María Aysa-Lastra

Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Florida International University

University Park Campus, DM 340B

Miami, FL 33199

Tel: (305) 348-2258

Fax: (305) 348-3605

aysam@fiu.edu

http://w3.fiu.edu/aysam

EDUCATION

Ph.D. in Demography, University of Pennsylvania, 2005

Master of Arts in Demography, 2001

Master in Public Policy, Georgetown University, 2000

Bachelors in Arts with Honors in Economics, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de

México (ITAM), Mexico City, 1996

DISSERTATION

Selection, Adaptation and Vulnerability of Internal Forced Migrants: A Case Study in Bogotá, Colombia. Prof. Douglas S. Massey (Chair), Prof. Jere Behrman, Prof. Janice Madden, Prof. David Lindstrom

AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION

Forced Migration with emphasis on Internally Displaced Populations

International Migration from Latin America to North America and Europe

Quantitative Research Methods in the Social Sciences

OTHER TEACHING AND RESEARCH INTERESTS

Economic Development and Poverty Reduction in Urban Areas

Population and Environment

Survey Research Design

Population Aging in Latin America

ACADEMIC POSITIONS

Assistant Professor, 2005-current

Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Florida International University

AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS

Graduate Fellowship 2000-2004, University of Pennsylvania, Population Studies Center

Research Fellowship 2003-2004, Population Reference Bureau, Program in Population

Policy Communication

Graduate Fellowship 2000-2003, National Council of Science and Technology, Mexico

Graduate Fellowship 1998-2000, Georgetown Univ., Georgetown Public Policy Institute

Graduate Fellowship 1998-2000, Institute of International Education, Mexico

Graduate Fellowship 1998-2000, Banco de México (Central Bank), Mexico

RESEARCH GRANTS

Doctoral Dissertation Grant 2004-2005, Population Studies Center-Mellon Foundation,

University of Pennsylvania

Research Grant 2002-2003, Population Studies Center-Mellon Foundation,

University of Pennsylvania

CURRENT RESEARCH TOPICS

Perceptions and conceptualization of race and ethnicity in immigrant populations.

Social Migrant Networks, Hometown Associations and Collective Remittances:
Providing training for successful and sustainable projects in origin communities.

Social Networks and Conflict: the case of refugees from Latin America.

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Senior Research Associate

Colombian Studies Institute, Florida International University

The institute develops activities and promotes research on the Colombian
immigrant population in North America. We work in coordination with the
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Colombia and researchers in universities in
Colombia, Canada and the United States.

Principal Investigator (Consultant)

International Organization for Migration, Colombia Mission

Colombian International Migration and Remittances Study

The study includes data collection of qualitative and quantitative data at the local and national level.

The study is carried out in collaboration with UNFPA, National Department of Statistics, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Universities and NGOs.

Methodological and operational design of the study

Interpretation and evaluation

Principal Investigator

Population Studies Center-Mellon Foundation, University of Pennsylvania

Colombian Survey of Forced Migration

Methodological and operational design of the household survey to study internal displacement in three selected sites in the city of Bogotá (Colombia)

Collection of secondary data

Research Assistant

University of Pennsylvania, Population Studies Center

Latin American Migration Project

Data programming

Research activities

Participation in international conference (Costa Rica)

Mexican Migration Project

Data collection at the community level

Research activities

Participation in binational conference (Mexico)

Project Director: Prof. Douglas S. Massey

Georgetown University

Mexican Aging and Health Study

Assistance in the design of questionnaires and collection manuals

Assistance in preparing documentation for the National Institute

of Statistics, Geography and Informatics (Mexico)

Assistance in organizing a binational meeting on aging and health

OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Staff Assistant, Center for Intercultural Education and Development, Georgetown Univ.

Summer and Fall 1999

Chief of Procurement Department, State Government of Tabasco, México,

April 1996-July 1998

Oil Fuels Price Policy Analyst Assistant, Direction of Tax Policy and International Affairs

Ministry of Finance, México, November 1994-December 1995

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Instructor

Florida International University, Department of Sociology and Anthropology

Research Methods I (Fall 2005)

Research Methods II (Spring 2006)

Population and Environment / Population and Society (Spring 2006)

Teaching Assistant

University of Pennsylvania, Department of Sociology

Quantitative Methods I, Prof. Paul Allison (Spring 2001)

Research Methods for the Social Sciences, Prof. Herbert Smith (Fall 2000)

Georgetown University, Georgetown Public Policy Institute

Quantitative Methods I, Prof. Richard Forshee (Fall 1999)

Quantitative Methods II, Prof. Richard Forshee (Spring 2000)

PUBLICATIONS

Massey, Douglas S. and Maria Aysa, (forthcoming) “Social Capital and International Migration from Latin America”, American Journal of Sociology

Aysa, Maria (forthcoming) “La Emigración Contemporánea del Colombianos al Exterior y su Impacto en las Áreas de Origen y Destino” in Colombia Transnacional, edited by Ana Maria Bidegain y Eduardo Guarnido, Ed. Taurus, Bogota, Colombia

Aysa, Maria (2006) “Diferencias en el bienestar entre grupos migratorios. Estudio de Caso en tres áreas en Bogotá” in Dinamicas migratorias recientes. Movilidad, desplazamiento y retorno en Colombia, Universidad Externado de Colombia, Cuaderno CIDS, Serie Azul III, No 6.

Aysa, Maria (2005) “Dominican and Mexican Labor Migrants to the United States: Are they Alike?” Scientific Series on International Migration of Population: Russia and Contemporary World Vol. 15, Moscow State “Lomonosov” University, Moscow pp.20-37

Aysa, Maria (2005) “La Experiencia Migratoria y los Beneficiarios de Remesas de Trabajadores del Exterior en el Area Metropolitana Centro Occidente: en Memorias del Seminario Migracion Internacional, el Impacto y las Tendencias de las Remesas en Colombia” Organizacion Internacional para las Migraciones, Bogotá, Colombia pp. 41-56

Baca, Jorge, Anne Kohler, Lina Marquez and Maria Aysa (2005) “Metodologia de la Encuesta de Beneficiarios de Remesas de Trabajadores en Instituciones Cambiarias de Colombia” Cuaderno 1 del Estudio sobre Migracion Internacional y Remesas en Colombia, OIM, Bogotá, Colombia, pp. 140

Aysa, María and Douglas S. Massey (2004). “Wives Left Behind: The Labor Market Behavior of Women in Migrant Communities” in Crossing the Border. Research from the Mexican Migration Project edited by Jorge Durand and Douglas S. Massey, Russell Sage Foundation, New York, pp. 172-190.

Wong, Rebeca y María Aysa-Lastra (2001) Aging and Health in en México: an integral view, Estudios Demográficos y de Desarrollo Urbano, Vol. 16 (3), pp. 519-544. (in Spanish)

PRESENTATIONS

Gender Differentials in Labor Adaptation among Migrant Groups: A Case Study of Forced Migrants in Colombia, Population Association of America Meeting, Los Angeles, April 1, 2006

Sending Money Home: Colombian Contemporary Migration and Differential Remittance Behavior: A comparison of Spain and the US, Population Association of America Meeting, Los Angeles, April 1, 2006

Sending Money Home: Colombian Contemporary Migration Social Capital and Remittances in the Coffee Region ,Latin American Studies Association Meetings, San Juan, March 14, 2006

Remesas Colectivas: Una herramienta para el desarrollo de las comunidades, Cátedra de las Américas, Febrero 9 2006, Barranquilla Colombia

Perfil Sociodemográfico de la Población Colombiana en Estados Unidos en 2000, Cátedra de las Américas, Febrero 9 2006, Barranquilla Colombia

Social Capital and International Migration from Latin America, paper presented in collaboration with Prof. Douglas S. Massey, UN Expert Meeting on International Migration and Development, December 3 2005, Mexico City

Labor Assimilation of Internally Displaced Persons: A Case Study of Bogotá, Colombia, Eastern Sociological Society Meeting, March 19 2005, Washington DC

Forced Migration Effects on Gender and Household Composition: A Case Study of the Internally Displaced Persons to Bogotá, Colombia, Eastern Sociological Society Meeting, March 18 2005, Washington DC

Self-Selection and Well-being Differentials: A Case Study in Bogotá, Colombia, Research Seminar Series at the Sussex Centre for Migration Research, University of Sussex, January 19, 2005, Brighton, UK

Las Remesas en Colombia: Caracterización de los Remitentes, los Beneficiarios y los Patrones de Uso. XXV International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, October 7-9 2004, Las Vegas, NV.

Methodological Design of the Study on International Migration and Remittances in Colombia. Colombian Conference on Migration, David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, Harvard University, April 2004, Boston, Massachusetts

Well-being differentials among migration groups: A case study of three areas in Bogotá, Colombia. Public Policy Paper prepared for the Fellows Program in Population Policy Communication and presented at the Population Reference Bureau Workshop during the Population Association of America Meetings, March 2004, Boston, Massachusetts

Theories, Techniques and Tendencies in the Study of International Migration. Manuel Ancizar Lecture, National University of Colombia, February 2004, Bogotá, Colombia.

Labor Migration Differentials to the US. A Comparative Study of Mexican and Dominican Migrants. Paper presented at the 7th Meeting of the Mexican Society of Demographers, December 2003, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

Methodological Design of the Colombian Survey on Forced Migration. Paper presented at the Lecture Series in Population, Center for the Study of Social Dynamics, Universidad Externado de Colombia, September 2003, Bogotá, Colombia.

Quasi-experimental Design in the Study of Forced Migration. Paper presented at the Conference of the Colombian Society of Regional and Urban Researchers (ACIUR), October 2003, Bogotá, Colombia

Socioeconomic Well-Being and Migration: A case study of the three zones in Bogotá, Colombia. Poster presented at the 2003 Meetings of the Population Association of America, May 2003, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Mexican and Dominican Migrants to the US. Are they Alike? Paper presented at the 24th Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, March 2003, Dallas, Texas.

Wives Left Behind. Labor Market Behavior of Mexican and Dominican Women in the Areas of Origin. Paper presented at the Hawaii International Conference on Social Sciences, June 2002, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Wives Left Behind. Labor Market Behavior of Mexican Women at the Origin. Paper presented at the Second Binational Mexico-US Migration Meeting, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, March 2002

Disability Free Life Expectancy by Socioeconomic strata in Mexico for the year 2000. Paper presented at the 23rd Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, September 2001, Washington D.C.

RELATED RESEARCH

Determinants of Mexican Labor Migration to the US. Public Policy Practicum. Georgetown Public Policy Institute, Georgetown University, May 2000, Washington, D.C.

Poverty Line for the Rivers Zone. Laureate Bachelor of Art Thesis. Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM), March 1996, Mexico City

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES AND SERVICE

Florida International University

College of Arts and Sciences: Curriculum Committee Representative

Department of Sociology and Anthropology: Curriculum Committee Member

Latin American and Caribbean Studies Center: Affiliated Faculty

Florida-Mexico Institute

Department of Environmental Studies: Affiliated Faculty

Media

UNIVISION (USA)
Canal 41 (Mexico)
New York Times Group (USA)
America Economica (USA-Brasil)
Novedades de Tabasco (Mexico)
RCN (Colombia)

XXVI International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association Congress,
San Juan, PR, March 14-16, 2006

Session Organizer: Remittances and Economic Processes

XXV International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association Congress,
Las Vegas, NV, October 7-9, 2004

Session Organizer: Contemporary Colombian Transnational Migration

Session Organizer: Internal Colombian Migration: Escaping from Need or Fear?

Mellon Foundation Grant Support for Travel Expenses for bringing Colombian researchers to participate in the sessions.

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIPS

American Sociological Association

International Union for the Scientific Study of Population

Latin American Studies Association

Mexican Society of Demography

Population Association of America