Get to know Susan Bibler Coutin!
Institution:
University of California, Irvine
Number of years as LSA member:
32
Number of LSA Meetings Attended:
~25
LSA Governance Position(s) and Committees:
Coordinator, Immigration and Citizenship CRN | 1999-2005
Member, Board of Trustees | Class of 2014 and 2004
Member, Program Committee | 2007-2008, 1999-2000, 1997-1998
Co-Chair, Graduate Student Activity Committee | 2011-2012
Member, Herbet Jacob Book Prize Committee | 2009-2010
Member, Article Prize Committee | 2008-2009
Member, Nominations Committee | 2004, 2007
Member, International Affairs Committee | 2005
Chair, Law and Society Review Book Editor Search Committee | 2003
Member, Conditions of Work Committee | 2001-2002
Chair, Conditions of Work Committee | 2000-2001
Member, Dissertation Prize Committee | 1998-1999
Member, International Meetings Planning Committee | 1998-1999
Other Association Affiliations:
American Anthropological Association
Association for Political and Legal Anthropology
American Ethnological Association
Latin American Studies Association
Areas of Research:
Immigration
Culture
Documents
Central America
Favorite Topics to Teach or Research:
Ethnography
Unique Skill or Fact:
I play the clarinet in a community band and we have concerts pretty regularly. It’s really fun!
Additional Hobbies:
Hiking
Swimming
Reading
Notable Awards and Grants:
Best Article Prize (with Bill Maurer and Barbara Yngvesson), Law and Society Association | 2003
Dean’s Award for Inclusive Excellence in Research, University of Irvine School of Social Ecology | 2017
Russell Sage Foundation Presidential Authority Grant | 2014-2015
Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) Grant, Department of Education | 2010-2013
Research and Writing Grant, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation | 2004-2005
Research-to-Action Planning Grant, Haynes Foundation | 2025
Law and Social Science Program Research Grant, National Science Foundation | 2020-2023, 2015-2019, 2011-2015, 2006-2010, 2000-2003, 1995-1997
Top Three Books and/or Publications:
Documenting Impossible Realities: Ethnography, Memory and the “As If.” (Cornell University Press, 2023) (with Barbara Yngvesson)
Legal Phantoms: Executive Action and the Haunting Failures of Immigration Law. (Stanford University Press, 2024) (With Jennifer Chacón, Stephen Lee, and Sameer Ashar)
On the Record: Papers, Immigrants, and Legal Advocacy. (University of California Press, 2025)
Education:
PhD, Stanford University | Anthropology
MA, Stanford University | Anthropology
BA, University of California, Berkeley | Anthropology
Major Appearances:
Book Talk, Legal Phantoms: Executive Action and the Haunting Failures of Executive Action. Presented jointly with Jenifer Chacón and Stephen Lee. Stanford University, School of Law
Book Talk, Documenting Impossible Realities: Ethnography, Memory and the “As If”. Presented jointly with Barbara Yngvesson. Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology
Book Presentation, On the Record: Papers, Immigrants, and Legal Advocacy. Colloquium Series, American Bar Foundation.
“Welcoming Migrants in the City” Symposium Keynote Address. Presented jointly with Walter Nicholls. University of Toulouse
Paper Presentation, “Re/membering: Histories of Violence, Survival, and Solidarity in Relation to Central America Migration to the U.S.” Migration Studies Initiative: An Interdisciplinary Conversation on Migration Research in Theory and Practice, Brown University
Paper Presentation, “The Right to Have Rights: Noncitizens’ Notions of Belonging, Membership, and Deservingness.” International Symposium: De-Exceptionalizing Displacement: Rethinking Citizenship and Mobility, University of Pittsburgh
Paper Presentation, “Enclosures and Exclusions: Histories of Violence Toward Central Americans.” Central American Migration Symposium, Center for Latin American Studies, Rutgers University
Paper Presentation, “Borders and Crossings: Lessons of the 1980s Central American Solidarity Movement for 2010s Sanctuary Practices.” Sanctuary and Subjectivity Conference, University of California, Santa Cruz
What do you find the most beneficial about being an LSA member?
For me, LSA has been a rich intellectual community! I’ve appreciated the chance to gather with scholars who share my interests, as well as with those who stretch my thinking and knowledge in new directions. I have appreciated the ways that the Association values diversity and inclusion, and I’m happy to be part of an organization that gives thought to making newcomers feel welcome. How many organizations have an annual “Fun Run,” for example?
Why should professionals or students join LSA?
For professionals and students, joining LSA is a great way to meet colleagues who care about policy questions, mentorship, and building community around a host of sociolegal issues. As an interdisciplinary association, LSA can bridge divides between the academy and the policy world, methodological approaches, theoretical traditions, and generations of scholars and practitioners.
Learn more about Susan Bibler Coutin, her many publications, media appearances, awards, and involvement with academic organizations here.