Sociologist
Victoria S. Asbury-Kimmel
Faculty Fellow, Department of Sociology, New York University
I study how definitions of national belonging shape racial hierarchy, democratic inclusion, and political behavior.
Using surveys, experiments, behavioral economic methods, and computational text analysis, my research examines how legal, racial, and civic criteria structure membership in the national community and influence views on immigration, redistribution, and citizenship.
Research program
Belonging, hierarchy, and democratic life
My work links micro-level judgments about identity and worth to broader questions about representation, redistribution, and participation.
01
National Belonging
How do Americans decide who counts as American, and what criteria determine national standing?
02
Political Discourse
How do elite narratives shape symbolic boundaries and attitudes toward immigration and citizenship?
03
Race and Public Opinion
How do group position and political identity shape perceptions of hierarchy and belonging?
Selected research
Selected publications
2026
Who Is More American? Civic Virtue, Birthright, and Hierarchies of National Standing
Examines how Americans adjudicate competing claims to national standing when civic behavior and birthright citizenship conflict, and develops a framework of motivated national identity construction.
2025
Americanness Hierarchies: Partisanship and Perceptions of Racial Group Positions
Shows that White Americans’ perceptions of racial groups’ national standing differ systematically by political identification.
2024
Narratives of Worth: Analyzing the Effects of Worthy and Anti-Immigrant Narratives on Immigration Attitudes
Uses survey experiments to show how pro- and anti-immigrant narratives shape support for reducing immigration across racial and partisan groups.
2023
Attitudes toward Immigrants and Partisan Differences in Information Evaluation
Distinguishes attitudes about immigrants from attitudes about immigration and shows how partisan differences in message interpretation produce both commonality and disagreement.
2021
The Effect of Streaming Chat on Perceptions of Political Debates
Uses a digital field experiment to show how real-time social commentary changes viewers’ experiences and evaluations of political debates.
About
Research across identity, institutions, and public opinion
I am a sociologist whose research examines how definitions of national belonging shape democratic institutions, civic participation, and public policy attitudes. Using surveys, experiments, behavioral economic methods, and computational text analysis, I study how legal, racial, and civic criteria structure membership in the national community and influence views on immigration, redistribution, and citizenship.
My research contributes to three main areas: the construction of national identity and its relationship to racial hierarchy; how marginalized groups navigate and reinterpret criteria of belonging; and how these dynamics affect intergroup relations and policy preferences. I also investigate how individuals process political information, showing that partisan and media environments shape how people interpret the same messages.
Appointments
Current
Faculty Fellow
Department of Sociology
New York University
Through August 2026
Incoming (September 2026)
Postdoctoral Fellow
Center for Race, Inequality, and Social Equity Studies
Harvard University
Visiting Scholar
Institute for Public Knowledge
New York University
Research areas
Cultural Sociology
Political Sociology
Social Psychology
Immigration
Race and Ethnicity
Survey & Experimental Methods
Teaching
Featured courses
My teaching moves students from conceptual literacy to original analysis, with an emphasis on theory, research design, evidence, and reasoned disagreement.
Spring 2026
Sociology of Race and Ethnicity
Introduces major sociological theories and empirical research on race and ethnicity, with attention to racial classification, boundary formation, institutions, and inequality.
2024–2025
Race, Immigration & Belonging in American Society
Examines how race, immigration, and national identity shape belonging in the United States through classical and contemporary sociological research.
Fall 2020
Conflict, Justice, and Healing
Teaching Fellow · Distinction in Teaching Award (4.7/5)
Fall 2018
Race, Racism, and American Politics
Teaching Fellow · Distinction in Teaching Award (4.6/5)
Prepared
to Teach
Causal Inference · Survey and Experimental Methods · Immigration Politics and Policy · Media, Discourse, and Democratic Participation