The director of the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Social Justice discusses his scholarship, life in India, basketball and more.
As the inaugural James E. Hayden Chair, Dr. Stanley Thangaraj oversees Stonehill College’s Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Social Justice. Since taking on this role in July 2022, he has had the pleasure of meeting Elizabeth (Fox) Hayden ’76 on several occasions. The Stonehill trustee and her children, Elizabeth (Hayden) Klucznik ’04 and John, established the Hayden Chair in memory of James ’76, their spouse and father.
“Elizabeth’s family embodies the project of social justice,” Dr. Thangaraj said. “It is something they clearly want to nurture on our campus. I see the Hayden Chair as a venue to facilitate conversations and spaces dedicated to social justice, to create venues curricular and non-curricular that expand students’ intellectual, lived and philosophical experiences.”
While Dr. Thangaraj honors James Hayden’s legacy by developing new opportunities for interdisciplinary teaching, research and public dialogue at Stonehill, here are 10 things to know about him.
Hung on the wall of Dr. Thangaraj's office is a portrait of Rabindranath Tagore, the first Indian person to receive a Nobel Prize for Literature. Dr. Thangaraj refers to the freedom fighter as one of his "intellectual heroes."
1. His outreach is outstanding. As part of his work at Stonehill, Dr. Thangaraj creates opportunities for students to utilize tools learned at Stonehill out in the real world. One way he does this is by forming connections with people and groups outside the college community such as the United Way of Brockton and the Feehan Academy. “The Center is a site for various types of partnerships with people across the area, the United States, and, hopefully, the world,” he said.
2. He builds bridges. Dr. Thangaraj has hosted several unique programs designed to bridge academic experiences and student life. For instance, he recently moderated discussions focused on martial artist Bruce Lee and the ESPN film “144.” He has several other events in various stages of development, such as an undergraduate conference on the weekend of April 21, 2023. This program brings together students and faculty from various institutions to present papers focused on social justice. Dr. David Roediger of the University of Kansas will serve as the keynote speaker.
3. He is excited to educate. Dr. Thangaraj will begin teaching at Stonehill in fall 2023. His first course, offered by the Department of Sociology, is called Race and Ethnicity. “My students and I will work together to understand indigenous, African American, Latinx and Asian American stories, among others,” he said. “We will specifically examine how power and politics operate in these communities, as well as society at large.” This class will be foundational to showcasing the Center’s efforts to develop a major and a minor in Race, Ethnicity, and Social Justice in the coming years.
4. He uplifts others. Major media outlets like NBC News routinely ask Dr. Thangaraj to share his expert opinion on matters related to race and social justice. He believes that accepting these opportunities is integral to his work, as doing so allows the public to connect with other communities and activists in the interest of creating a more just and compassionate world. “My scholarship is an expression of my commitment to examining the lives of those who are silenced or missing in our histories,” he said. “I am dedicated to raising their voices. Whenever I have the chance to do so, I want to help highlight their stories.”
5. He had a unique upbringing. Dr. Thangaraj was born in Madurai, the cultural capital of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. As a child, he lived at the Tamil Nadu Theological Seminary, where his father taught divinity courses. “Growing up on that campus really provided a context to understand that caste justice and racial justice are part of the larger project of social justice,” Dr. Thangaraj said. “This experience informed my scholarship, which not only brings the stories of Asian America and Middle Eastern American people in the U.S. to the forefront, but also demonstrates that our commitment to racial justice must be expansive and in tune with the complexities of communities across the world.”
A big fan of basketball, Dr. Thangaraj tries to get to as many Stonehill games as possible.
6. He received meaningful mentorship. Dr. Thangaraj comes from a long line of teachers and protestant ministers. The academic did not initially plan to follow in his family’s footsteps; however, he came around to the idea after working with influential mentors like Dr. Benny Hary, Dr. Robert Brown, Dr. Martin Manalansan, Dr. Nancy Abelmann, Dr. Junaid Rana and Dr. David Roediger as a student at Emory University, the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He notes that his experiences with these researchers compel him to prioritize mentorship in his own classroom.
7. He is a baller. Dr. Thangaraj is the author of Desi Hoop Dreams: Pickup Basketball and the Making of Asian American Masculinity. Released in 2015, the work investigates the ways in which South Asian American men in places like Atlanta, Chicago and Maryland express their identities and cultivate a sense of belonging in the United States through sports. The topic hits close to home for the researcher, who immigrated to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1988. Basketball was an important activity that connected him with African American and white communities in the city when he first moved there.
8. His poetry brings him peace. In addition to playing basketball and tennis in his free time, Dr. Thangaraj also enjoys artistic pursuits. “Anytime I get to write poetry and really put my emotions, desires, passions and anxieties on the page, it gives me a sense of peace and calm,” he said.
9. He has a playful pup. Dr. Thangaraj and his loved ones enjoy going on walks with Mango, the poodle they adopted during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Farm at Stonehill is one of the places they take their pet. Mango likes playing with Millie, the canine companion of Laurie Mooney, director of the Farm.
10. He cares for his community. Dr. Thangaraj has enjoyed getting to know other faculty and staff like Mooney since he started working at Stonehill. “I’m someone who is always committed to building community,” he said. “This place has so many faculty and staff who also want to do that work. It’s nice to see so many people invested in this pursuit.”
