Academic Year 2024-2025
Annual Report
Presented by:
Dr. Stanley Thangaraj, the James E. Hayden Chair for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Social Justice
The Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Social Justice at Stonehill (CRES) launched in Fall 2021 after nearly five years of planning and preparation. During the 2024-2025 academic year, we welcomed a wide swath of scholars and cultural producers discussing a range of topics ranging from refugee lives through Cambodian American poetry to Filipinx American sporting cultures to Dominican politics of hair to Egyptian Coptic lives during this time of the “global war on terror” to the art of African American feminists. CRES played a vital role in various sorts of programming beyond just the five lectures that took place on campus. We launched the “Critical Race and Ethnic Studies” (CRE) major and minor in fall 2024 and had three students graduate in May, 2025 with a CRE Minor. In addition, with the ongoing attacks on education during this Trump Presidency, we have modified our major and minor name to “Ethnic Studies.”
The Center collaborated with various stakeholders among the faculty and students to put together events to address the on-going war in Gaza. This collaboration consisted of posting flags on the quad marking the names of Palestinian and Israeli children who have been killed in the war. We followed up with a virtual panel concerning Palestinian lives and the atrocities taking place in Gaza, and we had nearly 200 community members attend. Presented in an in-person format, the programming of the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Social Justice was designed to complement the College’s academic curriculum and foster student and faculty engagement in interdisciplinary studies of race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality studies, class, and social justice.
Over the course of the year, over 1,000 people attended CRES programs, including the Center’s inaugural donor, Liz Hayden, who joined us for several of our talks. The mix of events ranged from public-facing and student-facing to specific events structured to support faculty scholarly production. The major lectures were open to the public. As a result, in addition to the Stonehill College community, we had residents of Brockton, Easton, and Sharon attend our events.
CRES also fostered student-faculty collaboration and student creative accomplishments, selecting the Hayden Family SURE (Stonehill Undergraduate Research Experience) Scholar for Summer 2024.
Dr. Stanley Thangaraj, James E. Hayden Chair for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Social Justice, and Dr. Sameera Akella, Dr. Guillermo Caballero, and Dr. Ashvin Kini co-planned all the major lectures, workshops, and student-facing events on campus while playing a key role in issuing statements in support of justice.
Under Dr. Thangaraj’s continued leadership and guidance, CRES goals for the upcoming year are to host three planned lectures including the fourth Hayden Lecture, assembling the fourth annual undergraduate and graduate research conference, creating connections with Brockton for a spoken word events and other forms of community building, continuing with writing workshops and brown bag sessions for junior faculty, expanding the number of minors and majors in the Ethnic Studies Major and Minor, supporting the three new faculty of color who were part of the cluster hire, pushing forward a rigorous fund raising campaign for CRES, organizing an external advisory committee, and continuing to create interdisciplinary spaces to engage with race, ethnicity, and social justice.
Steering Committee
The Center’s 2025-2025 academic year also took shape with the leadership of the steering committee of the Center. In addition to Stan Thangaraj, the members of the steering committee included faculty from across the College:
The Center sponsored five public lectures in the 2024-2025 Academic Year, planned and organized by Dr. Stan Thangaraj, Administrative Assistant to the Dean of the May School of Arts & Sciences Erin Dzierzak, Dr. Sameera Akella, Dr. Guillermo Caballero, Dr. Ashvin Kini, and Stonehill students. The events also received $2,000 in support from Dr. Craig Kelley and his office. The distinguished scholars and writers who visited campus represented a wide range of disciplines in the social sciences, humanities, sciences, and arts. The events were well attended by students, faculty, and staff, and residents of neighboring towns.
Working with various students on our campus, CRES hosted the third conference centered on social justice. We had 12 panels with 36 students and several hundred people attending various panels over the course of the weekend-long conference.
The students presenting at the conference included undergraduate, graduate students, and junior faculty from Stonehill College, University of Vermont, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Portland State University, City University of New York Medical School, City College of New York, UMass-Boston, New York University, University of Minnesota, Rutgers University, Villanova University, California State University- San Bernadino, Mt. Holyoke College, University of Pennsylvania, and Teacher’s College.
Administrative Assistant
Administrative Assistant to the Dean of the Thomas and Donna May School of Arts & Sciences Erin Dzierzak has been the permanent administrative assistant to CRES efforts since the Summer of 2023. Ms. Dzierzak is a critical administrative resource in supporting the logistical needs of the Center as programs and speaking engagements continue to be central to CRES offerings.
Martha Savage ’27 was selected by Dr. Thangaraj as the Hayden Family SURE Scholar for the summer of 2025. She is conducting research with Dr. Jungyun Gill, Associate Professor of Sociology, on “Social Problems and Social Movements.”
Their research aims to engage with a textbook in Sociology. Their work is foundational to understanding theorization and understanding social problems and social movements.
Read the scholar profile below highlighting Martha’s research project and future goals. Please enjoy learning more about our Summer 2025 Hayden Family SURE Scholar!
Colleges and universities across the United States have struggled to recruit and retain their faculty of color. Such a trend presents itself in glaring ways at Stonehill College. Faculty of color do not always have the space and time to engage with scholarship that matters to them. Thus, Dr. Stan Thangaraj instituted a writing circle through the course of the academic year for Dr. Akella, Dr. Caballero, and Dr. Kini. Each of them presented their writing projects twice. All of provided important and interdisciplinary engagement, editing, and insights for their work. As a result of the writing circle, the faculty are ready to publish or have published their writing in top journals or as book chapters. Together, they will bring forth their expertise in Asian American Studies, South Asian American Studies, Black literature, trans and queer communities of color, Black Feminism, Queer of Color Critique, Black politics, Latinx Politics, Health Disparities, American Racism, and US empire.
During June 2024 and July 2025, Dr. Thangaraj organized writing retreats for junior scholars of color and those coming from underrepresented communities. Through intentional writing practices and innovative writing workshops, Dr. Stan Thangaraj helped scholars on their pathway to publication. In particular, the writing retreats featured junior scholars of color who were hired at Stonehill College. Practices such as this are crucial to the successful retention of faculty of color.
Thank you for making a gift in support of the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Social Justice.
The Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Social Justice launched in fall 2021 as a new home for innovative and interdisciplinary teaching, research, and public dialogue at Stonehill College.
