Dr. Ian Morrison
Sociology Department

Dr. Ian Morrison

Professor Morrison is an Assistant Professor of Sociology and the Director of the Graduate Program in Sociology/Anthropology at the American University in Cairo.  His areas of research and teaching include political sociology (with a focus on secularism, migration, nationalism, citizenship, and multiculturalism), historical sociology, the sociology of religion, social theory, psychoanalysis, and qualitative and historical research methods. 

He has an active research agenda along two lines – National Identity and Rethinking Citizenship.  Central to each of his projects is a focus on moments of crisis, moments when dominant conceptions of identity and belonging are perceived to be under threat. In such moments – whether resulting from the rise of Islamist politics in the wake of the Arab Spring, the presence of ostensibly religious migrants in the European or Québécois public spheres, or the arrival of certain types of visitors to Thailand – the boundaries of belonging are both articulated and contested. As such, they provide important glimpses into the way in which identity and subjectivity is governed, transformed and reproduced. 

Ian has previously held research and teaching positions in Canada at York University. Trent University, Wilfrid Laurier University, the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, and Université de Montréal.