce work with applicability to communities and policy in the broader region. 
  • Explore funding opportunities and grants targeting immigrants, immigrant service provision, and immigrant integration.
  • Identify immigrant issues and barriers, as well as potential intervention strategies to overcome barriers, in the Atlanta MSA and Georgia.
  • Network with other immigrant-serving professionals and researchers.

Views expressed on this website and in our work are those of the author(s) alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of our places of employment and various funders.

Georgia Immigration Research Network (GIRN) Founding Members:

Dr. Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez, Associate Professor of Social Work and Human Services in Nonprofit Management, WellStar College of Health and Human Services, Kennesaw State University. Google Scholar, Research Gate, Selected Works/Digital Commons

Dr. Paul N. McDaniel, Associate Professor of Geography, Department of Geography and Anthropology, Kennesaw State University. KSU Faculty Web, Google Scholar, Research Gate, Selected Works/Digital Commons

Dr. Anna Joo Kim, Associate Professor of City Planning, School of Public Affairs, San Diego State University (previously Assistant Professor of Housing and Community Development, School of City and Regional Planning, Georgia Institute of Technology). Website, Google Scholar

Dr. Cathy Yang Liu, Professor of Public Policy, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University. Website, Google Scholar

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