Dear Faculty, Staff, Students, and Friends of CSSH:
I hope this newsletter finds you well as the holiday season is in full swing. Over the past nine months, I have greatly enjoyed getting to know and work with so many of you. I continue to marvel at the energy, creativity, and compassion of our CSSH community.
This semester we introduced Tuesdays Together, an informal opportunity for CSSH faculty and staff to socialize without any agenda or programming—just food, beverages, and friendly company. Held at different locations throughout the Boston campus and Roxbury community, the gatherings were well received. Thanks are due to College Events Manager Danita Mends and Executive Assistant Rachelle Robeson for their efforts to organize new venues and delicious refreshments and snacks. We look forward to seeing you at forthcoming CSSH Together events.
A Look Back at the Fall
As the global landscape continues to shift ahead of 2025, CSSH offered a variety of programs that explore the social and political dynamics at play. The Center for International Affairs and World Cultures hosted conversations about global tensions and the current state of the world, including The Future of the United Nations: After the Summit of the Future, the State of the World Series, and Russia and China: Analyzing Challenges in a Post-Election Landscape. Invited speakers included Mitchell A. Orenstein, Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and Professor of Russian and East European Studies, University of Pennsylvania; and Daniel Drezner, Distinguished Professor of International Politics and Associate Dean of Research, Tufts University.
As Northeastern celebrated 115 Years of the Co-op Program across our global network, CSSH hosted a college mixer November 9, organized by Director of Co-op Linnea Basu and colleagues for co-op alumni, current students, and employers on the Boston campus. Arts, Humanities, and Tech Weeks, a collaboration between Northeastern’s Reckonings Project, the Arts & Humanities Social Action Lab, CSSH, and CAMD, launched this fall, featuring a series of participatory events across the Boston, London, and Oakland campuses. These events celebrated the power of the arts and humanities, their engagements with technology, and the connections among Northeastern’s diverse colleges, campuses, and cityscapes.
The Latinx, Latin American, and Caribbean Studies Program celebrated 30 Years of LLACS Scholarship with a book talk series featuring recent publications by LLACS faculty. The inaugural speaker of the series was Daniel Noemi Voionmaa, Professor of Cultures, Societies and Global Studies, who discussed his book, Surveillance, the Cold War, and Latin American Literature.
This past year’s U.S. presidential election showcased the expertise and knowledge of faculty from various departments, including political science. Visit CSSH & Election 2024 to see the variety of CSSH expertise applied to the election, post-election, and related issues.
Research Updates
We are excited to announce that Northeastern’s Digital Transgender Archive (DTA), directed by English and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Professor K.J. Rawson, will be opening a new lab on Northeastern’s Oakland campus in the spring of 2025, made possible by support from the Mellon Foundation. The grant will allow the DTA to hire an Oakland-based assistant director to lead the new West Coast lab, hire new co-ops and student workers, and expand and foster new connections with archives in the Bay Area and beyond.
Elizabeth Bucar, Professor of Religion and Dean’s Leadership Fellow, received a grant from the John Templeton Foundation for “Spirituality and the Ethics of Religious Borrowing: A Sacred Writes Working Group,” a convening of scholars to generate new insights about the ethics of spiritual borrowing for the academic field of religious studies. This work will culminate in publicly accessible resources to seed new understanding and acceptance of the religious traditions from which popular spiritual practices emerge.
Eric Piza, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice and Director of Crime Analysis Initiatives, was awarded a grant from the National Institute of Justice to examine how intelligence-led policing is disseminated across New Jersey and its effect on shooting case clearance rates.
This semester, Northeastern’s Humanities Center expanded beyond the university’s Boston campus. Professor Kirsten Saxton was appointed as co-director of the Humanities Center in Oakland alongside Professor Olly Ayers in London, and Professor K.J. Rawson in Boston. The expansion of the Humanities Center to Oakland and London will enable new opportunities for collaborative research in the public humanities, including community engagement and social impact through the digital humanities.
Recognizing Our Students
I want to recognize some of our students who achieved significant accomplishments this fall! To start, Victoria Dey, PhD History ’26, earned a Fulbright-John Lewis Civil Rights Fellowship to France. Her fellowship research traces the evolution of nonviolent protest movements and organizations in Black France.
The Huntington 100, which honors outstanding students for achievements aligned with the university’s missions, ideals, values, and Academic Plan, includes fourteen CSSH undergraduate students.
Recognizing our Faculty
As the semester draws to an end, I also want to celebrate the many accomplishments of CSSH faculty. Denise Garcia, Professor of Political Science and International Affairs, Costas Panagopoulos, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Patricia Williams, University Distinguished Professor of Law and Humanities, Eusong Kim, Associate Professor of English and Undergraduate Program Director, and Simon Rabinovitch, Stotsky Associate Professor in Jewish Historical and Cultural Studies, all published books this past semester.
Kimberly Lucas, Professor of the Practice in Public Policy and Economic Justice, has been appointed to the Board of Early Education and Care. Maria Ivanova, Director of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and Professor of Public Policy, spoke about the plastic pollution crisis at the TED Planet Action Summit and led a delegation to South Korea that participated in the fifth round of negotiations on an international treaty on plastic pollution authorized by the United Nations.
Ted Landsmark, Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and Urban Affairs and Director of the Kitty and Michael Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy, was honored at the Boston Public Library with the Druker Award Celebrating Design and Architecture for his outstanding contributions to the world of urban art, architecture, and design. Natasha Frost, Associate Dean of Research, Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, and Co-Director of the Center on Crime, Race, and Justice, was named president-elect of the prestigious American Society of Criminology. Mai’a Cross, Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs, Director of the Center for International Affairs and World Cultures, and Dean’s Professor of Political Science, International Affairs, and Diplomacy, received a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to break new ground on “transnational political networks.”
A Look Ahead to Spring 2025
We have many exciting events coming up in the spring semester. The Africana Studies Program will host the 5th annual bell hooks symposium on February 7, 2025, bringing together artists, academics, and activists whose work is deeply informed by Black feminist thought and serving as a space for collective mourning, reflection and celebration of bell hooks’ work. The year’s theme, Black Feminism, Black Art, will explore the intersections of Black feminist praxis and art creation, critiquing, and interpretation.
Also in February, the Center for International for International Affairs and World Cultures is hosting a conversation with seasoned diplomats Dennis Ross and Ghaith Al-Omari in its Leaders in Foreign Service Speaker Series. In a dialogue entitled, “The Future of the Middle East Peace Process,” they will provide insights into the current dynamics of the Israel-Gaza War and explore potential pathways toward lasting peace in the Middle East.
CSSH launched a Sustainability Committee to develop strategies to build our sustainability leadership through collaboration, education, and innovation. A team of faculty and staff Sustainability Champions will be working to enhance a host of sustainability practices in our spaces. The Sustainability Committee is comprised of Aaron Block; Davis Bookhart; Megan Curtis-Murphy; James Dana; Hua Dong; Kathleen Downey; Joan Fitzgerald; Nancy Hutchins; Maria Ivanova; Kim Lucas; Meica Magnani; Gina Maiellaro; Bailey McAlister; Danita Mends; Nichola Minott; Tania Muiño; Maxim Olivier; Leslie Prime; Rachelle Robeson; Kiki Samko; and Roger Sparks.
Finally, we’d like to mention some updates on our Strategic Plan on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (SP-DEIB). As part of our Pedagogy in Progress series, on November 19, Louis Green, Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Initiatives, held a virtual presentation and collaborative dialogue, which delved into the essential principles of inclusive pedagogy. We have also continued to create a baseline and identify support to increase the number of CSSH faculty from historically under-represented groups submitting grants and fellowships. The CSSH community is committed to creating a more diverse and inclusive environment. While we recognize that this work is ongoing, the values of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging are at the core of what makes our college an appealing place for all members.
I wish everyone a happy and healthy holiday season! We are excited to welcome you all back on campus in January.
Warmly,
Kellee Tsai
Dean and Distinguished Professor
College of Social Sciences and Humanities
