The SLU Urban Studies faculty added two new members this fall, with the arrival of Assistant Professor Samantha Agarwal and Distinguished Lecturer Puya Gerami. They both will specialize in the Leadership for Democracy and Social Justice program.
Dr. Agarwal comes to SLU after completing a Changemaker postdoctoral fellowship at American University. She received a Ph.D. in Sociology from Johns Hopkins University.
About joining SLU, she said: “We are living in a time when the authoritarian right is ascendant globally, seeking to dismantle the hard-fought victories of multiply marginalized peoples. I adore CUNY SLU because its students, staff, and faculty are at the forefront of the fight here in the U.S. This embodies the true meaning of active learning: we learn as we fight, as we build.”
Dr. Agarwal wrote her dissertation on the case of support by the Dalit caste in India for the rightwing Bharatiya Janata Party, which she suggests is relevant to U.S. politics today. This semester, Dr. Agarwal is teaching two courses: Power & Strategy and Social Justice in the City.
Dr. Gerami received a Ph.D. in History from Yale University last spring. He has been part of the SLU community for years, speaking at public events and guest-lecturing in classes.
“At this pivotal time in the history of our country and our planet, CUNY SLU is developing the next generation of leaders to defend — and reconstruct — our multiracial, multiethnic, multigender democracy,” he said.
Dr. Gerami brings a decade of experience working with unions and community organizing, first as organizer and then as education director for SEIU 1199 New England. He also was the founder and director of Connecticut for All, a statewide coalition strategizing for racial, economic and gender equality and progressive tax reform. This semester, he is teaching two courses: Social & Economic Policy and Power & Strategy (with Dr. Stephanie Luce).