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    Ali R. Chaudhary, PhD

     

     

     

     

     

    SOCIOLOGIST-MUSICIAN

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Dr. Ali R. Chaudhary

    Associate Professor of Sociology,

    Rutgers University-New Brunswick

     

    I'm a sociologist and musician from California.

     

    I'm currently based in the New York City Metropolitan region and teach at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, NJ.
     Visit my Rutgers Department Page by clicking here

     

    As a sociologist, I write and teach about immigration, transnational politics, race and racialization, nonprofit organizations, and the sociology of music.

     

    As a musician, I continuously challenge myself and work to improve my abilities as a guitarist and jazz improviser.

    When I am not teaching or writing, I perform with outstanding musicians across the Tri-State area. To check out my music-making, please visit my other site: dralimusic.com

     

  • The Covid-19 Pandemic and Working Musicians in Greater New York City

    Since 2021, I have been conducting a research study on the short-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on working-musicians in and around NYC. This study entailed an online survey of working-musicians in the summer and fall of 2021. Presently I am starting the second phase of the research study.

     

    For this phase, I am looking to interview working musicians, support occupations, and venue owners and managers. I am currently doing fieldwork and conducting these interviews in NYC and the surrounding metropolitan region. Interviews can be in-person or virtual and may last anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. All interview respondents are compensated and offered modest compensation for their time in the form of a Target Gift Card.

     

    I am currently based in NYC and recruiting potential respondents for the study. If you are working musicians based in or around NYC and would like to share your personal experiences with the pandemic, please contact me (scroll below for contact information)

     

     

     

  • Other Research & Scholarship

    My scholarship interrogates the significance of social categories as they mediate the opportunities and constraints experienced by immigrants and ethnoracial minority groups across several domains of social life. I utilize diverse methodologies, data sources, and theoretical perspectives to investigate how ascriptive social categories (race, ethno-nationality, religion, etc.) and their symbolic boundaries are activated, reinforced, and contested within immigrant-led nonprofits and transnational politics, and, more recently, the advertising of musical instruments.

     

    My latest research considers the significance of ascriptive categories and ethnoracial inequality for the production and performance of music in the 20th and 21st centuries. I am developing a critical intersectionality approach to guide historical analyses of race and gendered boundary-making in the production of musical instruments.

     

     

    Click here to visit my Google Scholar page

     

    Click here to view my CV

     

    Click here to view a video about my research while based at the University of Oxford.

  • Teaching

    My teaching philosophy emphasizes comparative thinking and analytical rigor using active-learning methods that promote inclusive diversity, hands-on research as well as strong oral and written communication. Logics of comparison and analyses of variation are central to sociological inquiry and I strive to deploy comparative perspectives in my undergraduate and doctoral-level courses. My approach to teaching is also informed by students’ feedback, which I integrate throughout the duration of course instruction. I welcome opportunities to mentor students by providing research apprenticeship experience and helping students think through post-graduation plans. I also routinely intertwine my research into my teaching and strive to cultivate intellectual curiosity and interest in sociological research. 

     

    Current, Upcoming, and Past Courses

    Immigration and Society

    Undergraduate

    (Spring 2023 )

    Sociological Analysis of Inequality  

    Undergraduate (Spring 2023)

    The Production and  Consumption Culture

    Graduate Seminar

    (Fall 2023)

    Contemporary Theorizing in Sociology

    Graduate Seminar

    (Spring 2021)

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