John Jay Research Blog
The Office for the Advancement of Research, as part of our Public Scholarship Initiative, actively solicits blog entries from John Jay faculty, staff, and external scholars working on issues of key contemporary and historical significance. We promote these entries on social media, including Facebook and Twitter, as well as within the university through a partnership with our Marketing and Development Office. If you wish to contribute an entry, please contact Research Communications Specialist Remmy Bahati at rbahati@jjay.cuny.edu with a brief (1-2 sentence) summary of your proposed entry.
Celebrating a Milestone: The Journey and Impact of Indoor Voices
When Kathleen Collins, a Professor in the Library at John Jay College, launched Indoor Voices in 2017, she never imagined it would blossom into a 100-episode deep dive into the “CUNYverse,” a sprawling community of creativity, scholarship, and untold stories. From its humble beginnings as a curiosity-driven project, the podcast has become a platform for exploring diverse voices and ideas within the City University of New York system.
“Every category of person and idea is represented here,” Collins reflects. “It would take many lifetimes to learn about them all, but it’s very satisfying to try.”
The podcast’s latest milestone, marked by an episode featuring environmental scholar Rebecca Bratspies, exemplifies its unique charm. Titled with a phrase that captures Bratspies’ essence, the episode was born of Collins’ careful, empathetic approach to storytelling. “I asked if she was comfortable with it, and she was on board immediately! It’s my favorite title of all,” Collins shares, highlighting the collaborative spirit that defines her work.
Podcasting merges Collins’s passions for education, entertainment, and authentic conversation. “I always try to be authentic, curious, empathetic, and never too formal,” she says. This ethos informs not only her podcast but also her teaching style as a professor. An intersection of roles brings a refreshing dynamism to her classroom and her audience.
On April 2, 2025, at 4:30 p.m. in the Ninth Floor Conference Room, Collins, in collaboration with the Office for the Advancement of Research, will amplify the podcast’s impact by hosting a live episode to celebrate its legacy. Keep reading to learn more about the podcast in this Q&A .
What inspired the unique title of Episode 100, and how do you approach quirky yet meaningful topics?
The title of that episode came from the vibe I got from Rebecca Bratspies, the subject of the interview. Emily Sohmer Tai (History professor at Queensborough Community College) recommended her book to me because she had given a talk at the CUNY Academy for the Humanities and Sciences. I don’t remember if Rebecca said that specifically, but in telling her story, she gave the impression that that is what she was thinking as she drove through traffic on the Major Deegan. I wanted to use the title, but I asked her if she was comfortable with it, and she was on board immediately! It’s my favorite title of all of them!
How do you select topics and guests? Are there any topics or people you’ve been especially excited to feature?
In the first few years of the podcast, I would scout, explore, and research. I’d Google things like “CUNY authors” and scour the lists from offices like yours that highlighted the faculty publications of 2018, for example. Gradually, I stopped needing to do that because I would keep my eyes open for anything that interested me in a listserv or newsletter that came across my inbox or at an event. My eyes are almost too wide open because everything seems interesting! In the last few years, I’ve impulsively reached out to people I find interesting and asked them if they want to be a guest (I have never had anyone say no!), and I have too many in the pipeline. It’s a great problem to have, of course. The other thing that started happening after the first few years was that CUNY people approached me and asked to be guests. That is gratifying and makes me feel like people are listening, which is the whole point.
What are the key lessons you’ve learned from creating and growing the Indoor podcast?
In poking around looking for subjects for the podcast, I am continually amazed at the density of creativity and scholarship in our midst. CUNY is a microcosm of the world in many ways. Every category of person and idea is represented here. It would take many lifetimes to learn about them all. Indoor Voices doesn’t even come close to scratching the surface of revealing these lives and stories, but trying is very satisfying.
How do your experiences in journalism, media history, and podcasting shape your audience connection and episode structure?
I would have to thank my graduate journalism degree for helping me overcome my reluctance to interview people because now I love it. I love talking to people and asking questions. That’s research! As for my interest in media history, some episodes revolve around this topic. I could have easily continued to invite guests to talk about television and popular culture exclusively. However, I wanted to broaden the scope and offer guests the opportunity for rich, satisfying conversations that might be better with someone also involved in their field of study. I still conduct some of the interviews (I prefer to think of them as conversations) if I am particularly interested in the topic or do not feel too in-depth. But it’s an excellent opportunity to bring in guest hosts (i.e., conversation partners) because it doubles the number of people we get to highlight.
The technical aspects of podcasting are not my forte. Podcasting was just a way for me to indulge my interests and curiosities. I was always an avid podcast listener, so I liked the audio’s format and intimacy. All these aspects made it seem like a prominent project for me. And podcasting is pretty simple if you don’t get too fussy about it.
How do your roles as a professor and podcast host intersect, and has podcasting influenced your teaching style?
I have always been fascinated by the intersection between education and entertainment! That’s what all my nonfiction books have been about, and now that you raise the question, I think it is how I approach teaching, too. I don’t see a direct connection or impact between my teaching and podcasting, but how I approach podcasting reflects how I approach teaching. I always try to be authentic, curious, empathic, and never too formal or structured.
One of the episodes I am particularly proud of is Episode 77, with a rather bland – though accurate – title of “BRESI grant awardees. I had read about this in some newsletters and found the list, and I thought it was a great source of possible interview subjects. But I thought there were so many great projects; how can I cover all of them? So, I emailed every awardee and asked them to send me an audio file describing their project. Thank goodness not all 126 responded – I don’t know what I would have done if they had; see how impulsive I am. – about 28 did, so I have a collage of all these different voices giving a few minutes’ summary of their project. A few of those people have also returned to the podcast to discuss their work. In January, for instance, you’ll hear Mary Phillips and her Lehman College colleague Olivia Moy talking about her new book, Black Panther Woman.
What advice would you give aspiring academic podcasters on creating an engaging, informative, and sustainable show?
Podcasting can serve many purposes, depending on one’s goal and who they want to reach. It’s not difficult or expensive if you do it. I’m grateful to the Office for the Advancement of Research for recognizing the value of the project. In 2017, when I talked with Dan Stageman about funding opportunities, he was immediately supportive and referred to the idea as “public scholarship.” That phrase hadn’t occurred to me, but it made sense and lent a sense of weightiness, making it feel like more than a lark. OAR funds a few of my costs – a digital recorder and microphones, the podcasting hosting software platform (LibSyn) fees, and WordPress.com for the accompanying blog. I’m completely self-taught and do minimal editing (a task I have discovered that I love; it is a very soothing and absorbing activity) using the free Audacity program. So, my advice is – do it! And keep it interesting by partnering with others with different interests and skills so that there’s a diverse output.
What are your goals for the podcast’s future? After reaching this milestone, where would you like to take it?
I want to keep doing what I’m doing and discovering new people and corners of CUNY. I had no notion that it would ever be going on this long, but because of the vast CUNYverse, there is so much material. Thanks to Dan Stageman, who came up with the idea of a live episode that is in the works for the spring, and I’m so excited about it! It is the ideal way to acknowledge the relative longevity of this little homegrown DIY endeavor.
Q&A: Provost Allison Pease Shares her Vision for Academic Excellence and Research
As Dr. Allison Pease embarks on her new role as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, she brings nearly three decades of commitment to the institution. Dr. Pease is ready to shape John Jay’s academic future from her beginnings as a Professor of English to taking on multiple leadership positions. She will steer the institution’s educational mission in close partnership with President Karol Mason while remaining firmly committed to its core values. As a seasoned academic leader and scholar, Dr. Pease paints a compelling vision for the future of John Jay College. Her vision strongly emphasizes student success, academic excellence, and a vibrant research culture. She is driven by the belief that interdisciplinary collaboration and strong mentorship are the keys to fostering an empowered community of faculty, staff, and students who can achieve their full potential. In an engaging Q&A conversation with the Office for the Advancement of Research (OAR), Dr. Pease outlines her strategic priorities and bold vision of expanding opportunities for all college community members. She discusses her plans to strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration and mentorship, setting the stage for John Jay’s next phase of growth and innovation.
Introduction
Hi, I’m Alison Pease. I’m the Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs. I have been at John Jay for 27 years, first starting out as a professor in the English department,taking on a series of different roles, including the director of gender studies, the chair of English, the Interim dean of undergraduate studies, a few administrative roles in the provost’s office, and eventually, I am now here as provost.
Q: What personal and professional aspirations do you have for your tenure as Provost?
Dr. Pease: I’m excited to be the provost of John Jay. It’s an honor. And John Jay, to me, has always been a place of opportunity and transformation. That’s what the college experience was about. But as a professor and then an administrator, it’s been a place that’s given me a lot of opportunity. I want that for all of our students. I want that for our faculty and our staff. And so, the opportunity personally to get to lead Academic Affairs is just a real honor, but professionally, I want to make sure that everybody has these kinds of opportunities.
Q: What key priorities will guide your leadership, and how do you plan to steer the academic community toward the future you envision for John Jay College?
Dr. Pease: I have three priorities. I want to focus on student success. I want to focus on academic excellence and then administrative excellence and support, starting with student success. We have done a great job in improving student success at John Jay, and we have some more work to do. So, the next steps are on creating an undergraduate foundational program where students really understand that they belong to a smaller community, that they have opportunities to thrive and explore their careers, and that we are improving the educational experience with them. Then, when it comes to academic excellence, this is sort of where faculty and students meet, right? So, it’s about hiring just the best faculty that we can and providing a rigorous curriculum. How am I going to achieve these two things, academic excellence and student success, through administrative excellence and support? And so, the key here is investing in faculty and staff professional development and in our research enterprise so that we can continue to grow and enhance the and enhance experience of everybody on campus, faculty, staff, and students alike.
Q: How do you intend to foster and support faculty research across diverse disciplines, particularly in creating an environment that champions interdisciplinary collaboration and intellectual exploration?
Dr. Pease: John Jay is already a research powerhouse, and my job as provost is to really tell our research story. We have the most productive faculty in terms of producing research per year in all of CUNY, and we’re the third largest grant- and grant-funded institution in CUNY. We continue to get better and support faculty by listening to what faculty need and figuring out how to reach them better. I’m really proud of our office for the advancement of research, for the work that they do in reaching out to individual faculty and smaller groups of faculties, and also for thinking interdisciplinarily by creating clusters and knowledge clusters and ways that we can continue to advance our research mission.
Q: What are some of your scholarly achievements that you are most proud of?
Dr. Pease: If I’m being honest, I’m proud of a lot of my research, but the work I’m most proud of is a book I published almost 20 years ago. It’s called Modernism, Mass Culture and the Aesthetics of Obscenity. It is a very rigorous cultural and Aesthetic history and analysis of the relationship between, believe it or not, art and pornography from the 18th century to the 20th century. What I’m proud about in that work is that it ended up defining a field. And, you know, the book is still in print, 25 years later, it’s still cited, and it established my way of interacting in the modernist studies field.
Q: How do you plan to balance the demands of high-level administration with ongoing scholarship? Do you see opportunities to integrate your scholarship into your work as Provost?
Dr. Pease: It is an honor and a privilege to be the provost of a big institution like John Jay, and I see that as my absolute priority. My own research takes a real back seat. I’m not spending a lot of time on it. I’m still, and luckily, an expert in my field. People reach out to me and ask me to review things all the time. I often say no because this job takes all of my efforts.
Q: How do you plan to mentor and cultivate the next generation of scholars at John Jay College?
Dr. Pease: Mentorship is a critical part of success in our field. I am a college professor because of mentorship, and I think some of my success is because of the mentors that I’ve had who’ve nurtured my talent. I want that for every faculty member at John Jay. So, we do have a junior faculty mentoring program, and that’s a great start, but it can’t be the end. One of the things that I’ve tried to foster is a collaborative culture of support, right? Mentoring isn’t always a vertical relationship of a senior and a junior faculty member. It is often about communities that collaborate and support one another. And so, you know, we do have writing boot camp days when faculty get together. They talk about their research at lunch, but they also just write together. Hopefully, departments are nurturing this sort of lateral mentorship as well. Our Office for the Advancement of Research is partnering senior scholars with more junior scholars to work on this. Another thing that I think is really helpful is that we’ve appointed a Distinguished Faculty Fellow for research at the college, Dr Preeti Chauhan. She’s been mentoring a lot of faculty on how to get grants. That’s an important step for a lot of faculty and sort of a milestone, and I’m hoping that that will help more faculty understand how to get grants and how to be a national player.
Q: What are your long-term aspirations for John Jay College under your leadership, and what criteria will you use to measure the success and impact of the initiatives you plan to implement?
Dr. Pease: I am mindful that being provost is a temporary position and that I am a sprinter in a relay race, right? I’ve taken this role from someone, and I will have to pass it on to someone; what I want, what I hope is to achieve, if not at the end of my Provostship, at least in the next two, is that one will increase our graduation rates at least by 20 percentage points so that we’re up in the 70s by the time I’m done. Second, I do want to tell John Jay’s research story. We already have brilliant, big-hearted professors who are doing, you know, field-defining research; somehow, that story has to be communicated in a way that people understand John Jay is where exciting research happens, and I want that to be a known fact.
I want to be the best feeder of our students getting into law school that we can be. We are known as a baccalaureate-origin school for Hispanic students pursuing doctorates. That’s fantastic. I want to be the best at that. Right? Our students come to us with their hopes and dreams, and they are worthy of their aspirations. I want to be able to serve them in a way that propels them into outstanding futures.
Honoring the Legacy of Dr. Maureen Allwood
John Jay College staff in the Office for the Advancement of Research join the college community in mourning the passing of Dr. Maureen Allwood, a distinguished researcher, educator, advocate, and friend. Dr. Allwood’s sudden departure on Monday, March 4, in Providence, Rhode Island, has left a profound void in the hearts of those who knew her. Yet, her legacy of warmth, inspiration, and tireless dedication to marginalized communities will endure for generations.
A valued scholar in the field of psychology, Dr. Allwood’s work focused on understanding the developmental effects of trauma and violence, particularly emphasizing their disproportionate impacts on different sociodemographic groups. At John Jay College, she was a beacon of academic excellence and served as a professor of psychology since 2007. She also co-directed the department’s mentorship program for underrepresented and first-generation undergraduate students, leaving an indelible mark on the community with her passion and expertise. Her commitment to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion within academia was unwavering, and her impact extended far beyond the classroom.
While grieving, her profound impact on the John Jay College community resonates deeply. Reflecting on her legacy, Dr. Angela Crossman, the Interim Dean of Faculty and Professor in the Department of Psychology where Dr. Allwood worked, aptly captured the sentiments of many, stating:
“Dr. Allwood’s passing was an incredible shock that is still difficult to fathom and is a tremendous loss to us all. She was a brilliant scholar, a passionate mentor and teacher, a dedicated and thoughtful colleague, and a warm and kind friend. I admired her greatly, appreciated the important work she was doing on the impact of trauma and violence exposure on youth development, and was always incredibly grateful that she chose to make John Jay her academic home. The world is a better place for her having been a part of it, and she will be deeply missed by her friends, family, colleagues, and students – students who will carry on her legacy of impactful and important scholarship conducted with integrity, rigor, and care.” said Dr. Crossman.
Beyond her scholarly pursuits, Dr. Allwood’s impact was deeply personal, touching the lives of students, colleagues, and friends alike. Professor Daryl Wout, Chair of the Psychology Department and Associate Professor of Psychology, emphasized her brilliance and passion to spearhead efforts to cultivate a more inclusive environment within our College and at the CUNY university level.
“Dr. Allwood was a beloved member of the John Jay community. She was an active department member and contributed to our students’ development and our clinical program’s growth. She fiercely advocated for an increased focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and spearheaded various DEI efforts at the college and university levels. Her research on the developmental effects of trauma and violence and their disproportionate impacts on different sociodemographic groups has significantly impacted our understanding of this important area. As a mentor, she was extremely supportive and nurturing of her students. She always prioritized her students and their success, even while on sabbatical. Beyond her impact at the College, she was a loyal friend, an exceptional mother, and a committed wife. As a community, we have been blessed by her presence and are deeply mourning her sudden death. She will forever be in our hearts and minds.” said Daryl Wout.
Reflecting on Dr. Allwood’s profound influence, Distinguished Professor Kevin Nadal wrote in his Instagram post, “She was a no-nonsense educator and mentor—someone who wanted her students to succeed while always encouraging them to work their hardest and never make excuses. She was an extraordinary colleague—one of the few humans who made an oppressive place like academia feel welcoming. SHE is what a professor looks like.”
Dr. Maureen Allwood received the 2023 OAR Scholarly Excellence Award winner, exemplifying a commitment to excellence, and has won several accolades and grants for the College. Her most recent groundbreaking study, “Youth Exposure to Gun, Knife, and Physical Assaults,” which examined PTSD symptoms across various demographic groups, was notably featured in Impact Magazine 2023 of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Her legacy, as showcased in Impact Magazine, serves as a testament to her enduring influence in shaping our understanding of critical societal issues.
As we honor Dr. Maureen Allwood’s memory, let us carry forward her excellence, compassion, and advocacy legacy. Though she may no longer be with us, her spirit will continue to inspire us to strive for a more just and equitable world.
John Jay Institute Director Champions Education, Advocacy, and Policy Change for Black Empowerment
In celebration of Black History Month 2024, Andre Ward, the Executive Director of the John Jay Institute for Justice and Opportunity, reflects on a journey shaped by personal experiences within the criminal legal system. From incarceration to becoming the John Jay Research Center Director, his experiences drive a vision to empower formerly incarcerated individuals through education and to influence policy changes addressing social and racial inequalities. Read more about his background in the Q&A below.
As we celebrate Black History Month, can you share a bit about the journey that led you to John Jay’s Institute for Justice and Opportunity and a professional achievement that you believe has contributed to advancing justice and opportunity for the Black community?
I came to the institute as a result of my past involvement with College Initiative in 2009. I was released from incarceration on January 16, 2009 (the day Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday was observed), and two weeks later, I enrolled in Medgar Evers College. Earning both undergraduate and graduate degrees from CUNY’s Medgar Evers and Herbert H. Lehman Colleges, respectively, created opportunities for me to deepen my commitment to empowering the Black Community. After earning my Master’s Degree in Social Work, I was asked by the department chair at Medgar Evers College to return as an adjunct lecturer, where I taught mostly Black (and Latinx) students for 4 ½ years. Following this professional achievement, I localized myself in non-profit reentry/policy/advocacy work, culminating in a major New York City legislative win with the passage of the Fair Chance for Housing Act in December 2023. This legislation would prevent people with a conviction record from being discriminated against when applying for housing. For many justice-impacted college students like those whom we serve at the Institute for Justice and Opportunity, housing is indispensable to creating stability. This important legislation would protect them and the other 750,000 New Yorkers (80% of whom are Black and Latinx) from being denied access to housing solely on the basis of past justice system involvement.
How has your previous experience prepared you for the role of Research Center Director at the Institute for Justice and Opportunity?
Being directly impacted by the criminal legal system and working with diverse groups and students who had and did not have justice system involvement has prepared me for the role of Research Center Director at the Justice and Opportunity Institute. Additionally, my training as a social worker, policy/legislative change agent, and advocate for justice, fairness, and equity in education, employment, and housing – especially for people with conviction records – has also prepared me for this role. Serving in various capacities in New York City non-profit starting with providing job readiness/career coaching to facilitating academic and life skills workshops for students at Baruch College’s SEEK program and overseeing restorative justice/alternatives to incarceration work for young adults ages, serving as director of workforce development and executive leveled roles in advocacy and education and employment services, has prepared me for this role. My experience of being incarcerated has also served to prepare me for this role.
What is your vision for the Institute in promoting justice and opportunity, particularly within the context of Black communities?
My vision is to expand how we equip formerly incarcerated students with the knowledge and skills necessary for securing gainful employment, an essential factor often impeded by the stigma of a criminal record. Deepening existing stakeholder relationships while simultaneously innovating in areas of program service provision is part of my vision to move toward national and international education efforts.
Given the current social and racial inequalities landscape, how do you see the institute’s role in influencing policy changes that address these disparities?
The institute can support advocacy efforts that address discrimination in education. It can also join voting rights efforts to get our students involved in changing policy/legislation that impacts their lives. Through narrative sharing and engaging elected officials in the city and state, IJO’s students can become empowered to organize their communities to facilitate change. By doing so, members of the community become co-creators of public safety, thus creating the world they want to see and be in.
How do you see the institute actively contributing to the ongoing narrative of Black history and progress?
Education transcends the mere acquisition of knowledge; it serves as a catalyst for personal transformation. For formerly incarcerated individuals, this transformation can be profound. Education instills self-worth, purpose, and a vision for the future, offering a beacon of hope and a pathway to self-improvement. IJO will continue to serve as a place where justice-involved students can come. And through the impact IJO has on students, coupled with students developing an understanding of themselves, they will become assets to the community, creating a history of contribution that adds value to the black community and humanity.
IJO will actively nurture essential life skills, including critical thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making, which can be a powerful tool for psychological healing, helping individuals overcome the stigma and emotional burdens associated with their criminal history.
Western and Redburn (2017) emphasize in their seminal work, Education as Crime Prevention: The Case for Reinvesting in Prison Higher Education, that the role of education is to serve as a platform for self-improvement and a means for shifting individuals’ perspective from their past to their potential. This transformational aspect of education is pivotal in successfully reintegrating formerly incarcerated individuals into society, and IJO will maintain this work – especially during Black History Month.
How are you celebrating Black History Month?
I am celebrating Black History Month by actively making monetary and skills contributions to small Black organizations that support the communities we come from and focus on reentry and higher education services for people with a conviction record. I am also celebrating the amazing good fortune I have to serve our students alongside my deeply committed colleagues at IJO. Together, we are making a difference in the lives of Black people in particular, and humanity generally – one powerful academic student at a time.
Read more about the John Jay Institute for Justice and Opportunity here.
How Black Writers Sought Justice During the Jim Crow Era
In American media history, the Saturday Evening Post, often celebrated for its nostalgic portrayal of American life, undergoes a critical analysis in the groundbreaking book “Circulating Jim Crow: The Saturday Evening Post and the War Against Black Modernity” by Dr. Adam McKible, associate professor of English at John Jay College. This study challenges the idealized image of the iconic publication, exposing its deep connections to racist ideologies during the Jim Crow era, contrary to the widely held belief that the magazine offered an uncomplicated reflection of American life.
The book begins with Dr. McKible exploring the career of George Horace Lorimer, an editor who propelled the Saturday Evening Post to prominence during the modernist era and established the magazine’s remarkable influence. With a readership in the millions, the magazine played a pivotal role in shaping public opinion and influencing households across the nation. Under Lorimer’s editorship, the magazine fueled anti-immigration sentiments by promoting nativist politics and racial pseudoscience, contributing to policies that closed the nation’s borders to immigrants from diverse regions, including southern and eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean.
“The magazine under Lorimer was very involved in ginning up anti-immigrant sentiment in America and making Americans suspicious of other Americans based on their racial origin,” said Dr. Mckible in an interview with John Jay Research.
Focusing on the Harlem Renaissance, Dr. McKible’s research also exposes how the Saturday Evening Post portrayed African Americans and responded to changes in Black American life during the Harlem Renaissance. He unveils the magazine’s subtle but insidious approach to addressing the era’s transformations, coining the phrase “register and re-contain” to describe how the magazine acknowledged black achievements only to undermine them through racist stereotyping.
Dr. McKible’s findings reveal that despite recognizing the emergence of black modernity, the magazine consistently endeavored to restrain and belittle black accomplishments, transforming them into subjects of ridicule or disregard. This dismissive approach extended to influential figures such as Booker T. Washington and other black leaders during the Harlem Renaissance, as the Saturday Evening Post downplayed their contributions.
In response, black writers resisted the magazine’s narratives by taking aim at the white writers who were widely recognized as Saturday Evening Post authors. By naming such figures, as famous Post authors as Octavus Roy Cohen and Irvin S. Cobb, Harlem Renaissance writers signaled their displeasure with and resistance to the caricatures and stereotypes perpetuated by Lorimer’s magazine.
“With the help of the Saturday Evening Post, America took on the work of establishing Jim Crow, legally and culturally. These were not legal efforts but instead cultural maneuvers designed to denigrate, demean and dismiss black humanity, to take back everything that happened during Reconstruction and destroy it,” says Dr. Mckible in an interview.
Expanding the history to contemporary implications, Dr. McKible emphasizes the importance of truth-telling, challenging nostalgia, recognizing that America’s history is fraught with complexities, and acknowledging the deep-rooted racial inequalities that persist.
“The contemporary media should always tell the truth,” Dr. Mckible emphasizes.
Dr. McKible’s groundbreaking research redefines our understanding of the Saturday Evening Post and contributes to contemporary discussions about media responsibility, representation, and the ongoing struggle for racial equality.
Read about Dr. McKible’s Research here.
New Faculty Spotlight Interview: Prof. Alessandra Early
Professor Alessandra Early is an assistant professor of Criminal Justice at John Jay College and a dedicated criminologist whose academic journey is rooted in a passion for understanding the intricacies of human behavior and identity. From a childhood curiosity that questioned the fundamental nature of numbers to becoming a professor, her commitment to knowledge has been unwavering. With a background in psychology and sociology, she transitioned to criminology, driven by a fascination with the dynamics explored in shows like Criminal Minds.
Dr. Early’s research delves into the intersection of spatial dynamics, identity formation, and behavior, particularly focusing on queer experiences and the impact of social spaces. In this Q&A, Dr. Early shares her insights into research, professional achievements, mentoring philosophy, and her vision for contributing to the academic community.
Can you share a bit about your academic journey and what led you to pursue a career in criminology?
Since I was young, I’ve wanted to help people and investigate the “hows” and “whys” behind everything around me. As a kid learning math, I peppered my mother with questions incessantly, completely unsatisfied with the superficial and desperately seeking to learn a greater meaning. “Why is a one a one?” I asked. “What makes a two a two?” That pursuit of knowledge has become a core mission in my life and led me to become a professor today.
As an undergrad, I majored in psychology and sociology. I fantasized about becoming an FBI profiler thanks to my obsession with Criminal Minds, and I kept finding myself drawn to criminology courses. That tendency persisted when I pursued my master’s in sociology as well; I really connected with some professors who really believed in me and my work. I decided to follow that path and complete my PhD in criminology and criminal justice. (Though I moved away from law enforcement.)
Being a professor means I always have to adapt and evolve as new knowledge develops, which I love. I enjoy reading, learning, and problem-solving and my job asks me to engage in all three. Interacting with students is such a privilege because I want them to have the same light-bulb “Aha!” moments in my classrooms that I used to experience as a student myself.
Could you highlight some of your key research interests or projects, and how do you see them contributing to your field or broader society?
Broadly speaking, my research is rooted in three intersecting areas: Spatial and place-based dynamics, identity formation, and behavior. Specifically, I am interested in the ways in which spaces, particularly social spaces, impact how people understand themselves and can encourage or inhibit behavior. My dissertation, for example, explored how the historical, social, and cultural spatial dynamics of queer social spaces (such as bars and clubs), and using substances within them, can impact queer identities. One finding was that queer people strategically used substances to explore their identities and navigate queer vs. heterosexual social spaces.
Another project investigated the interplay between space(s), identities, and substance use through the experiences of primarily white heterosexual women who had experience with the rural methamphetamine market before being incarcerated. We emphasized the complex, violent, and empowering strategies that women used to confront and overcome gendered and sexualized expectations while participating within the patriarchal market.
My research interests engage in “queering” or destabilizing normative understandings of how we move through our environments, create meaning within them, formulate our identities in opposition to or with the help of those environments, and how those environments and the meanings we prescribe to them encourage or inhibit our behaviors.
Have there been any significant milestones or achievements in your professional journey that you are particularly proud of?
Currently, I’m most proud of my paper, The Role of Sex and Compulsory Heterosexuality Within the Rural Methamphetamine Market, which was published in Crime & Delinquency. Because of the precarious nature of grad school, sometimes it’s hard to see a project from inception to completion. To my and my co-author’s knowledge, this article represents the first paper to apply a queer criminological framework to examine the experiences of primarily cisgender and heterosexual white women. In 2022, the paper earned first place in the inaugural student paper award from the Division of Queer Criminology at the American Society of Criminology.
Do you have a mentoring philosophy, and how do you envision supporting students in their academic and professional development?
I approach teaching as a way to co-construct knowledge with students, with the goal of transforming the classroom into an encouraging space and making the material relatable and accessible. My mentoring philosophy builds upon that same foundation, emphasizing a collaborative and comfortable environment that I strive to offer all my mentees. I often describe my personal experiences with employing particular methodologies, concepts, or theories in order to demystify learning and the process of conducting research. In one-on-one student conversations and larger panel events, I speak candidly and transparently about the joys and challenges of being a Black queer woman in academia. While at conferences, I carve out time to bond with my mentees and ensure that I introduce them to fellow academics who share their interests to encourage networking and professional advancement. I let them know that my door is always open.
How do you envision contributing to the growth and development of our academic community in the coming years?
Although I have only spent a few months here at John Jay, I’m currently working to develop new courses that consider the ways in which queerness intersects with the carceral system and deepen our understanding of qualitative methodologies. I also look forward to carving out pathways that combine critical analyses and intersectional education.
Outside of academia, what are some of your hobbies or interests?
Outside of academia, you can find me practicing Matsubayashi Shorin-Ryu karate and Matayoshi Kobudo (traditional weapons). Currently, I am a Shodan (1st-degree black belt) and I am preparing for my Nidan (2nd-degree black belt) test in the fall of 2024! I’ve also recently rekindled my love for video games (after a long hiatus during graduate school) and I’m back to gaming with my friends!
If you could give one piece of advice to students aspiring to excel in your field, what would it be?
Throughout my educational career, I have always carried my grandmother’s mantra and work ethic, which is the best advice I’ve ever received: Good, better, best. Never let it rest until the good is better and the better is the best. Though I’d make one small amendment — rest is important! Be sure to take breaks, but keep those intellectual fires burning.
Q&A With Dr. Suvi Rautio, 2023 John Jay Research Visiting Fellow
In our Q&A series, the Office for the Advancement of Research (OAR) is excited to spotlight the 2023 Visiting Research Fellow, Dr. Suvi Rautio for the vital research she has conducted. Suvi is an anthropologist specializing in urbanization and transnationalism in rural China. Guided by family history stories, she delivered a public lecture to the John Jay College Community on April 4, 2023, titled: The Love Letters: Dreams at the Dawn of the Mao Zedong Era.
In this Q&A, Suvi shares her experience as a Visiting Fellow at John Jay College, discusses the research projects she’s worked on, and offers academic advice.
Tell us about your career path?
I started my career path in Beijing, China, working on a large range of different jobs, most of which were completely disconnected from academia and anthropology. Having grown up in Beijing, I had always been concerned in the impact that China’s breakneck development was having on the environment. I grew increasingly curious in the experience of environmental loss – in particular, how this loss alters people’s sense of belonging. This curiosity led me to work for Greenpeace where I led a research team to understand what forms of messaging and campaign strategies resonates with the broader Chinese audience. This felt exciting and meaningful, but it also did not feel like I was doing enough. I was seeking answers to bigger questions. Eventually I understood that I needed to return to academia to attend to my curiosity.
When I started a PhD in anthropology, my research in Southwest China steered me away from questions on the environment to cultural heritage. Although I was no longer focusing on environmental change, my interests in place-making and belonging have remained central to my research. To this day, my anthropological analysis pursues to find answers to how people’s connections to place and belonging change when they experience a sense of loss in one form or another.
What shaped you on your journey to follow your family’s history?
I always knew I wanted to do research on my family history. Growing up in Beijing, I wanted to understand what my family members experienced during the Maoist era — a time in which China was a very different country from the one I was familiar with. My family members did not share or openly speak about stories of the past spoken. Something inside of me has always wanted to understand and peel the layers of my family’s silences.
Maybe a part of this drive was to understand my father’s story growing up in Beijing, which I thought might help me make sense of some of the feelings that I was experiencing living in Beijing. I have always been a bit torn by the experience of feeling a deep association towards a city that I spent most of my childhood and early adulthood but where I am at the same time treated and seen as a foreigner and thus an outcast of the wider Chinese public society. Maybe if I can understand how these processes have been experienced through the lives of my family members, I can also find explanations for my own.
At the beginning, I was unaware that studying my family history was something that I could do as an anthropologist. I thought a study on my own history would appear too self-centered, and of little interest to outsiders. It was only when I was exposed to Alisse Waterston’s work (through Paul Stoller) did I learn that this is not the case. Alisse’s work has been and continues to be fundamental in shaping my journey conducting an intimate ethnography on my family.
My previous research was also fundamental in paving the path to studying my family history. Before my PhD research, I would not have been ready to pursue research on my family history. Academia is structured around critical thinking and critique, and I was scared of having to face that critique on something that is so personal. I was not ready to attend to that. Little did I know that my PhD would also become very personal, and in my dissertation I was very honest about the intimate relationships I formed with my interlocutors. This intimacy has been faced with critique. Rather than silencing those intimacies, writing about them has helped me gain a level of professionalism and courage as a writer and anthropologist. Most importantly, as an anthropologist, I have grown to understand that my research projects tends to get very personal very fast. I now understand that rather than fearing that feeling of intimacy, it is something I need to come to terms with.
Why did you want to share your story with the John Jay Community?
It was such an honour to be invited to share my work at a college-wide lecture with the John Jay Community. I wanted to take the opportunity to share my story and to challenge myself by presenting some initial material I have been collecting on my project. Sharing my story in front of my students and peers felt meaningful and I am very appreciative of the opportunity that was offered to me.
Based on the love letters you shared with us, what does love mean to you?
Love is about offering our thoughtful attention and care to someone or something. The stories that unfold in the love letters has taught me that. I think this quote, which I mention in my talk written by Armi, my grandmother, in her letter to my grandfather epitomizes how unrestrained love should be:
“Love is about whether we can understand and appreciate each other, and whether we are able to speak the same language of heart. And if we don’t understand each other in the beginning, we must be able to show that we can give the other an opportunity for mental liberty and give up our own ideas if we feel we are wronged.”
How does the love letter lecture at John Jay differ from other events you discussed?
I often present my work at conference panels and am more familiar with presenting my work within the time constraints of 10 to 20 minutes. Presenting at John Jay offered a rare opportunity to share my work beyond these time constraints. I also really appreciated having time for questions from the audience. For me, it’s these moments hearing about how my research engages with others that makes academic events, such as the one that John Jay offered me, so meaningful and worthwhile.
Overall I was really impressed by how well organized the lecture at John Jay was – from the preparation of the food and drinks, to the marketing and promotion, and all the other backend work that Remmy Bahati worked hard to put together. I was also impressed that the college had organized a professional video producer to film the lecture. Justin Thomas, the producer did a great job at this.
How did the speech make you feel?
I was so nervous about my presentation before the event. When it was over, a wave of relief swept over me when the audience showed so much enthusiasm and support towards my project. It was also moving to hear how my presentation resonated with audience members. This gave me a big boost of energy to continue moving forward with my project. Overall, the event gave me confidence to continue to seek opportunities to discuss and share my work.
Is there anything else you would like to share?
Thank you John Jay for this opportunity to share my work!
Luis Barrios Proposes Ecuadorian Prison Reform – John Jay Scholars on the News
Nightmarish conditions inside Ecuador’s prisons have exploded into international news. Overcrowding, a struggle for territory between drug cartels, and correctional officers’ loss of control inside carceral facilities set the scene for a series of prison riots beginning in February 2021 that have claimed the lives of numerous incarcerated people—just how many have been killed or injured is still not known.
The drug trade in Ecuador has been operating from its prisons for some time, but violence flared up after the charismatic leader of Ecuador’s largest drug cartel, Los Choneros, was murdered in late 2020. To attempt to address the problem, Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso in December 2021 convened a commission that, in his words, “would analyze the causes and effects of the current prison situation.” But according to Dr. Luis Barrios, a professor in John Jay’s Latin American and Latinx Studies Department and in the CUNY Graduate Center’s Psychology and Social Welfare programs, the conditions that allowed this to happen have been around since long before 2021.
“Stop saying this is an inmate issue,” he says, quoting a recent report from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, “this is a structural, systemic issue.” Barrios points to a culture of reaction rather than prevention, a lack of effective public policy to deal with criminal justice matters, and pervasive corruption. All of this has created an environment inside the prisons where violence is incentivized. “In this type of environment, this is the way to survive. You kill or they kill you. That is part of the reality that we want to describe.”
Dr. Barrios serves as one of seven members of the independent commission created by President Lasso; his participation came at the request of the incarcerated. His scholarship brought him into contact with and gained the trust of gang members on the streets of Ecuador, New York City, and elsewhere, working with John Jay professor David Brotherton to study gangs as social organizations. Now he brings that expertise to this work, visiting prisons one week of every month through June 2022 in order to produce a report that will effect real change in Ecuador.
“As a commission, we went beyond diagnosis; we went inside the prison, we are spending quality time. You can feel the pain, frustration, and anger,” says Barrios. “So instead of just giving a diagnosis, we decided to create proposals that the government can implement immediately to deal with this prison crisis.”
Among the proposals called for by commission members: an increased focus on crime prevention rather than punishment; human rights protections; decentralization of the legal and judicial system; better training for correctional officers and prison administrators; an effective prison census; and access to health services and educational opportunities for the incarcerated, including programs that give inmates other options besides engaging in the drug trade.
Dr. Barrios brings his activism to both of his vocations: academia and the priesthood. He sees both as complimentary opportunities to empower communities and work for justice. This work informs his objections to the Ecuadorian government’s proposed “mano dura,” or zero tolerance, approach to shutting down gang violence in prisons. Above all, he seeks to use his role on the commission to protect Ecuador’s vulnerable incarcerated populations and guarantee that the government respects human rights. “There’s no neutrality when it comes to dealing with justice,” he says. “You take the side of justice or you take sides against it—when you say you’re not going to get involved, you are already involved.”
Dr. Luis Barrios has been a faculty member at John Jay College for 28 years, and at CUNY for even longer. During that time, he has worked on projects that blend social action and scholarship, involving gangs and gang violence, deportation, human rights, clinical work focused on trauma and abuse, and contemporary perspectives of life on the Dominican-Haitian border.
Back to the Lab with Dr. Jason Rauceo
John Jay College, along with CUNY schools across the city, are moving toward the resumption of on-campus life. Classes are attended in-person, events are being planned, and professors and students alike are headed back into the laboratory. I talked to one of John Jay’s professors in the Department of Sciences, Dr. Jason Rauceo, to find out what it’s been like closing down and reopening his lab.
Dr. Rauceo is an Associate Professor of Biology whose research focuses on the major fungal pathogen Candida albicans. He is also the Director of the Cell and Molecular Biology major at John Jay. In 2021, Dr. Rauceo received a four-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the role of the mitochondrion in C. albicans’ ability to infect hosts and cause disease.
What was it like to get back to lab work after a significant time away during the early part of the pandemic? Did you have to change any protocols or make adjustments to your operating procedures?
Right before CUNY closed in March 2020, I shut the lab down with the expectation that I would not return for 6-12 months. I returned to campus in September 2020, and the major challenge was reopening the lab myself. Students were not allowed on campus, and I needed to calibrate several instruments that I had limited experience operating. Fortunately, my students were available via Zoom and FaceTime for assistance.
What does a typical day in the lab look like, if there is such a thing?
The day usually begins with a short one-to-one meeting with whomever is scheduled to perform an experiment, in which we mainly discuss logistics. Throughout the day, I periodically check in to assist and address any experimental issues if needed. At the end of the day, I inspect the lab to make sure that workspaces are cleaned, all reagents and supplies are properly stored, and all students have left the lab.
What function do students play in your lab?
Students perform the hands-on experimentation and data analysis, and are responsible for general lab maintenance. They also contribute to the development of their projects, which must be directly related to the lab agenda—in this case, C. albicans biology. Students may propose their own experiments for approval after approximately 1.5 to 2 years of experience in the lab.
You place a lot of emphasis on experiential-based learning. What does that mean in practice for your students?
I allow students to test their own hypotheses when safety and costs are not an issue. Also, I allow students to make their own errors during initial training exercises. I found that this approach in lab research builds confidence.
Generally, in the early stages of a new project, a significant amount of time is devoted to optimizing protocols to meet our objectives. During this “optimization phase” of the research, there is an extensive level of troubleshooting required, and a high level of error and ambiguity is observed. I found that a major payoff of experiential-based learning and training is that students propose unique approaches to addressing experimental obstacles.
Your study of SPFH (Stomatin, Prohibitin, Flotillin, HflK/HflC) proteins’ role in mitochondrial function in Candida albicans is being funded by the NIH. It seems that there are some exciting implications for developing antifungal treatments—can you tell me about that?
SPFH proteins are widely conserved in nature and are found in most living organisms. These proteins are important for major biological processes including, but not limited to, respiration, transport, and communication. Candida albicans is a fungus that resides in all humans on mucosal surfaces such as the mouth and gastrointestinal tract in a harmless state. However, changes in our immunity sometimes cause C. albicans infections. Immunocompromised individuals are highly susceptible to C. albicans infections.
Currently, the function of SPFH proteins is limited in C. albicans. We were the first research group to demonstrate that SPFH proteins are required when C. albicans is challenged with environmental stress. Our current proposal seeks to define the molecular function of SPFH proteins. We are collaborating with several prominent research groups in fungal biology and medicinal chemistry to determine the function of the SPFH proteins in mitochondrial function.
One of our project aims is to understand the effects of treating C. albicans with natural compounds that target SPFH proteins. Our initial findings are promising and may be useful in developing novel antifungal strategies.
The NIH award provided me with the funds to expand my lab operations, and I’ve recruited three new undergraduate students; therefore, I will be spending much of the next semester in student training and performing experiments.
Sewage and the Science of Public Health – Dr. Shu-Yuan Cheng and Dr. Marta Concheiro-Guisan Track Wastewater Contaminants
Wastewater is a topic that the average New Yorker doesn’t think about often, but perhaps we should. Sewage and run-off, over a billion gallons of which are treated every single day in New York City by 14 wastewater resource recovery facilities, are a valuable resource for scientists.
Wastewater sampling has been a useful tool for public health researchers tracking the COVID-19 pandemic over the last two years. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) launched the National Wastewater Surveillance System in September 2020 as a means of tracking virus spread and community prevalence. Viral genetic material is transmitted in fecal matter to the sewers and waste treatment plants, where researchers can take samples. Their work can serve as an early warning of community spread, track variants, and inform public health strategies for responding to the virus. Even better, wastewater surveillance doesn’t require individuals to seek out healthcare in order to capture information, meaning that the resulting data can include people who may be asymptomatic, who have taken home tests, or who have not been tested at all.
Wastewater data have figured prominently in several interesting COVID-19 stories recently in the news. In January 2022 the CDC reported that mutations associated with the Omicron variant showed up in New York City wastewater in November 2021, before the variant was officially reported in South Africa and at least a week before the first U.S. case was identified via clinical testing, suggesting that Omicron was likely circulating in communities before cases could be officially confirmed. And The New York Times recently reported on mysterious fragments of viral RNA with novel mutations detected in NYC wastewater, which are stumping researchers. They haven’t been able to pin down where these fragments are coming from, nor why these mutations have not shown up in clinical testing of human or animal populations in the city.
Two John Jay College researchers, Dr. Shu-Yuan Cheng and Dr. Marta Concheiro-Guisan, are also big proponents of wastewater sampling studies as a public health tool. Their own research, published in 2019, tracked drug use over one year in New York City, using one-time grab samples to test for levels of cocaine, nicotine, cannabis, opioids, and amphetamines in the sewage. Now, the scientists are collaborating with non-profits that test the health of the city’s waterways, trying to correlate levels of pharmaceuticals in our rivers with the amount of harmful bacteria.
To Dr. Cheng and Dr. Concheiro-Guisan, wastewater analysis’s great strength lies in early warning and early intervention. “It’s a great tool for prediction, for public health, crime fighting, and disease [prevention] purposes,” says Dr. Cheng. “The official report is often too late, but if you can do an early intervention, find the issue and start addressing it, there’s a lot you can do.”
“We looked at wastewater because we saw the utility,” says Dr. Concheiro-Guisan. “This is a different application [than viral tracking] but with the same thought: that what we eliminate from our bodies tells you a lot about your population.”
However, the United States is late to the game. Though the CDC has had results with its national COVID-19 tracking program, both researchers lament the lack of a centralized American body to apply this research to other public health applications. They’d like to see the U.S. follow the example set in European countries, China, Australia, and increasingly in South America, where governments have applied wastewater sampling to create campaigns warning their citizens about novel psychoactives, catch drug manufacturers, and more.
“It’s a very important public health tool that is showing results,” says Dr. Concheiro-Guisan. “If you start in the biggest city in the country, if you start in New York, then others will follow.”
Dr. Shu-Yuan Cheng is an Associate Professor and Chair of John Jay’s Department of Sciences. Her research is in the areas of toxicology and forensic pharmacology, including the roles that environmental toxins play in neurodegenerative diseases, identifying the target genes and signaling pathways affected by environmental toxins, and investigating pharmacological mechanisms of anti-cancer medications.
Dr. Marta Concheiro-Guisan is Assistant Professor of Forensic Toxicology in John Jay’s Department of Sciences. Her research focuses on the development and validation of analytical methods by gas and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry and their application to different specimens, the detection of drug exposure during pregnancy, and the toxicological study of new psychoactive substances.
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