Hi! My name is Ann Jiang. I am a Sociology PhD Student at UC San Diego. I study the intersection of culture, network, political sociology, and global sociology. Tied by my interest in complex and emerging social relations, I have studied a diverse range of cases.

Broadly, I am interested in the relational contexts that shape our understanding of social differences in today’s diverse but divided world. I study how, when, and why categories of social difference can both exacerbate and mitigate social inequality. This means examining the entanglement between social networks and cultural processes—specifically, in how people conceptualize, contend with, and contest wide-ranging categories of social difference (e.g., immigrant status, nationality). In the past, I examined the boundaries of sexualities through the network position of unsettled cases, such as bisexuality.

My doctoral project focuses on the evolving social relations within immigration issues in the United States. It addresses a curious puzzle: why do some immigrants align with anti-immigration ideologies in today’s far-right era? By shifting the focus from immigrant-native dynamics to intra-immigrant interactions, I aim to reveal how networks shape political attitudes in polarized contexts—and how exclusion operates within seemingly unified social categories.

I have developed projects using found surveys, text as data, and interviews. My enthusiasm for sociological research methodology drives me to become a multi-methods researcher.