Sarah J. Mahler facts for kids

Sarah J. Mahler (born in 1959) is an American author and a cultural anthropologist. She studies how people move from one country to another. She is known for her work on "transnational migration." This idea helps us understand how people who move still stay connected to their home countries. It also shows how their culture changes from both their old and new homes.

About Sarah Mahler

Sarah J. Mahler was born in York, Pennsylvania. She spent most of her childhood in the Catskill Mountains in New York. She went to Amherst College and earned a degree in Liberal Arts in 1982. Before her last year of college, she took a break. She moved to Colombia for a year to learn about a new culture and language.

After college, she worked in Manhattan for several years. Then, she continued her studies at Columbia University. She earned a master's degree in Anthropology in 1989 and a Ph.D. in 1992. While studying, she lived in Latin American neighborhoods in New York City. She taught English for free and learned about immigration law. During this time, she also helped refugees who were escaping wars in Central America.

Her Work and Research

After finishing her studies, Dr. Mahler taught at the University of Vermont from 1992 to 1997. She then moved to Florida International University in 1997. There, she teaches classes about global and social studies. She is an expert in cultural anthropology. She also studies how people move from Latin America and the Caribbean to the United States.

Dr. Mahler joined a group of experts who wanted to change how we study migration. Before, people mostly looked at immigrants' lives in their new country. This new approach, called "transnational migration," looks at more. It studies how people who move across borders still keep ties to their homelands. It also explores how their culture and identity are shaped by both their past and present. Dr. Mahler's work has shown how moving can change family roles, even for those who don't move themselves.

In 2004, Dr. Mahler became the director of her department's graduate studies program. She helped change the courses for students studying for advanced degrees. In 2005, she became the Director of the Center for Transnational and Comparative Studies. She managed many international study programs until 2008. The center closed due to budget reasons. After this, she started new research. She went back to an old interest: how people learn culture. This interest grew after her daughter, Sophia, was born.

Since 2008, she has focused on studying the brain. She researches how babies and children learn in general. She also looks at how they specifically learn about culture. She has been publishing her findings from this research.

Awards and Achievements

During the 1980s and early 1990s, many people did not know about the struggles of Central Americans during their civil wars. Dr. Mahler decided to write her main research paper about their difficult situation. This paper was later published as two books.

Her first book, American Dreaming: Immigrant Life on the Margins (1995), was reviewed by The New York Times. Many college professors use it in their classes about different regions. It has also helped train new researchers who study immigration. This book is still a popular academic book, even though it was published almost 30 years ago.

In 1994, she received a special research award from the Russell Sage Foundation in New York City. This is one of the top social science awards in the country. While there, Dr. Mahler finished American Dreaming. She also wrote her second book, Salvadorans in Suburbia: Symbiosis and Conflict.

Because of her work helping immigrants and refugees, she was honored in 1996. The Central American Refugee Center recognized her for her many years of defending human rights.

In 2011, Dr. Mahler received the first Provost Award for Graduate Student Mentorship. This award from FIU's Graduate School recognized her for guiding and supporting her students.

Dr. Mahler's next book, Culture as Comfort: The Many Things You Already Know [but might not realize] About Culture, was published in 2012. This book is part of a bigger project. It aims to help people see culture in a more positive way. It shows how culture can be creative and bring people together, instead of causing problems.

Personal Life

Sarah Mahler and her husband, Miguel Marante, live a traveling life in their RV. Her daughter, Sophia Dominguez-Mahler, is in college. Dr. Mahler also has three stepchildren and seven step-grandchildren.

Selected Works

Here are some of the articles and book chapters Dr. Mahler has written:

Articles and Chapters

• "So Close and Yet So Far Away: Comparing Leadership Cultivation in Two Cuban Congregations in Miami." In Stepick, Rey and Mahler, Eds. Churches and Charity in the Immigrant City: Religion, Immigration, and Civic Engagement in Miami. 2009.
• "Religion, Immigration, and Civic Engagement" (Co-authored introduction). In Stepick, Rey and Mahler, Eds. Churches and Charity in the Immigrant City: Religion, Immigration, and Civic Engagement in Miami. 2009.
• "Conclusions: Religious Leadership and Civic Social Capital" (Co-authored conclusion). In Stepick, Rey and Mahler, Eds. Churches and Charity in the Immigrant City: Religion, Immigration, and Civic Engagement in Miami. 2009.
• Mahler, Sarah J. and Patricia R. Pessar. "Gender Matters: Ethnographers Bring Gender from the Periphery Toward the Core of Migration Studies." International Migration Review Vol. 40(1): 28–63. 2006.
• "Toward a Transnationalism of the Middle: How Transnational Religious Practices Help Bridge the Divides Between Cuba and Miami." Latin American Perspectives Volume 32(1):121-146. 2005.
• "Integrating Technology into a Two Continent Consortium: Lessons Learned." In Integrating Technology in Higher Education. 2005.
• Pessar, Patricia and Sarah J. Mahler. "Transnational Migration: Bringing Gender In." International Migration Review 37(3): 812–846. 2003.
• "Transnational Relationships: The Struggle to Communicate Across Borders," Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power 7(4): 583–619. 2001
• Mahler, Sarah J. and Patricia Pessar. "Gendered Geographies of Power: Analyzing Gender across Transnational Spaces," Introduction to special volume with same title edited with Patricia Pessar for Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power 7(4):441-459. 2001.
• "Suburban Transmigrants: Long Island’s Salvadorans." In Hector Cordero-Guzman, Ramon Grosfoguel and Robert Smith, Eds. Migration, Transnationalization, and Ethnic and Racial Dynamics in a Changing New York. 2001.
• "Constructing International Relations: The Role of Transnational Migrants and Other Non-State Actors." Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power Vol. 7:197-232. 2000.
• "Engendering Transnational Migration: A Case Study of Salvadorans." American Behavioral Scientist 42(4):690-719, January 1999.
• "Vested in Migration: Salvadorans Challenge Restrictionist policies." In Max Castro, Ed. Free Markets, Open Societies, Closed Borders? Trends in International Migration and Immigration Policy in the Americas. 1999.
• "Theoretical and Empirical Contributions Toward a Research Agenda for Transnationalism." In Michael Peter Smith and Luis E. Guarnizo, Eds., Transnationalism from Below. 1998.
• Paul, Shuva, Sarah J. Mahler and Michael Schwartz. "Mass Action and Social Structure". Political Power and Social Theory 11: 45–99. 1997.
• "Team-Based Learning in Social Science Research Methods Classes" in Michaelsen, Larry and Michael S. Sweet Team-Based Learning in the Social Sciences and Humanities Stylus. 2011.
• "Volume Introduction" to Diverse Pathways to Immigrant Political Incorporation: Comparative Canadian and U.S. Perspectives. Special Volume of American Behavioral Scientist. Co-Edited with Myer Siemiatycki; 2011.
• Mahler, Sarah J. "Transnational Migration Comes of Age." In Ajaya Kumar Sahoo and Brij Maharaj, Eds. Sociology of Diaspora: A Reader Vol. 1: 194–226. 2007
• Mahler, Sarah J. and Dusan Ugrina. "Central America: Crossroads of the Americas." Feature article in The Migration Information Source. 2006.
• Mahler, Sarah J. "Gender Matters [to Remittances]." ID21 Insights Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex.
• Mahler, Sarah J. and Katrin Hansing. "Myths and Mysticism: How Bringing a Transnational Religious Lens to the Examination of Cuba and the Cuban Diaspora Exposes and Ruptures the Fallacy of Isolation" Chapter in Damián Fernández, ed. Cuba Transnational, University Press of Florida. 2005.
• Hansing, Katrin and Sarah J. Mahler. "God Knows No Borders: Transnational Religious Ties Linking Miami and Cuba". In Religion, Culture, and Society: The Case of Cuba, edited by M. E. Crahan, pp. 123–130. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, DC. 2003
• "Migration and Transnational Issues: Recent Trends and Prospects for 2020." Report prepared for the Central America 2020 initiative. 2000.
• "La Industria de Remesas Salvadoreña." In Gail Mummert, Ed., Fronteras Fragmentadas.
• "Teaching Multiculturalism Anthropologically." In Multicultural Education: A Transdisciplinary Approach. 1998.
• "The Dysfunctions of Transnationalism." Working Paper #73, Russell Sage Foundation. June 1995.
• "Alternative Enumeration of Undocumented Salvadorans on Long Island." Final Report to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, Upper Marlboro, MD, January 1993.
• "Dominican Migration to the United States and United States Immigration Policy: A Changing History." Chapter 1 in Dominicanos Ausentes: Cifras, Politicas, Condiciones Sociales, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 1989
• "The Dynamics of Legalization in New York: A Focus on Dominicans." Chapter 5 in Dominicanos Ausentes: Cifras, Politicas, Condiciones Sociales, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 1989