Silvia Pedraza

Silvia Pedraza is Professor of Sociology and American Culture at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her research interests include the sociology of immigration, race, and ethnicity in America, with particular focus on Latinas/os in the U.S. as well as gender.  Her research also includes the sociology of revolutions, with particular focus on Cuba and Venezuela's revolution and the role the refugee exodus played in consolidating and undermining them both. She places particular stress on comparative studies, both historical and contemporary. At present, she is Associate Editor of Social Science History, the journal of the Social Science History Association.

Her research seeks to understand the causes and consequences of migration as a historical process that forms and transforms nations. She is the author of several books, including Political Disaffection in Cuba's Revolution and Exodus (Cambridge University Press, 2007), and Revolutions in Cuba and Venezuela: One Hope, Two Realities, together with Carlos A. Romero, Universidad Central de Venezuela (University of Florida Press, January 2023). Together with Lloyd Barba and Joao Chaves she is the Editor of a collection of research pieces on A Place of their Own: Religion and Immigration among Latinos in the United States, Forthcoming with Oxford University Press.   A recent article on "Transnationalism and Gender: Economic, Political, and Social Changes" was published the edited collection of readings on Beyond Economic Migration: Social, Historical, and Political Factors in Immigration to the US by Min Zhou and Hasan Mahmud, New York University Press, 2023.

In addition to teaching and research, she has an administrative bent.  In the American Sociological Association (ASA), she was elected Chair of several Sections: the Latina/o Sociology; Racial and Ethnic Minorities; and the International Migration Sections. In 2009, the Latino/a Sociology Section awarded her the Julian Samora Distinguished Career Award; in 2021, they awarded her their Founders Award. She was also elected to the ASA's Council and the Nominations Committee.  At the University of Michigan, in 2022 she was elected Chair of the Senate Advisory Commission on University Affairs (SACUA) -- faculty governance. In the Social Science History Association (SSHA), she was elected to the Executive Committee. She also served on the Distinguished Book Award Committee, and on the Editorial Board of their journal, Social Science History. At present, she is Associate Editor of the journal.  She was also elected and served as President of the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy and society (ASCE). 

In 2025, the Latin American Studies Association's Cuban Studies Section awarded her their Distinguished Career Award. In 2026, the  Latin American Studies Association's Latino Studies Section awarded her their Lifetime Achievement Award. 

She teaches courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level on American Immigration; Race, Ethnicity, and Culture; Latinas/os in the U.S.: Social Problems and Issues;  Women and Migration: the Social Consequences of Gender, and Transforming America: Immigrants Then and Now. At the graduate level, she also teaches American Immigration: Historical and Sociological Perspecttives, and the Practicum on Qualitative Research Methods.