The Department of Sociology was lucky to be joined by two new faculty last year! Learn more about each of them here.
Tiffany Huang, Assistant Professor
Where did you obtain your PhD, and why did you decide to study sociology?
I took a bit of a winding path to sociology. I studied public health and health policy as an undergraduate (and MPH student) and worked for a time in the public and nonprofit sectors. In my public health career, I found that Asian Americans were often invisible in conversations on race, but I didn’t have the background to understand why. I almost certainly did not need to pursue a PhD in order to answer this question, but it felt like the right next step in my career. My prior work had really pushed me toward more systemic thinking, so sociology was an appealing field. I obtained my PhD at Columbia University, where I was very lucky to have mentors who encouraged me to pursue my research interests.
Why did you choose to come to Ohio State?
Ohio State Sociology seemed like a place where a junior faculty member could thrive in producing excellent research. Having attended public schools growing up (and a public university for my undergraduate degree, albeit as an out-of-state student), I also often find myself drawn to the mission of public education.
Why did you choose to focus on immigration research?
Immigration is an integral part of the Asian American story in the United States. Seven out of 10 Asian adults in the U.S. are foreign-born, which also makes immigration a crucial part of many U.S.-born Asian Americans’ stories.
What inspired your research? Has your research impacted how you live your day-to-day life?
I’d say that in general, one of the day-to-day benefits of studying sociology is that it gives us the tools to make sense of the world around us. I find that my most compelling research questions often result from trying to understand something I have observed in the real world. Sometimes the existing literature has a satisfying answer. Sometimes it doesn’t, which means I have a new potential project on my hands.
What is the most important thing you have learned from your research?
I do a mix of quantitative and qualitative research; my qualitative research has mostly been based on original interview data that I collect. One thing I appreciate about conducting interviews is that it reminds me of the breadth and depth of human experience and meaning making. It teaches me that listening and being open to being surprised by people is one of the most important things we can do to connect with one another.
How has you research impacted how you teach your classes?
I’m lucky to teach classes that are aligned with my research interests. As a result, I find that my research and teaching definitely reinforce one another. Both benefit from staying up to date on the latest research and keeping things fresh by bringing in new material.
How can or how would you like your research be applied to the world outside of academia?
I think it’s quite important for sociologists to engage with the broader public, although that is also easier said than done! Sociologists have a lot to contribute to conversations on current events and policy. I would especially like to see my work help people question their assumptions and narratives about race and immigration.
Nima Dahir, Assistant Professor
Where did you obtain your PhD and why did you study decide to study sociology?
I earned my PhD from Stanford University. My path to sociology began a bit later; I completed undergraduate degrees in mathematics and economics at Ohio State. I initially wanted to pursue a PhD in economics because I was interested in using social science to understand inequality. My research focus in economics was more individual, but after graduation, my focus shifted—I became more interested in the broader social structures that shape our lives and experiences of inequality. That shift led me to sociology, and ultimately to graduate study at Stanford.
Why did you choose to come back to Ohio State? And has anything here surprised you?
Coming back to Ohio State felt like coming full circle. I love Columbus, and I love being a Buckeye. This is where I first learned what it means to be a social scientist, how to do research, and what it means to be part of a scholarly community. I've always believed in the power of public education, and I knew I wanted to build my academic career at a public institution. It's a true honor to return here as a faculty member.
What’s surprised me most about returning to Ohio State is just how big the university really is. I’d forgotten the sheer scale of it! But with that size comes a certain energy. There’s so much happening all the time, so many students, faculty, and initiatives. It’s been energizing to be back in such a vibrant academic environment.
What inspired your research, and has your research impacted how you live your day-to-day life?
My research is deeply personal. It is rooted in my lived experiences as the child of Black immigrants here in Columbus. Many of the questions I’ve explored in my dissertation and ongoing projects come directly from those experiences, especially as a Somali American and thinking about how neighborhoods are really determinants of people's life trajectories.
I’ve long been curious by the question of why is it and how is it that neighborhoods can really be these sites of inequality, and how can we think about understanding them as sites of inequality. Why do some neighborhoods create opportunity while others reinforce inequality? That question has driven much of my work. For me, it’s hard to separate my research from my life—they’re deeply intertwined.
What is the most important thing or one of the most important things that you've learned from your research?
One key insight from my research is just how diverse the category of “Black” is in the United States. When we don’t unpack that diversity, we miss crucial explanations for why racial inequality persists. Understanding this complexity helps us think more critically about how to craft policies that don’t treat the Black population as a monolith, but instead acknowledge and address the varied experiences within it.
How can or how would you like your research to be applied to the world outside of academia?
Neighborhoods are not just places, they're clusters of people, institutions and resources, all shaped by historical and structural inequalities. If we can better understand how inequality is embedded in these spaces, we can also start to identify the policy levers that might help undo it. In particular, a central part of my work focuses on Black immigrants, an often overlooked group in both public discourse and policy conversations. Black immigrants face unique challenges that differ from those of U.S.-born Black communities or other immigrant groups. My research aims to highlight how these experiences intersect with housing, neighborhood change and access to opportunity. I want my work to help policymakers understand that racial inequality isn’t one-size-fits-all.
Social science provides a framework for asking those big questions—what creates and sustains inequality? Once we have that understanding, we can more effectively shape policies that work toward equity and justice.