Hazel Dick Leonard Faculty Fellowship
Hazel Dick Leonard Chair
Jyoti Puri
Jyoti Puri is the Hazel Dick Leonard Chair and Professor of Sociology at Simmons University. She is leading a Faculty Fellowship program aimed at creating a community of scholars who are researching, writing, and producing creative work related to the concept of race. The program brings together ten faculty across Simmons University to foster cutting-edge projects theorizing, analyzing, and advancing critical understandings of race across a range of historical and cultural contexts. Faculty projects include books-in-progress, articles, book chapters, and other scholarly forms.
Learn more about Jyoti Puri, see Jyoti Puri's full CV, and learn more about the Sociology Department.
Faculty Fellows
Naresh Agarwal
Happiness: Theoretical model and relationship with information
Research in information-seeking behavior has looked at the way a person goes about looking for information when faced with a need for information. However, the relationship between happiness and information and how this information impacts happiness is often left out of the picture. Also, higher education in the field has not explored happiness as a learning outcome even though empirical research in psychology has shown that up to 40% of our happiness is within our power to change. In this book project, I will examine the concept of happiness and also how it relates to information. Through a listing of my 8 commandments in life, a preliminary attempt will be made to highlight the possible inter-relationships between happiness and information. Thus, the research questions are – "How can we conceptualize happiness?, What is the relationship between information and happiness? Is there a place for happiness in information science? Is there a place for happiness in information science education?" The book will explore each of the commandments in-depth and arrive at theoretical models linking the concepts of information and happiness. By recognizing happiness as a construct and taking up the teaching and learning of happiness, we should be able to bring about transformative learning.
Learn more about Naresh Agarwal and the School of Library and Information Science, and read an interview with Naresh Agarwal.
Abel Djassi Amado
Language and Politics in a Creole Island State: Cabo Verde in a Comparative Perspective
The book project tentatively titled "Language and Politics in a Creole Island State: Cabo Verde in a Comparative Perspective" uses a case-study method to extrapolate a new theory of political behavior in creole societies. The book argues that understanding politics requires paying close attention to language policy and use since political life is embedded in the "language-politics nexus." Through an in-depth analysis of institutions, interactions, and behaviors, the book enlarges the literature on the links between language and politics in postcolonial creole island-states. Consequently, I advance a new theoretical perspective on the state and political participation anchored on language policy and practices as critical factors influencing and shaping democratic outcomes. Creole societies are characterized by diglossia, power asymmetry between the two languages found in the polity: while the Creole language is widely used in everyday and informal social life, the language of prestige, power, and politics is the European language inherited from colonial experience (Portuguese in the case of Cabo Verde). Against this backdrop, my book introduces the concept of state illegibility: the fact that the state's operations, procedures, and processes are hardly grasped by the majority of the people who have rudimentary to no mastery of the language used in official and formal political businesses. State illegibility, as such, constitutes an analytical tool to comprehend decreasing political accountability and decreasing political participation. As creole societies create unique language-politics nexus, the book also analyzes the conflict over legitimizing the creole language as the state's official language, its use in education, and the influence of diasporic communities in language planning and policies.
Learn more about Abel Djassi Amado and the Department of Political Science and International Relations.
Tatiana Cruz
"There's Very Little Love Shown to a Welfare Mother": African American and Latina Motherwork in Boston's Welfare Rights Movement
My research examines the comparative and relational history of African American and Latinx racial and political identity formation, community development, and mobilizations for racial justice in postwar Boston. For the Hazel Dick Leonard fellowship, I am working on a piece that examines how African American and Latina women on Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), or "welfare mothers" as they were mostly called, formed Mothers for Adequate Welfare (MAW) and developed a grassroots movement for welfare reform in the city. The project utilizes a feminist lens to interrogate the growing collective political consciousness that developed among organizers at the intersection of their shared ethnoracial, class, and gender oppressions and experiences as mothers.
Learn more about Tatiana Cruz and the Department of Critical Race, Gender and Cultural Studies, and read an interview with Tatiana Cruz.
Traci Griffith
Harnessing social media and digital platforms
The aim of my project, should it be selected, is to research, write, host and produce a series of public affairs radio programs/podcasts. The series will focus on the technological revolution underway in the production and delivery of media content and the media literacy necessary for understanding that content.
There are numerous platforms, most Americans visit social networks, photo sharing sites, micro-blogging platforms and IM services. Recent surveys show that the average American uses these platforms between 30 minutes to two hours daily, while 12% of U.S. users spend more than 4 hours per day on social networks. Research shows that the isolation of the Coronavirus pandemic increased this usage exponentially with the social sites being the only method of interaction available during isolation. The timing of this analysis will be of interest to many.
One episode will consider how consumers are making use of the new platforms. Another will look into the addictive nature of the new technology. Another will delve into the creators and their methodology. Another will discuss media literacy and how to understand and make the most of the technological features.
The breakdown of the podcast series will specifically focus on new media technology and platforms and the methodology behind their creation. There will be specific analysis of niche social media sites such as Flixter, Twitch, Gaia Online as well as more traditional sites such as Instagram and Tumblr. In addition, the series will address the psychological aspect of media consumption and how to combat the addictive nature to utilize the technology in a healthy and productive way.
Learn more about Traci Griffith and the Department of Communications.
Renada Goldberg
The Borderlands Between Resilience and Epistemic Injustice: Examining Attitudes of Resilience in Social Work Practice
Resilience is often described as one's endurance against significant adversity and the promotion of protective factors amid significant risk factors. Resilience relies on a framing of strength that positions the onus of positive adaptation on the individual which may place additional burdens onto those with marginalized identities and experiences. Left unchecked, resilience in its current scholarly composition may lead helping professionals to reward testimonial and hermeneutical injustice for the sake of resilience in a stratified and disadvantaging societal system. This project proposes a qualitative inquiry research design to interview social work educators, recent MSW graduates, and experienced MSW practitioners on their understanding and application of resilience in their social work teaching methods and practice. This project is a critique of current resilience conceptualizations and research using an epistemic justice lens and serves as a catalyst for reframing resilience in the scholarly discourse. Specific to social work, my goal for this project is to examine the ways in which the profession's cornerstones of strengths-perspective and resilience are taught and practiced that either combat epistemic injustice or exacerbates clients' and community systems' credibility and sense of meaning-making of their lived experiences.
Learn more about Renada Goldberg and the School of Social Work.
Hugo Kamya
Narrative Practices as Tapestry: Building community through community stories
People are full of stories. I find myself at a cross-road of many stories that shape who I am and where I am. My story has been woven together by the threads of others. I am a tapestry of stories. Stories of home. Stories of identity. Stories of chance encounters. Stories that those people I encounter have trusted me to hold with threads woven together across person, place and time. An intricate, indescribable tapestry.
There are indeed many stories to people's lives. The Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Adichie says: "Stories are defined by how they are told, who tells them, when they are told, how many stories are told and are all dependent on power." We are all story tellers and story listeners. Cultures all over the world tell stories, and use them for different purposes. Stories engage people in their day to day lives. Stories build healing spaces. Stories explore issues of power and powerlessness. Some are folklore and tales; others communicate certain truths or malign or find fault with certain peoples and groups. As a therapist, I use stories to develop spaces for healing. Therapy is itself a story that opens up opportunities for further understanding. In this project, I plan to explore stories that have been told/voiced and stories that have been ignored exploring issues of power and powerlessness, asking questions about how a story gets told? Who tells it? Who sanctions it? Drawing from story and story metaphor I will explore how stories communicate certain truths and build community. As part of this fellowship with colleagues, I hope to develop this work into a book project.
Learn more about Hugo Kamya and the School of Social Work, and read an interview with Hugo Kamya.
Farooz Rather
The Derby Shoe: A Novel-in-Progress
I am currently working on my second novel, The Derby Shoe, in which I follow a Kashmiri flâneur who is adrift in New Delhi. Traumatized by the recurring memories of being wounded in a fierce gunbattle, he hits it off with a struggling, ultraliberal poet from San Francisco at a publishing party. Later, he will travel to California with the hope of finding love. Through my protagonist’s evolving world view, I engage with the idea of the American dream, registering experiences of migration and provincialism in small town America. During the course of HDL fellowship, I wish to connect with my colleagues and learn about their current projects. And while exchanging ideas and perspectives about the shifting American political landscape, I am hopeful to learn from them about the ideas that I’m in the process of exploring in/through my own novel.
Learn more about Farooz Rather and the Department of Literature and Writing, and read an interview with Farooz Rather.
Vanessa Robinson-Dooley
"Healthy Together": Generating Scholarship of the Findings, Process and Future Projects
"Healthy Together" is a multi-year, R15 National Institute of Health (NIH) grant that I am currently a Co-Investigator (Co-PI) on with colleagues from Kennesaw State University (Georgia). The focus our work is to develop a culturally sensitive self-management curriculum to bridge the gap in serving African American men whom are disproportionately affected by chronic conditions, especially coping with multiple morbidities. Low-income African American men also experience additional burdens to health related to cultural beliefs and practices about health, knowledge and perceptions regarding chronic conditions, and lack of support systems, creating even greater health inequalities. The specific aims for the study included conducting focus groups with low-income African American men, health care providers and family support systems to identify opportunities and challenges regarding managing health and healthcare as well as key elements influencing participation and engagement; development of an innovative peer-led chronic disease self-management and support curriculum, and implementing and evaluating a non-experimental pilot study for this self-management and support intervention. We hope to extend this work to exploring self-management of behavioral health issues with this population, use of technology, and consider the impact of COVID on the experiences of African American men.
Learn more about Vanessa Robinson-Dooley and the School of Social Work, and read an interview with Vanessa Robinson-Dooley.
Devashish Tiwari
Development and item analysis of the modified dizziness handicap inventory (DHI-CA) in children and adolescents post-concussion.
Incidence of concussion in children has demonstrated a 60% rise since 2007 and is now a significant health concern. Up to 80% of individuals report having dizziness post-concussion. Dizziness post-concussion negatively affects academic performance, participation in sports, activities of daily living, and psychological state and overall quality of life. Patient-reported outcome measures (PROM) identify patient perception of specific functional limitations and are crucial to design targeted intervention strategies and evaluate their effectiveness. The Dizziness Handicap Inventory – Children and Adolescent (DHI-CA) is a recently developed PROM. Previous studies highlighted potential structural limitations in the DHI-CA and recommended further exploration. Item response theory (IRT) greatly improves PROM due to its rigor and interpretational advantages not offered by traditional analysis. This study aims to validate the modified version of the DHI-CA in children and adolescents post-concussion using IRT.
Learn more about Devashish Tiwari and the Department of Physical Therapy, and read an interview with Devashish Tiwari.
Meenakshi Verma-Agrawal
American Dream or American Nightmare?
The American Dream is a stock story told around the world. For many immigrants to the United States, the American Dream soon turns into a generational nightmare. Why? America is considered the land of opportunity and a place where you can achieve anything with hard work and determination. The 'immigrant health paradox' which has been well established in many immigrant receiving countries: after adjusting for socioeconomic status, the foreign born generally have lower mortality than the native born, however this initial advantage disappears with increasing time in the receiving country and across generations. Each generation that arrives, not only delivers opportunities, but also delivers poorer health outcomes. The immigrant paradox is well-documented across sectors and across countries, not just the US. However, the narrative of the American dream is so pervasive that many migrants do not realize the detrimental effects of migration go beyond health, education and social outcomes. The loss extends to social capital, knowledge of systems, family support, traditional foods and language. Looking at racism as a system of advantage, the model minority myth puts migrants in a precarious situation because of what they have fled and what becomes of their migration journey. I plan to write a scholarly article that will explore each of these losses and describe how racialization impacts migrants and the American dream is actually a nightmare for generations to come.
Learn more about Meenakshi Verma-Agrawal and the Department of Public Health, and read an interview with Meenakshi Verma-Agrawal.
Recent Interviews with Faculty Fellows

Choosing Happiness
Read an Interview with Naresh Agarwal

Narrative Practice as Tapestry
Read an Interview with Hugo Kamya

Boston's Welfare Rights Movement
Read an Interview with Tatiana M.F. Cruz

American Dream or Generational Nightmare
Read an Interview with Meenakshi Verma-Agrawal

'Healthy Together': Self Management Program for African American Men
Read an Interview with Vanessa Robinson-Dooley

Assessing Pediatric Post-Concussion Dizziness
Read an interview with Assistant Professor Devashish Tiwari.

"Literature and the American Dream" An Interview with Farooz Rather
Read an interview with Assistant Professor Farooz Rather.

“When Does Resilience Turn into Epistemic Injustice?”
Read an interview with Assistant Professor Dr. Renada Goldberg.
