Political Science

Joshua believes that students learn when they are engaged and active in the classroom. His teaching philosophy is one where he is facilitating a group discussion more than lecturing to a class. 

His area of academic focus and expertise include: forensic social work, social work practice with individuals and groups, and gerontology. At Lesley, he teaches the following courses: introduction to social work, social work policy, social work practice with groups, research methods, program evaluation, social work practice with individuals and families, community mental health, contemporary families, and human behavior and the social environment.  Joshua is pleased to launch the new Bachelors in Social Work (BSW) degree in Fall 2019.  

Joshua holds a Master of Social Work and PhD in Social Work from the University of Alabama. 

Michael Illuzzi is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Lesley University and Director of the Lesley CLAS Honors Program. He has led a group of faculty that has transformed the Honors program to focus on critical community engagement and co-created and is co-teaching a course entitled: Doing Good or Looking Good: The Politics and Ethics of Community Engagement. 

His research and teaching interests include American political development and political thought, with a focus on issues of American peoplehood and racial, gender, and class inequalities. 

His current book project is Populism and Peoplehood in America: Moderating Visions and Leading Moderates. Scholars from all fields are turning their attention to the resurgent nationalist and populist movements in the United States and abroad. The nationalist, racist, xenophobic invocations to return to a simpler time when a purer majority had more opportunity and newcomers didn’t “cut the line” and “paid their dues” has proved popular. Are there more inclusive alternatives that can compete with this dangerous nostalgic tale? If we are to counter these forces, we need more than new carefully worked out theoretical frameworks.

Populism and Peoplehood in America argues rather than turning to creating new theories for alternatives to right-wing nationalism, we can instead learn from past American actors and activists. Using thousands of historical newspapers, archival sources, and historiographic texts, Michael shows how Lincoln’s redefinition of the American founding, a social gospel urban mayor’s campaign to bring greater economic justice for new immigrants, Martin Luther King’s attempts to save the soul of the American nation, and even Illinois Black Panther chairman—Fred Hampton’s—efforts to form a cross-racial coalition to fight the racial and economic oppression all used invocations to religion, patriotism and sometimes populism to redefine what America meant to their followers and called them to form a coalition to fight to preserve this renewed vision. This history of advocacy suggests that left-wing variations of stories of community building complete with invocations to religion, patriotism, and populism were no less prevalent or powerful as the current right-wing variations and now more than ever we cannot afford to keep this more moderate variation buried. 

At Lesley, Michael teaches the following courses: Introduction to Political Science, Introduction to Political Philosophy, Doing Good or Looking Good: The Politics and Ethics of Community Engagement, U.S. Politics, Violence, Markets, and Globalization: Theorizing the Contemporary World, Elections and Democracy, U.S. Constitutional Law, and HBO's "The Wire": The Politics of U.S. Urban Inequality.

Michael holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and a B.S. in Culture and Politics from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Kazuyo specializes in sociology of family, race and ethnic relations, and transnational studies. Her research examines the welfare of children and adoptive family formation, in particular how race influences U.S. parents' transnational adoption decisions and practices. 

Her areas of academic focus and expertise include: family formation, adoption, and race and ethnic relations. At Lesley, she teaches the following courses: Sociology of Family, Sociology of Aging, Transnational Family Formation, Race and Ethnic Relations, Race in a Global Perspective, and Research Methods. 

Kazuyo holds a BA and MA in East Asian Studies from the University of Minnesota at Twin Cities and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. 

Sarah T. Romano is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Global Studies in the Social Science Division. Her research in Nicaragua and the U.S. examines how societal actors engage in environmental management and decision-making, with an emphasis on state-society relations and new forms of political engagement in public policy processes. She teaches in the areas of Latin American politics, international relations, social movements, globalization, politics of developing states, and environmental politics and policy.

Sarah holds a BA from the University of Puget Sound in Spanish and International Affairs and a PhD from the University of California, Santa Cruz, in Politics and Latin American & Latino Studies.  Her personal website is: https://sarahtromano.org. 

Amy Rutstein-Riley, PhD, MPH, is interim dean of the Graduate School of Education. She holds a joint appointment in the PhD Program in Educational Studies in the Graduate School of Education, where she is co-chair of the department, and the Social Science Division of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Amy teaches courses in medical sociology, women’s studies, girls’ studies, research methods, adult learning and development, and interdisciplinary inquiry.

Amy began and is the principal investigator of The Girlhood Project, which brings together undergraduate and adolescent girls to talk freely about identity, body image, critical media literacy, and relationship health. She serves as co-chair of the Lesley University Women’s Studies Steering Committee and the Women’s Center, and co-facilitates LEAD, leadership enrichment and development for women core faculty.

Amy is a recipient of the prestigious American Association of University Women's Community Action Grant, which provides funding for projects that promote education and equity for women and girls. The project, which she worked on with Lesley Associate Dean for Career and Community Service Alice Diamond, is entitled Girls, Media, and You!

Education

BA, Simmons University
MPH, Boston University School of Public Health
PhD, Lesley University

Leela's areas of academic focus and expertise include: globalization and transnational migration, media and expressive culture, critical race theory, race, nation, and gender, cultural anthropology, Caribbean studies, and South Asian diaspora studies. At Lesley, she teaches the following courses: Global Issues and Challenges, Cultural Anthropology, Research Methods in Social Sciences, Anthropology of the Caribbean, Globalization and Transnational Cultures, and Anthropology of Media. 

She holds a BA from Haverford College and a MA and PhD from the University of Texas, Austin.