Center for Global Migration Studies
Established in 2011, the Center for Global Migration Studies (CGMS) is an interdisciplinary home for the study of migration and immigration around the world both today and in the past. The Center provides a distinctive institutional home for interdisciplinary research, for training faculty and students, and for distributing information about the migrant experience to a broad public.
About The Center for Global Migration Studies
The Center's work speaks to the mission of the University of Maryland (UMD) by generating a more diverse, inclusive and international culture at the heart of the University, and by facilitating local and international partnerships to make university faculty and students better global citizens. The Center's interdisciplinary and collaborative scholarship and teaching have contributed to making the university a globally recognized leader in transnational research on migration. The Center also builds upon the strong connections the university maintains in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region by collaborating with institutions such as the National Museum of American History and the German Historical Society.
The University's home in Prince George's county underscores the importance of migration. At present, some 40 million (nearly 13 percent of the American people) are immigrants, but in Prince George's County, immigrants and their children compose a near majority of the population. On the UMD campus, where nearly 40 percent of the student body is defined as a minority, this new America is ubiquitous. These new immigrants—from Asia, Latin America, Europe, and Africa—have transformed the campus just as they have transformed American society.
Explore CGMS
Transcript Notation
Immigration and Migration Studies Transcript Notation
This 12-credit program immerses students in immigration and migration studies. Courses examine how migration shapes the United States and the world from historical, political, cultural, and social perspectives and from multiple disciplines.
Learn more about the transcript notationUndocumented Students
Undocumented Student Support and Resources
In 2025, we created this page to offer resources for faculty, staff, and loved ones of immigrants on college campuses. This repository is regularly updated with links, fast facts, advice, and more, aiming to to correct misperceptions and empower advocates for immigrant rights.
Undocumented Student Support ResourcesArchive of Immigrant Voices
Archive of Immigrant Voices
The Archive of Immigrant Voices collects and stores oral histories of the experience of migration. The Archive serves as a digital repository for immigrant interviews conducted by UMD students in the Immigration and Migration Studies capstone course. The goal is to capture, record, and preserve the experience of migration, dislocation, and community formation as immigrants, asylum-seekers, refugees, and other newcomers themselves understood it.
Maryland's Ethnic Foodways
Maryland's Ethnic Foodways Digital Archive
Maryland's Ethnic Foodways is a collaborative, public history, digital humanities project that chronicles and preserves the culinary stories of ethnic and immigrant communities in Maryland. It is comprised of two halves: a class in which UMD students conduct research and develop digital projects showcasing the stories of local ethnic food business AND an online archive making the digital projects publicly accessible.
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Book talks, workshops, lectures, and more!
The Center for Global Migration Studies proudly hosts on- and off-campus guests and scholars to share their insights on the impacts of immigrants and migrants on the world today. Keep an eye on our Fall and Spring events feed to add these exciting conversations to your schedules!
Our Events FeedContact The Center for Global Migration Studies
Office: 2137 Francis Scott Key Hall, 4280 Chapel Lane, College Park, MD 20742
Email: globalmigration@umd.edu
Phone: 301-405-4305
Social media: Twitter, Facebook
Director: Madeline Hsu
Program Manager: Paige Little