Savaş has two lines of inquiry. In the first line, she examines refugee belonging and deservingness from the perspectives of both the receiving society and the displaced persons. Her research identifies how demographic (i.e., age, gender, ability, race, religion, marital status), symbolic (e.g., attitudes, stereotypes), and institutional (e.g., welfare institutions, humanitarian aid structures) factors foster vulnerability and resilience among refugees as they build new selves, identities and communities after displacement. In her second line of research, she studies how people express and interpret political opinions and ideals through activism, advocacy, and voting. With the aim of contributing to a better understanding of the relationship between multi-layered citizenship and belonging, she adopts a social justice lens, utilizes feminist theor ...