Profile
Bernadette Ludwig is a part-time assistant professor in Global Studies. She is also the assistant dean of the Macricostas School of Arts and Sciences at Western Connecticut State University. Bernadette Ludwig received her PhD in Sociology from听The Graduate Center, The City University of New York and a听joint BA/MA in Social and Cultural Anthropology from the University of Vienna. She is also a graduate of the University of Oxford鈥檚 International Summer School in Forced Migration.
Her research focuses on the intersection of immigration, gender, and race, specifically how refugee resettlement and immigration policies affect Black refugees and immigrants in the U.S. In the process Bernadette Ludwig analyzes how refugees and immigrants assert their agency to respond to imposed racial and gender hierarchies. She discusses these issues--drawing on ethnographic data about the Liberian refugee and immigrant community in Staten Island鈥檚 North Shore, home to one of the largest Liberian populations in the United States-her book, (Rutgers University Press, December 2025).
In another research project, she investigates the significance and meaning of community-engaged learning opportunities for students, in particular those from historically excluded groups. She is currently co-editing a book titled How to Facilitate Community-Engaged Learning which is under contract with Edward Elgar Publishing.
Prior to pursuing a PhD in Sociology, Bernadette Ludwig worked with refugee and immigrant communities in Atlanta GA. During that time she was the executive director of two non profit organizations, including Culture Connect, Inc. which she co-founded. Her years of working in the field with refugees and immigrants continue to inform her research and her teaching. She is also the vice board chair Napela, a non-profit organization that offers support to African families in Staten Island鈥檚 North Shore.
As a first generation college graduate and immigrant she is committed to mentoring students, in particular those from historically excluded groups.
Bernadette Ludwig also serves as a pro-bono country conditions expert for asylum and deportation claims/hearings.
Degrees Held
PhD in Sociology, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York
BA & MA in Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Vienna
Recent Publications
Ludwig, Bernadette. (December 2025). (Rutgers University Press).
Moccia, Katherine, Bernadette Ludwig, and Mathew Holben. 2025. Science Education & Civic Engagement, 17(1), 34-45
Ludwig, Bernadette and Connie Campbell. 2023. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 29(1), 75鈥97.听
Ludwig, Bernadette. 2019. African and Black Diaspora: An International Journal. 12:2, pp. 189-210
Ludwig, Bernadette. 2017. . In D. W. Haines, J. Howell, & F. Keles (Eds.), Maintaining Refuge: Anthropological Reflections in Uncertain Times (pp. 11鈥17). Washington, D.C.: American Anthropological Association
Ludwig, Bernadette听and Holly Reed. 2016.听听International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care. 12:1, p. 26-37
Ludwig, Bernadette. 2016. In Katia Gonzalez and Rhoda Frumkin(eds.) Handbook of Research on Effective Communication in Culturally Diverse Classrooms. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, p. 251-268.
Ludwig, Bernadette. 2016.听听Migration Letters. 13:1, p. 84-99.
Ludwig, Bernadette.听2016. 鈥溾.鈥 International Migration. 54:1, p. 5-18.听(first published online in 2013)
Reed, Holly,听Bernadette Ludwig, and Laura Braslow. 2016.听听In Michael White and Josh DeWind (eds.)听Handbook of Migration and Population Distribution.听New York, NY: Springer, p. 605-625.
Ludwig, Bernadette. 2015.听 In Vai Ramanathan and Emily Feuerherm (eds.) Refugee Resettlement: Language, Policies, Pedagogies. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters, p. 34-52.
Ludwig, Bernadette. 2014. Journal of American Ethnic History. 33: 3, p. 113-115.
Ludwig, Bernadette. 2013. 鈥.鈥 In Nancy Foner (ed.) One Out of Three: Immigrant New York in the Twenty-First Century. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 200-222.
Ludwig, Bernadette. 2013. "." In Immanuel Ness (ed.) Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 2566-2570.
Ludwig, Bernadette. 2012. Forced Migration Review." 40:32.
Ludwig, Bernadette. 2011. In Kathleen R. Arnold (ed.) Anti-Immigration in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, p. 2-4.
Ludwig, Bernadette and Erwin Ebermann. 2002. (鈥淎s 鈥楢frican鈥 on apartment hunt鈥) In Ebermann, Erwin (ed.) Afrikaner in Wien, (Africans in Vienna). Vienna, Austria: LIT-Verlag, p. 226-236.
Research Interests
Refugees, Forced Migration, Immigration, Race and Ethnicity, Gender, Civic Engagement