Research

Community-driven . Qualitative . Quantitative . Spatial Analysis

My research is grounded in the intersection of lived experiences and systemic inquiry. As someone who migrated from a country where women are often treated as property and objects of honor. America was my utopia, where I thought I would be free and respected for who I am. Rather, I experienced the exacerbated marginalization that comes with being a woman of color who is an immigrant. This insight strengthened my academic dedication to South Asian diasporas, not only to document struggles, but to shape futures where belonging is not borrowed. Every study I undertake on immigrant communities, every examination of the colonization’s visibility in urban shadows, every policy report I write about the vulnerabilities of women, immigrants, people of color, unhoused individuals, is a stitch in the fabric of liberation. My work serves as my compass. Through promoting legislative changes that eradicate predatory gentrification, elevating marginalized voices in gender violence research, or highlighting the presence and contributions of immigrants in society, I hope to transform academic rigor and my writing into instruments of healing.

Diasporic Belonging and Decolonization. Patriarchal Systems and Gender Violence. Urban Inequities and Performative Governance.

Published Papers

Mallick, Rafia. 2025. “Chapter 7: Where do we fit in the vegetable tray? Immigrants navigating through physical spaces in U.S. cities.” in Performative Urbanisms: The Forged Politics of Inclusion. Great River Learning.
Carpenter, Jennifer M., and Rafia Mallick. 2025. “Chapter 10: Is Collective Efficacy Real? Government-Sponsored 'Empowerment' and the Implications for Health, Crime, and Education in Poor Urban Neighborhoods.” in Performative Urbanisms: The Forged Politics of Inclusion. Great River Learning.
Mallick, Rafia. 2025. “Chapter 8: Who are South Asians, You Ask? Culture, Identity, and Diversity.” in Taking Root? Cosmopolitan Perspectives on Migration: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company.
Mallick, Rafia, and Deirdre Oakley. 2024. “Book Review: Slow and Sudden Violence—Why and When Uprisings Occur by Hyra, Derek.” Urban Affairs Review 10780874241308125. doi: 10.1177/10780874241308125.
Wright, Eric R., Day Wong, Waqar Ahmad, and Rafia J. Mallick. 2024. “Doing Sociology across Borders: Student Experiences and Learning with Virtual Exchange in Large Introductory Sociology Classes.” Teaching Sociology 52(4): 0092055X241230549. doi: 10.1177/0092055X241230549..
Renz, Emeline, Rafia Mallick, and Deirdre Oakley. 2024. “Diversions from Policing as Usual: A More Caring City with Atlanta’s 311PAD?” Journal of Urban Affairs 1–26. doi: 10.1080/07352166.2024.2342986.
Kalsoom, Sadia, Nazia Kalsoom, and Rafia Javaid Mallick. 2020. “From Banking Model to Critical Pedagogy:” UMT Education Review 3(1):25–44. doi: 10.32350/uer.31.02.

Papers in Progress

Mallick, Rafia, (Manuscript Available). “At the Margins of Intersectionality: Unveiling the Matrix of Consciousness in South Asian Immigrant Experiences.”
Mallick, Rafia, and Deirdre Oakley. 2026 (Manuscript Available). “Beyond the British Raj: Coloniality, Caste, and Race in South Asia” in The Handbook for the Geographies of Race, A Multidisciplinary Global Perspective, De Gruyter
Mallick, Rafia, Reyes, Maria, Oakley, Deirdre, and Makkar, Sarishty, (Manuscript in Progress) “Midnight Train to Nowhere? How Fear of Violence Impacts Nighttime Travel in Urban Spaces.”
Mallick, Rafia, (Manuscript Available). “Is Female Virginity Synonymous with Family Honor? - The Role of Religion Tested.”
Mallick, Rafia, (Manuscript Available). “Who Is the Culprit? Is It Religion or Patriarchal Traditionalism That Justifies Physical Violence?”
Zhang, Cynthia, and Rafia Mallick, “Anti-Asian Racism: Selective Inattention”

Conference Presentations

Rafia Mallick, Maria Reyes, Deirdre Oakley, and Sarishty Makkar. Midnight Train to Nowhere? How Fear of Violence Impacts Nighttime Travel in Urban Spaces. 2025 120th American Sociological Association (ASA). August 2025. Chicago, IL
Rafia Mallick. Understanding the Experiences of South Asian Immigrants in the United States: A Multifaceted Theoretical Analysis. 2025. The Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) 75th Annual Meeting. August 2025. Chicago, IL
Rafia Mallick and Munirat Sanmori. Unraveling the Complex Surveillance Tapestry of Homelessness in South and Middle Georgia. 2025. The Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) 75th Annual Meeting. August 2025. Chicago, IL
Rafia Mallick, and Deirdre A Oakley. Diversions from Policing as Usual -- A More Caring City with Atlanta’s 311PAD? (Invited Presentation Session) 2024 International Conference on Urban Affairs (UAA). April 2024. New York, NY
Deirdre Oakley, Erin Ruel, Tanya Washington, Lucas Cortelloni, and Rafia Mallick. Atlanta's Peoplestown and Summerhill: Gentrification and Predatory Surveillance in the Neighborhood. Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM). 2023 Fall Research Conference. November 2023. Atlanta,
Deirdre Oakley, Erin Ruel, Tanya Washington, Lucas Cortelloni, and Rafia Mallick. Community Needs and Challenges: Peoplestown and Summerhill. Center for Neighborhoods and Communities Brownbag. September 2023.Atlanta, GA
Rafia Mallick. Who Is the Culprit? Is It Religion or Patriarchal Traditionalism That Justifies Physical Violence? 2024. SWS Virtual Student and Junior Community Scholar Symposium (SJCSS). October 2023.
Eric R. Wright, Day K M Wong, Rafia Mallick, and Waqar Ahmad. Doing Sociology across Borders: Preliminary Findings of the Virtual Exchange Program. 118th American Sociological Association (ASA). August 2023. Philadelphia, PA
Cynthia Baiqing Zhang, and Rafia Mallick. Anti-Asian Racism: Selective Inattention. The Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) 73rd Annual Meeting. August 2023. Philadelphia, PA
Rafia Mallick, and Deirdre Oakley. At the Margins of Intersectionality: The Matrix of Consciousness and South Asian Immigrants’ Conflicting Identities. The Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) 73rd Annual Meeting. August 2023. Philadelphia, PA
Rafia Mallick. Immigrants Navigating Vegetable Tray within U.S. Cities. Center for Neighborhoods and Communities Brownbag at Georgia State University. February 2023.Atlanta, GA
Cynthia Baiqing Zhang, and Rafia Mallick. Anti-Asian Racism: Selective Inattention. 5th International Chinese Sociological Association Conference. December 2022. Guangzhou, China
Rafia Mallick. Did we leave a good impression? Asian Impression Management, Matrix of Consciousness, and Margins of Intersectionality. 117th American Sociological Association (ASA). August 2022. Los Angeles, CA
Rafia Mallick and Faryal Mallick. I hit my partner!!! Was it God or Childhood Trauma? 83rd Annual Meeting of the Association of the Sociology of Religion (ASR). August 2022. Los Angeles, CA
Andi Grosvald Hamilton, and Rafia Mallick. Factors Associated with Children’s Flourishing amidst Neighborhood Violence and Disorder. The Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) 72nd Annual Meeting. August 2022. Los Angeles, CA
Rafia Mallick. Presenting the US as Vegetable Tray: Connecting the Dots between Power of Assimilation and the Matrix of Consciousness. The Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) 72nd Annual Meeting. August 2022. Los Angeles, CA
Cynthia Baiqing Zhang, Loren Henderson, Meredith Ille, Rafia Mallick. Criminal Identity and Social Networks. Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS). 59th Annual Meeting. March 2022, Las Vegas, NV
Rafia Mallick. Do Precautionary Measures Work? Impact of State Mandates on the Spread of the Coronavirus. 116th American Sociological Association (ASA) Virtual Annual Meeting. August 2021
Rafia Mallick. Is It Religion or Patriarchal Traditionalism that Justifies Violence? 82nd Annual Meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion (ASR). August 2021. Virtual Conference
Rafia Mallick. “Science Exists! Is Fighting the Coronavirus Pandemic through Social Distancing a Hoax? The Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) 71st Annual Meeting. August 2021. Chicago, IL
Group Relations Conference: “Coming Together | Coming Apart: Authority and Leadership in a Fragmenting World 2021”. Online Weekend Conference. April 23-25, 2021
Rafia Mallick. Are Streets Gendered? Commuting Patterns and Fear of Crime: A Review of Literature. The Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) 70th Annual Meeting. August 2020. San Francisco, CA
Rafia Mallick. Am I Good Enough? Mating, Dating, and Marriage in the Lives of Muslim South Asian Women in the United States. The Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) 70th Annual Meeting. August 2020. San Francisco, CA
Rafia Mallick. Is the US Really a Melting Pot or More of a Vegetable Tray? Consciousness Matrix vs Power of Assimilation. The Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) 68th Annual Meeting. August 2019. New York City, NY
Rafia Mallick. To be or not to be? Attitudes About Abortion in the United States. 81st Annual Meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion (ASR). August 2019. New York, NY
Rafia Mallick. Does Religion Nest Family Honor in Female Virginity? The Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) 68th Annual Meeting. August 2018. Philadelphia, PA
Rafia Mallick. Sexual Harassment in the Muslim World (Invited Presentation Session). 80th Annual Meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion (ASR). August 2018. Philadelphia, PA
Rafia Mallick. Effects of Level of Religiosity, Patriarchal Traditionalism and Conservatism on the Justification of Violence and Liberal Sexual Behavior: Testing a Mediation Model using World Values Survey. 80th Annual Meeting of the Association for the Sociology of Religion (ASR). August 2018. Philadelphia, PA
Rafia Mallick and Trina Hope. Challenges to Replication Recipe in Sociological Research. Oklahoma Sociological Association (OSA). November 2017. Norman, OK
Rafia Mallick. Masculine Spaces, Feminine Boundaries: Impact of Fear of Crime on Commuting Patterns and Avoidance Behavior of Women in Public Spaces. Southwestern Social Science Association (SSSA). April 2017. Austin, TX
Rafia Mallick. Perceptions of Honor-Related Crimes among Male and Female Muslim Students at the University of Oklahoma. Oklahoma Sociological Association (OSA). October 2016. Edmond, OK