Kara Somerville
B.A., M.A., Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Tenured
Office: Arts 1103
Phone: 966-7437
Email: kara.somerville@usask.ca
Kara Somerville is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and an Associate Member in the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy. Dr. Somerville researches in the areas of migration, transnationalism, family, race/ethnicity and the new second generation. Recently, her research has explored the transnational practices of Indo-Canadian migrants in Canada and the experiences and opinions of their non-migrant families in India. She engaged in interviews in Canada and India to delineate the structure of transnational family networks. She found that relationships maintained across countries of origin and settlement help broaden social networks, facilitate marriages, reproduce family, meet daily care needs, and create a sense of self within the context of migration. She is currently the Principal Investigator of a SSHRC Standard Research Grant Project ($44,853) on "Masala and maple syrup: transnational family dynamics among Indo-Canadians". Dr. Somerville’s ongoing research projects keep her involved in international research, specifically in India, which complement the Department of Sociology’s initiatives to foster global relationships.
Teaching & Supervision
Soc 112 - Foundations in Sociology: Social Construction of Everyday Life
Soc 203 - Race and Ethnic Relations in Canada
Soc 233 - Introduction to Sociological Theory
Soc 412/812 - Advanced Seminar in Ethnic Relations
Research
Research Grants and Awards
SSHRC Standard Research Grant, 2011, Government of Canada. "Masala and Maple Syrup: Transnational Family Dynamics among Indo-Canadians" Principal Investogator. ($44,853).
India Studies Faculty Research Fellowship, 2011, Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, Government of India. "Transnational Family Relationships among Indian Families in Canada and their Relatives in India". Principal Investigator. (316,350 INR)
Tri-Council Bridge Funding, 2010, Office of the Vice-President of Research, University of Saskatchewan “Masala and Maple Syrup” ($10,000).
Proposal Development Assistance Program, 2010-11, Office of the Vice-President Research, University of Saskatchewan ($1,000).
President’s SSHRC Grant, 2008, Research Innovations, University of Saskatchewan.
“Immigrant Youth in Canada: understanding family dynamics”. Co-Principal Investigator with Scott Walsworth, University of Saskatchewan. ($5,000).
University of Saskatchewan Start-Up Research Funds, 2007, College of Arts and Science, University of Saskatchewan ($12,000).
Capital Equipment Start-Up Fund, 2007, Office of the Vice-Provost, University of Saskatchewan ($5,000)
India Studies Research Fellowship, 2006, Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, Government of India.
"Transnational Social Reproduction and Immigrant Incorporation: First and Second Generation South Indians in Canada". Principal Investigator ($5,000). Declined.
Publications
Refereed Journal Articles
Somerville, Kara. 2011. “Strategic Migrant Network Building and Information Sharing: Understanding ‘migrant pioneers’ in Canada,” International Migration. Published on-line as Early View article on Mar. 17, 2011.
Somerville, Kara. 2008. “Transnational Belonging among Second Generation Youth: Identity in a Globalized World,” Journal of Social Sciences, Special Issue on Youth and Migration, 10: 23-33. Anand Singh (ed.).
Reitz, Jeffrey G. and Kara Somerville. 2004. “Institutional Change and Emerging Cohorts of the ‘New’ Immigrant Second Generation: Implications for the Integration of Racial Minorities in Canada,” Journal of International Migration and Integration, 5(4): 385-415.
Refereed Book Chapters
Somerville, Kara. Forthcoming. “Making and Sustaining Transnational Families: Feeding and Health-care among Indo-Canadian Women Migrants” Family Patterns, Gender Relations, Bonnie Fox (ed.). Oxford University Press.
Somerville, Kara. Forthcoming. “‘Am I Indian or am I Canadian?’: Identity Struggles of Second Generation Indian Youth in Toronto, Canada” (27 pp) in Indian Diaspora and Identity Crisis Among Young Indians: A Global Perspective. Vasintha Veeran and Vinod Chandra (eds.). Emerald Group Publishers Ltd.
Somerville, Kara. 2009 “Facilitated Transnational Marriages among Indo-Canadian Youth: the role of social networks in mate selection” (pp. 118-138) in Growing up in a Globalized World: An International Reader. Vinod Chandra (ed.). MacMillan Publishers India Ltd., New Delhi. ISBN: 9780230639782.
Somerville, Kara. 2007. “Life Cycle Events and the Creation of Transnational Ties among Second Generation South Indians,” chapter 20 in Sociology in Canada: A Canadian Sociological Association Reader. Tepperman, Lorne and Harley Dickinson (eds.) Oxford University Press Canada.
