2022-23 ISSR Scholars Announced

The Institute for Social Science Research (ISSR) has announced the 2022-23 ISSR Scholars, who represent four colleges and six departments across the UMass Amherst campus.

ISSR Scholars participate in a year-long biweekly seminar that helps each of them develop a strong research grant proposal. In addition to attending in-depth sessions on grant writing and receiving valuable peer feedback on their proposals, ISSR Scholars are given unique opportunities to consult with nationally recognized experts about their proposals.

“Social science uncovers the human dimensions of societal and global problems, and ISSR is thrilled to launch work with this cohort of innovative social scientists,” says Joya Misra, ISSR director.

This year, the Scholars program will give faculty members of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, College of Humanities and Fine Arts, College of Education and Elaine Marieb College of Nursing the time and support necessary to develop a successful large grant proposal. This cohort brings together scholars working on questions of equity and inclusion across six departments, to develop new insights ranging from the barriers to equitable entrepreneurship in the cannabis market to racism in the energy transition. All of the faculty benefit from the interdisciplinary communication and learning that occurs as part of the program.

The mission of ISSR is to promote excellence in social science research. One of its most important goals, served by the Scholars Program, is to strengthen existing social science infrastructure on campus to stimulate high-quality scholarship and build capacity for externally sponsored research grants.

ISSR Scholars have emerged from all of the university’s colleges and have obtained a funding success rate of over 70% since 2012.

The 2022-23 ISSR Scholars and their projects are:

Angélica María Bernal
Associate professor
Department of political science
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Project Title: Extractivism & Women’s Resistance in the Ecuadorian Amazon

Nicholas Caverly
Assistant professor
Department of anthropology
College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Project Title: Racism, Antiracism, and Infrastructure in the Context of Energy Transition

Marialuisa Di Stefano
Assistant professor
Department of teacher education and curriculum studies
College of Education
Project Title: Project Stem Clave: Sustaining Teachers of Emergent Multilinguals for Content and Literacy Access via Equity

Kirsten Leng
Associate professor
Department of women, gender, sexuality studies
College of Humanities and Fine Arts
Project Title: Breaking the Silence: Feminism, Miscarriage and Child Loss in the 20th and 21st Century

Memnun Seven
Associate professor
Elaine Marieb College of Nursing
Project Title: Co-designing a Community-based Survivorship Intervention for People of Color Affected by Cancer (Cope)

Lucy Xiaolu Wang
Assistant professor
Department of resource economics
College of Social & Behavioral Sciences
Project Title: Entrepreneurship in the Cannabis Market: Economic and Social Equity in an Evolving Ecosystem