Marissa Kiss

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Immigration, Inequality, Race, and Sports

Marissa Kiss, PhD, earned her doctorate in Sociology at George Mason University in 2020. Her dissertation, Baseball: The (Inter) National Pastime, examined immigrant Major League Baseball players and immigration policy. Dr. Kiss is currently Co-Principal Investigator on the recently funded AmeriCorps project which examines immigrants, athletes, and civic engagement. This project aims to determine if contact and engagement with immigrant athletes fosters more positive attitudes towards immigrants off the playing field. Her primary research interests include immigration, inequality, race, and sports.

Selected Publications

Smith, E., Hattery, A. J., Kiss, M., & Foltz, K. E. (2023). Re-Conceptualizing Kaepernick’s Kneeling Protests and His Banishment From the NFL as an Infringement on His “Right to Work.” Journal of Black Studies, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/00219347231177389

Hattery, A.J, Smith, E., Foltz, K., Kiss, M. (2023, April 4). Ineffective policies for gender-based violence in sports result in a lack of accountability. The Brookings Institution. Available at: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/how-we-rise/2023/04/04/ineffective-policies-for-gender-based-violence-in-sports-result-in-lack-of-accountability/

Kiss, M., Smith, E., and Hattery, A. (2023, January 9). Black Interim Head Coaches in the NFL. The Society Pages. Available at: https://thesocietypages.org/specials/black-interim-head-coaches-in-the-nfl/

Witte, J. and Kiss, M. (2022, July 26). Immigrant athletes can become agents of change. Richmond Times-Dispatch. Available at: https://richmond.com/opinion/columnists/james-witte-and-marissa-kiss-column-immigrant-athletes-can-become-agents-of-change/article_49ff4f88-c4b9-5100-8372-b0325832b0ce.html

Smith, J. A., Pocratsky, B. L., Kiss, M., & Suero, C. (2021). Streaming Popular Feminism: Netflix’s Jessica Jones as Feminist Hero. Studies in Popular Culture, 43(2), 104–129. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27122877

Smith, E. and Kiss, M. (2021, April 1). Why are there so few Black American players in MLB 74 years after Jackie Robinson took the field? The Philadelphia Inquirer. Available at: https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/baseball-black-african-american-players-jackie-robinson-20210401.html

Kiss, M. and Witte, J. (2019, July 11). The Streak(s) Continue: Immigrant Players Bring Baseball Victories. The Bridge. Available at: https://www.mercatus.org/bridge/commentary/streaks-continue-immigrant-players-bring-baseball-victories

Witte, J.C. and Kiss, M. (2019, July 3). Predicting the Outcome of the 2019 MLB All-Star Game: Immigrant Ball Players Are a Key Factor, InsideSources. Available at: https://www.insidesources.com/predicting-the-outcome-of-the-2019-mlb-all-star-game-immigrant-ball-players-are-a-key-factor/

Hattery, A.J., Kiss, M., Smith, E. (2019). Always the Bridesmaid and Never the Bride: Women’s and Minorities Coaching Opportunities in Intercollegiate Sports. Journal of Higher Education Athletics & Innovation, 1(5):37-47. DOI: https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2376-5267.2018.1.5.37-47

Smith, J., Pocratsky, B., Kiss, M., and Suero, C. (2019). “The Tough Chick Genre: Netflix’s Serialized Exposition of Jessica Jones” In the Netflix at the Nexus: Content, Practice, and Production in the Age of Streaming Television edited by T. Plothe and A. Buck.

Expanded Publication List

Kiss, M., Del Principe, S., and Taxman, F.S. (2019). “Traditional and Innovative Reentry Approaches and Interventions.” In the Wiley International Handbook of Correctional Psychology, edited by D. Polaschek, A. Day, and C. Hollin. West Sussex, UK: Wiley.

Mbaba, M., Brown, S., Wooditch, A., Kiss, M., Murphy, A., Kumari, S., Taxman, F., Altice, F., Lawson, W.B., and Springer, S.A. (2018). Prevalence, Diagnosis, and Treatment Rates of Mood Disorders among Opioid Users under Criminal Justice Supervision. Substance Use & Misuse, 1-10. doi: 10.1080/10826084.2017.1416400

Wooditch, A, Mbaba, M., Kiss, M., Lawson, W., Taxman, F., and Altice, F.L. (2017). Housing Experiences among Opioid-Dependent, Criminal Justice-Involved Individuals in Washington, D.C. Journal of Urban Health, 1-10. doi: 10.1007/s11524-017-0156-z.

Witte, J., Kiss, M. and Lynn, R (2013). “The Internet and social inequalities in the U.S.” Pp. 67-84 in The Digital Divide: The Internet and social inequality in international perspective, edited by M. Ragnedda and G.W. Muschert. New York, NY: Routledge.

In the Media

Walker, Teresa M., Campbell, Dave, and Dubow, Josh. (2023, January 5). Family ties have long run strong in the ranks of NFL coaches. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/san-francisco-49ers-tennessee-titans-new-york-jets-sean-mcvay-sports-394ab491b8dd9d9829a9f3db9d87e23b

Schad, Tom. (2022, October 15). What's in it for interims? Carolina's Steve Wilks latest Black coach thrust into challenging role. USA Today. https://www.yahoo.com/now/whats-interims-carolinas-steve-wilks-141046930.html

Starr, Stephen (2020, September 14). Can Small-Town America Survive Pandemic's Hit to Minor League Baseball? OZY.

Kiss, M. and Witte, J.C. (2020, May 22). America’s International Pastime [Radio broadcast]. With Good Reason Radio. https://withgoodreasonradio.org/episode/take-me-out-to-the-ballgame/