Carl L. Bankston III (born August 8, 1952) is an American sociologist, author and educator. He is best known for his work on

immigration to the United States Immigration has been a major source of population growth and cultural change throughout much of the history of the United States. In absolute numbers, the United States has a larger immigrant population than any other country in the worl ...

, particularly on the adaptation of

Vietnamese American Vietnamese Americans ( vi, Người Mỹ gốc Việt, lit=Viet-origin American people) are Americans of Vietnamese ancestry. They make up about half of all overseas Vietnamese and are the fourth-largest Asian American ethnic group after Chinese ...

immigrants, and for his work on

ethnicity An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

social capital Social capital is "the networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society, enabling that society to function effectively". It involves the effective functioning of social groups through interpersonal relationships ...

sociology of religion Sociology of religion is the study of the beliefs, practices and organizational forms of religion using the tools and methods of the discipline of sociology. This objective investigation may include the use both of quantitative methods (surveys, ...

and the sociology of education.

Life

Carl L. Bankston III was born on August 8, 1952 in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. Bankston grew up in the New Orleans area. He earned a B.S. from

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = " The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , p ...

in Dallas, Texas at the end of 1974 or the beginning of 1975 and then moved to the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area G ...

. He completed an M.A. in history at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant un ...

in 1980 or 1981. He entered the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to provide international development assistance. It was established in March 1961 by an executive order of President John ...

in 1983 and went to Thailand, where he taught English. Immediately after returning from Thailand, in the Spring of 1985, he took a position as a supervisor of teachers at the

Philippine refugee processing center The Philippine Refugee Processing Center (PRPC) was a large facility near Morong, Bataan, Philippines, which was used as the final stop for Indochinese refugees making their way to permanent resettlement in other nations. It was situated south ...

on the

Bataan Bataan (), officially the Province of Bataan ( fil, Lalawigan ng Bataan ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Balanga while Mariveles is the largest town in the province. Occupying the enti ...

Peninsula. There, he helped to prepare

refugees A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

from

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making ...

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...

, and

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist s ...

for resettlement in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. At the end of 1989, Bankston returned to

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is bord ...

from the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. For a few months, he taught

refugees A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. He began working on a Ph.D. in sociology at Louisiana State University in the Fall of 1990. He finished his degree in 1995 and became an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette). In 1999, he became assistant professor of sociology at

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into a comprehensive pub ...

. He became an associate professor at Tulane in 2002 and a full professor in 2003. Bankston became co-director of Tulane University’s Asian Studies Program in 2002. He became chair of Tulane University’s Department of Sociology in 2006. He has been active in a number of professional organizations, including the

American Sociological Association The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology. Founded in December 1905 as the American Sociological Society at Johns Hopkins University by a group of fif ...

, the Southern Sociological Society, and the Mid-South Sociological Association. He served as vice-president of the Mid-South Sociological Association in from 2003 to 2004. He was elected president of the Mid-South Sociological Association for the year 2007.

Awards

*Bankston’s second book, ''

Growing Up American {{italic title ''Growing Up American: How Vietnamese Children Adapt to Life in the United States'', by Min Zhou and Carl L. Bankston III is one of the most influential books on the Vietnamese American experience. Published in 1998 by the Russell ...

: How Vietnamese Children Adapt to Life in the United States'', co-authored with Min Zhou, was widely recognized as one of the most important works on American

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, ...

of the late 1990s. The International Migration Section of the

gave it the Thomas and Znaniecki Award for outstanding book on migration in 1999. In 2000, the book received the Distinguished Book Award of the Mid-South Sociological Association. *His 2002 book, ''A Troubled Dream: The Promise and Failure of School Desegregation in Louisiana'', co-authored by Stephen J. Caldas, won the 2003 Annual Literary Award of the Louisiana Library Association for best book on Louisiana published in 2002. The book was also featured at the Louisiana Book Festival in

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counti ...

in 2003 and it was the subject of an “author meets critics” session of the Southwestern Social Sciences Association in

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_ ...

in 2003. * Bankston won another award for a book published with Stephen J. Caldas, the 2007 Stanford M. Lyman Distinguished Book Award for ''Forced to Fail: The Paradox of School Desegregation'' (Praeger, 2005). *Another book published in 2002, '' Blue Collar

Bayou In usage in the Southern United States, a bayou () is a body of water typically found in a flat, low-lying area. It may refer to an extremely slow-moving stream, river (often with a poorly defined shoreline), marshy lake, wetland, or creek. They ...

: Louisiana Cajuns in the New Economy of Ethnicity'', won the 2005 Stanford M. Lyman Distinguished Book *Bankston has also received recognition for his presented and published work. He won the 1999 award for outstanding paper from the Louisiana Education Research Association and the 2001 Award for outstanding paper from the Southwest Education Research Association. His article, ''Bayou Lotus: Theravada Buddhism in Southwestern Louisiana'' received the award for outstanding published article of 2000 from the journal Sociological Spectrum.

Bibliography

Books as author

''Science, Technology, and Society in the Third World ''
by Wesley Shrum, Carl L. Bankston III, and D. Stephen Voss (1995).
''Growing Up American: How Vietnamese Children Adapt to Life in the United States''
by Min Zhou and Carl L. Bankston III (1998)
''Straddling Two Social Worlds: The Experience of Vietnamese Refugee Children in the United States''
by Min Zhou and Carl L. Bankston III (2000)
''A Troubled Dream: The Promise and Failure of School Desegregation in Louisiana''
by Carl L. Bankston III and Stephen J. Caldas (2002).
''Blue Collar Bayou: Louisiana Cajuns in the New Economy of Ethnicity ''
by Jacques M. Henry and Carl L. Bankston III (2002).
''Forced to Fail: The Paradox of School Desegregation ''
by Stephen J. Caldas and Carl L. Bankston III (2005).
''Public Education, America's Civil Religion: A Social History ''
by Carl L. Bankston III and Stephen J. Caldas (2009).

Books as editor

*"Encyclopedia of Family Life" (5 vols.) edited by Carl L. Bankston III and R. Kent Rasmussen (1998). .

(3 vols.) edited by Carl L. Bankston III and others (1999)

(2 vols.) edited by Carl L. Bankston III (2000)
"The End of Desegregation?"
edited by Stephen J. Caldas and Carl L. Bankston III (2003)

edited by Carl L. Bankston III (2003)
"African American History"
edited by Carl L. Bankston III (2003)

edited by Carl L. Bankston III and Danielle Antoinette Hidalgo (2006)

References

External links

Review of ''Growing Up American''
from '' Journal of Asian American Studies''
Spencer Foundation Conference on Sociology and Education Reading ListVietnamese Americans: A Brief HistoryMid-South Sociological AssociationRadio Interview on Segregation of New Orleans Students Displaced by KatrinaThe Hispanic Challenge
from The Wilson Center
Can Social Capital Explain Persistent Poverty Gaps?
from the National Poverty Center
Review of ''Public Education: America's Civil Religion''Bankston's Homepage at Tulane
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bankston, Carl L. III 1952 births Living people American sociologists Tulane University faculty People from New Orleans Southern Methodist University alumni UC Berkeley College of Letters and Science alumni Peace Corps volunteers University of Louisiana at Lafayette faculty Louisiana State University faculty 20th-century social scientists 21st-century social scientists