April’s ‘Rock Talks Speaker Series, hosted by Feehan Against Hate, featured Dr. Stanley Thangaraj. Dr. Stanley Thangaraj is the Inaugural James E. Hayden Chair and Professor of the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Social Justice as well as the Director of the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Social Justice at Stonehill College. Feehan’s 'Rock Talks Speaker Series exposes students to a variety of life experiences, careers, and passions.
Dr. Thangaraj’s engaging presentation highlighted how the law plays a major role in the many stereotypes that exist about South Asian and Middle Eastern people (especially among boys and men). He also offered ways that we can recognize and combat these stereotypes. He encouraged the student audience by saying, "It is absolutely the work of young people that changes the world. Your work as young people is vital."
Dr. Thangaraj’s interests are at the intersections of race, gender and citizenship. He studies immigrant and refugee communities in the U.S. South to understand how they manage the black-white racial logic through gender and the kinds of horizontal processes of race-making.
His monograph Desi Hoop Dreams: Pickup Basketball and the Making of Asian American Masculinity looks at the relationship between race and gender in co-ethnic-only South Asian American sporting cultures. His newest research is on Kurdish America, which received the 2015 American Studies Association "Comparative Ethnic Studies" Award and 2023 Association for Asian American Studies Social Sciences best paper award.
Read an NBC News interview with Dr. Thangaraj here or find him on Linkedin.