(L-R): Rocío Ferreira, Maria Ferrera, Juan Mora-Torres and Jacqueline Lazú will compose the second cohort of fellows for the Social Transformation Research Collaborative. (Composite courtesy of Cristina Rodriguez)Scholars from history, women’s and gender studies, Spanish and social work will compose the second cohort of fellows for the Social Transformation Research Collaborative, housed in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. Rocío Ferreira, Juan Mora-Torres, Maria Ferrera and Jacqueline Lazú will spend their fellowships studying topics involving Peruvian culture, Mexican neighborhoods in Chicago, narratives of asylees, and developing and managing archival collections.
Funded by the Mellon Foundation, the collaborative supports faculty and students who study how the humanities can be a source of justice and healing for communities historically shaped by, and continuously facing, racism, violence and dispossession.
Ferreira, associate professor of Spanish and chair of women’s and gender studies, and Juan Mora-Torres, associate professor of history, were awarded 12-month faculty research fellowships. These fellowships provide extended paid leave and research assistance for untenured or mid-career faculty to make progress toward publication prior to tenure and/or promotion.
During their fellowships, Ferreira will explore the theme of “Women Shoot: Poetics of Political Violence in Contemporary Peruvian Culture,” while Mora-Torres will research “Mexicans in Babylon: Barrio Making in Chicago’s West Side, 1917-1983.”
“We are thrilled that the STRC is able to support our colleagues’ important work,” says Bill Johnson Gonzalez, faculty co-director of the STRC. “Rocío’s scholarship helps give voice to women and Indigenous communities who have been silenced by state-sponsored violence. Juan’s project helps to document and bring visibility to the many historical contributions of the largest Latinx population in Chicago.
“Both projects enable us to advance the STRC’s mission to use the humanities to dismantle racism and promote justice,” Johnson Gonzalez adds.
Ferrera, associate professor of social work, and Lazú, associate professor of Spanish, were awarded six-month professional development fellowships. These fellowships provide tenure-line faculty in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences the time and space to learn new methods, content and approaches to bolster the interdisciplinary reach of their scholarship and teaching.
Ferrera will explore the theme of “Journey to Safety and Belonging: Narratives of Asylees,” while Lazú will research “Archival Collection Development and Management.”
“These professional development fellowships allow faculty to expand their intellectual horizons and skills by incorporating new humanistic methods or methodologies into their scholarship. We’re thrilled that our new fellows will be exploring how to use documentaries, oral histories and archival methods to bring voice to marginalized communities,” says Julie Moody-Freeman, faculty co-director of STRC along with Johnson Gonzalez.
Russell Dorn is a manager of news and integrated content in University Communications.