Sofya Aptekar is Professor of Urban Studies at the City University of New York School of Labor and Urban Studies. She is the author of Green Card Soldier: Between Model Immigrant and Security Threat (MIT Press) and The Road to Citizenship: What Naturalization Means for Immigrants and the United States (Rutgers University Press), and co-author of Lend and Rule: Fighting The Shadow Financialization of Public Universities (Common Notions). Sofya researches and writes about the immigration system, US military and empire, urban diversity, and workforce inequities. Her latest book, Beyond Dreamers: Transitions to Adulthood in an Uncertain Age (Russell Sage), co-authored with Amy Hsin, is forthcoming in the Fall of 2026. Sofya is a proud union member and worker organizer.
At CUNY SLU, Sofya teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in urban studies, policy, and research methods. Prior to her current position, she worked as an Assistant Professor of Sociology and Core Faculty in Critical Ethnic and Community Studies program at UMass Boston. She has been a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Sage Foundation, a Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, and a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Office of Population Research at Princeton University. Sofya has taught undergraduate courses at Rutgers University, Queens College, Brooklyn College, and Hunter College.
Sofya is on sabbatical leave during the 2026-7 academic year.
