Welcome أهلاً
My name is Heba Gowayed (pronounced HEH-buh go-WAY-ed) and I am a writer and sociologist. I am an Associate Professor of Sociology at CUNY Hunter College & Graduate Center.
My research and writing centers the lives of people who migrate across borders and the unequal and often violent institutions they face. My award-winning book Refuge, published with Princeton University Press, takes readers into the lives of displaced Syrians who sought refuge in the US, Canada, and Germany. Their experiences reveal that these destination countries are not saviors; they can deny newcomers’ potential by failing to recognize their abilities and invest in the tools they need to prosper.
I am currently working on my second book, The Cost of Borders (more here) where I argue that borders, rather than markers of sovereign territory, are marketplaces comprised of always costly, and often deadly transactions. Moving from Lesbos, to Gaza, to Tijuana, the project shows how the costs of borders, patterned by inequalities of racism, sexism, and disability, fluctuate over time and space, and differ depending on who is attempting to cross.
I am published in academic journals as well as public outlets including In these Times, Slate, Al Jazeera English, The New Humanitarian, and Teen Vogue, and have had my work and words featured in various outlets and podcasts including my favorite one Code Switch.
(Headshot by Andrea Kane)