Chenyu Liu (Johnny)

Hello! My name is Chenyu Liu (Johnny); my pronouns are he/him. I am a Ph.D. student in Sociology under the supervision of Dr. Lori Wilkinson. I earned my M.S. in Applied Sociology in 2019 and a B.A. in Sociology with a minor in Rehabilitation Science in 2017 from Arkansas Tech University. Before joining the Ph.D. program at the University of Manitoba, I worked as a mental health professional at a non-profit organization and as an administrative specialist in the higher education sector. In addition to research and teaching assistance, I am currently a regular contributor to the production of the seasonal newsletter of the GBV-MIG Canada Research Team at Saint Mary’s University.

My research interests lie primarily in original/mixed migration motivation, immigration policy in North America, and reverse migration. I am also interested in using cosmopolitanism and decolonizing approaches to examine how Global Northern migration policies exacerbate and perpetuate global inequalities. Specifically, my proposed dissertation research investigates the impact of social and political policy dynamics on immigrant issues. I aim to explore to what extent they formulate Chinese newcomers’ intentions for return migration after settling in Canada.

I applied to become a SPECTRUM research fellow because the two critical issues highlighted by SPECTRUM—the inadequate coverage of targeted programs and policies for all individuals in need and the absence of a comprehensive assessment of fundamental social services—closely align with the trajectory of my dissertation research. I am confident that my proficiency in academic research and expertise in quantitative and qualitative methods will allow me to facilitate the development of SPECTRUM’s projects and accomplish future program and policy evaluation tasks.