Ford Grant to Look at Religion and Immigration
A new $450,000 grant from the Ford Foundation will explore the role religion plays in shaping the lives of Latino immigrants in Atlanta.
The three-year study, "Latin American Immigrants in the New South: Religion and the Politics of Encounter,” will be led by Political Science Professor and Chair Phillip J. Williams and Associate Professor of Religion Manuel Vasquez—building on their previous research in South Florida, where they examined the migration experiences and religious lives of Guatemalans, Mexicans and Brazilians. They hope extending the scope of their research to the greater Atlanta metropolitan area will allow them to assess comparatively the impact of Latino immigration in the New South.
The new study will explore the multiple roles religion plays in shaping interethnic and interracial relations, immigrant incorporation and collective mobilization in metro Atlanta, an area that has experienced a dramatic growth in the Latino population in the last decade.