Prema Kurien

• 2025 Spring
  • MAX 132 Global Community
  • SOC 300 Selected Topics - Immigration & the Transformati
• 2024 Fall
  • MAX 132 Global Community
  • SOC 406 Sociological Theory
• 2024 Spring
  • MAX 132 Global Community
  • SOC 618 Introduction to Field Research and Interviewing
• 2023 Fall
  • MAX 132 Global Community
• 2023 Spring
  • SOC 618 Introduction to Field Research and Interviewing

Prema Kurien is professor of sociology at Syracuse University and the former director of the South Asian Center. She is a scholar of international migration, race, ethnicity and religion. Kurien adopts a transnational approach in her work and has also done research in India, to show how a variety of global factors, including developments in the country of origin, play a profound role in shaping community structures, cultures, and activism profiles of immigrants and even the second generation.

She is the author of three award-winning sole-authored books, “Kaleidoscopic Ethnicity: International Migration and the Reconstruction of Community Identities in India” (2002),  “A Place at the Multicultural Table: The Development of an American Hinduism” (2007), “Ethnic Church Meets Mega Church: Indian American Christianity in Motion” (2017) and over 70 other sole-authored publications.

Her new book, “Claiming Citizenship: Race, Religion, and Political Mobilization among New Americans” is forthcoming in January 2025. Her work has been recognized with two career awards, three book awards, five article awards and two teaching awards. She has received postdoctoral fellowships and grants from a wide variety of sources.

"When Hindu Nationalism Shapes U.S. Politics: How Mobilization For And Against Hinduva Impacts Bay Area Democrats And Republicans.", Sponsored by Society for the Scientific Study of Religion.

"The Incorporation of Religious Minorities in Canada and the United States", Sponsored by National Science Foundation.

"Incorporation of Minorities in Canada and the United States", Sponsored by National Science Foundation.

"Indian American Civic and Political Activism: A Different Model of Ethnic Politics?", Sponsored by Carnegie Corporation of New York.

"Contemporary Ethnic Lobbies: Asian Indian Americans on the Hill", Sponsored by Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

• Books
  • Kurien, P. A., Claiming Citizenship: Race, Religion, and Political Mobilization among New Americans. Oxford University Press, 2025.
  • Kurien, P. A., Ethnic Church Meets Mega Church: Indian American Christianity in Motion. New York University Press, 2017.
  • Kurien, P. A., A Place at the Table: Multiculturalism and the Development of an American Hinduism. Rutgers University Press, 2007.
  • Kurien, P. A., Kaleidoscopic Ethnicity: International Migration and the Reconstruction of Community Identities in India. Rutgers University Press, 2002.
• Journal Articles
  • Kurien, P. A., Purkayastha, B., "“Why Don’t South Asians in the U.S. Count As ‘Asian’?”: Global and Local Factors Shaping Anti-South Asian Racism in the United States." Sociological Inquiry , 2024.
  • Kurien, P. A., "The Racial Paradigm and Dalit Anti-Caste Activism in the U.S.." Social Problems, 2023.
  • Kurien, P. A., "Indian American versus South Asian American Advocacy Organizations: Diasporic Political Activism in the U.S.." South Asian Diaspora, 2022.
  • Kurien, P. A., "Religion as Social Location: Global and Comparative Perspectives." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 2022.
  • Kurien, P. A., "Culture-free Religion: New Second-Generation Muslims and Christians." Journal of Contemporary Religion, 2021.
  • Kurien, P. A., "Women and South Asian Hinduism and Islam: In the Subcontinent and the Diaspora." Contemporary South Asia, 2021.
  • Kurien, P. A., "Shifting U.S. Racial and Ethnic Identities and Sikh American Activism." RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences, 2018.
• Book Chapters
  • Kurien, P. A., "Indian Religions in the United States." In Routledge Handbook of South Asian Religions. Jacobsen, K. (ed.) Routledge, 2020.
  • Kurien, P. A., "Intergenerational Differences within Indian Christian Churches in the United States." In Diaspora Christianities: Global Scattering of South Asian Christians. George, S. (ed.) Fortress Press, 2019.
  • Kurien, P. A., "Contemporary Ethno-Religious Groups and Political Activism in the United States." In Religion and Politics in the U.S.. McGraw, B. (ed.) Wiley-Blackwell (Companion Series), 2016.
  • Kurien, P. A., "Hinduism in North America." In Hinduism in the Modern World. Hatcher, B. (ed.) Routledge, 2015.
  • Kurien, P. A., "Religious Life in the Malayali Diaspora: Hindus and Christians in the United States." In Malayali Diaspora: From Kerala to the Ends of the Earth. George, S., Thomas, T. V. (eds.) Serials Publications, 2013.
  • Kurien, P. A., "What is American about American Hinduism? Hindu Umbrella Organizations in the U.S. in Comparative Perspective." In Public Hinduisms. Zavos, J., Kanungo, P., Reddy, D., Warrier, M. and Williams, R. B. (eds.) Sage Publications, 2012.
  • Kurien, P. A., "South Asian Christian Diaspora: Invisible Diaspora in Europe and North America." In Nordic Journal of Religion and Society. Jacobsen, K. A., Raj, S. J. (eds.) , 2010.
• Commentaries
  • Kurien, P. A., "From India to the United States: Perspectives on Race." CUNY FORUM, 2021.
  • Kurien, P. A., "Different Narratives in Religion and Politics." In Proceedings: Sixth Biennial Conference on Religion and American Culture. , 2019.
  • Kurien, P. A., "Ethnic Christianities: Seven Questions for Prema Kurien." Sacred Matters: Religious Currents in Culture, 2018.
  • Kurien, P. A., "The ‘Browning’ of Megachurches and its Impact on Immigrant Congregations." Religion and Politics, 2018.
  • Kurien, P. A., "Who are Asian Americans." In Asian American Matters: A New York Anthology. Leong, R. (ed.) Asian American/Asian Studies Research Institute, 2017.
  • Kurien, P. A., Writing Religion for the IPSP, The Immanent Frame. , 2017.
  • Kurien, P. A., "The Development of an American Hinduism." Arts Illustrated (Pan- Indian Arts and Design magazine in India), 2014.

Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association , "Mobilizing around Cultural Citizenship in the United States: South Asian Muslim, Hindu, and Sikh Advocacy Organizations" (August 13, 2024)

Luce Workshop, University of California, Santa Barbara, "Mobilizing around Cultural Citizenship in the United States: South Asian Muslim, Hindu, and Sikh Advocacy Organizations" (May 8, 2024 - May 10, 2024)

Conference on Diaspora, Diversity, and Immigration , Saint Paul University, "Claiming Citizenship: Race, Religion and Political Mobilization among New Americans" (April 25, 2024)

Eastern Sociological Society , "Gender, Class, and Caste Inclusions and Exclusions: Sikh American Organizations" (March 1, 2024)

Annual Meeting, American Sociological Association, Philadephia. , "Book forum for Tahseem Shams, Here, There, and Elsewhere: The Making of Immigrant Identities in a Globalized World" (August 20, 2023)

Annual Meeting, American Sociological Association, Philadelphia, "Should Caste be Legally Recognized in the U.S.?" (August 19, 2023)

UC Riverside 8th International Sikh Studies Conference, "Explaining Different Public Profiles of Sikhs in Canada and the U.S." (May 5, 2023 - May 6, 2023)

Symposium on Caste and Stratification, Sociology department, McGill University, "Should Caste be Legally Recognized in North America" (April 27, 2023)

International Forum on Religions, Rome. Virtual presentation, "Hinduism in the United States" (March 2, 2023)

AAARI-CUNY Virtual Talk, "From India to the United States: Perspectives on Race" (December 9, 2022)

Annual Meeting, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, "Race, Religion and South Asian American Voters in the 2020 U.S. Elections" (November 11, 2022 - November 13, 2022)

“Politics Across Borders: Progressive Activism and the Far Right in Multinational Communities.” Mellon Sawyer Seminar, Rutgers University, "Indian American Political Activism" (October 27, 2022)

Workshop on Asian Americans, Religious Freedom, and the State, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, "Should Caste be Legally Recognized in the U.S." (September 29, 2022 - September 30, 2022)

Sociology Department, Princeton University, "Being South Asian in Asian America: We Don’t Count!" (April 28, 2022)

Sociology department. Stony Brook University, "The Racial Paradigm and Anti-Caste Activism in the U.S." (April 11, 2022)

International Studies Program, The College of New Jersey, "The Racial Paradigm and Anti-Caste Activism in the U.S." (March 25, 2022)

Eastern Sociological Society Annual Meeting, "Religious Minorities in the US and Canada: Divergent Patterns of Political Involvement and Activism" (March 10, 2022)

Chacko, Chaudhuri, Ebenezer, Purkayastha. Boston Area Migration Workshop, "Analyzing Indian and Asian Indian migrant worker experiences during Covid-19 pandemic across space and occupational structure" (March 4, 2022)

Spanish Association for Interdisciplinary India Studies, "Activism Patterns of the Indian American Diaspora" (February 23, 2022)

Presidential Address, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion, "Religion as Social Location: Global and Comparative Perspectives" (October 23, 2021)

American Sociological Association Annual Meeting, "Indian American versus South Asian American Political Mobilization" (August 7, 2021)

American Sociological Association Annual Conference, "Transnational Social Movements and the Dilemma of Dissonant Frames: The Racial Paradigm and Anti-Caste Activism in the Diaspora" (August, 2020)

Daicoff Faculty Scholar Award, Maxwell School (September, 2024 - August, 2027)

Honorable Mention for the Asia and Asian America section (ASA) Research Paper Award, Asia and Asian America section, American Sociological Association (2024)

Honorable Mention for the Social Science Caucus Paper Award of the Association for Asian American Studies, Association for Asian American Studies (2024)

Sandra Barnes Anti-Racist Scholarship Award , Sociology of Religion Section, American Sociological Association (2023)

Appleby Mosher Faculty award, Maxwell School, Syracuse University (2022 - 2023)

Appleby Mosher award, Maxwell School, Syracuse University (2021 - 2022)

Excellence in Graduate Education Faculty Recognition Award, Syracuse University (2021)

Limited Submissions 2021 NEH Summer Stipend Competition, Syracuse University (2021)

Program award, National Science Foundation, Sociology (2015 - 2020)