Sociology & Social Change

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 includes forensic social work, social work practice with individuals and groups, and gerontology.

At Lesley, he teaches these 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
• Human Behavior and the Social Environment.  J

Joshua launched Lesley's Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree in Fall 2019. Joshua holds a Master of Social Work and PhD in Social Work from the University of Alabama. 

Personal website: http://milluzzi.org

Michael Illuzzi is an Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the CLAS Honors Program at Lesley University.

Before joining Lesley, Michael taught at Wheaton College in Norton MA, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, and St. Olaf College. He has been actively involved in community organizing and social justice activism. He is a member of the Sharon Racial Equity Alliance and an affiliate with the BU Anti-Racism Institute. He has led a group of faculty that has transformed the Honors program to focus on critical community engagement and co-created and teaching a course entitled: Doing Good or Looking Good: Decolonizing Community Engagement.

Michael's work in political theory and American politics focuses on racial, gender, and class inequalities and U.S. political movements that have fought against overlapping injustices. His teaching and research interests also include: critical community engagement, populism, peoplehood, and critical storytelling’s potential to challenge dominant narratives.

Current Book Project

Michael’s current book project—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, Illinois Black Panther chairman—Fred Hampton’s—efforts to form a cross-racial coalition to fight the racial and economic oppression, and the contemporary Poor People’s Campaign 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 cede the ground to these powerful mobilizing strategies.

Education

• Ph.D. (Political Science), University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 2008
• B.S. (Culture and Politics), Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service, DC, 1999

Kazuyo Kubo specializes in the sociology of family, race and ethnic relations, and transnational studies. Her research examines the welfare of children and adoptive family formation, and 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 these courses:

• Sociology of Family
• Sociology of Aging
• Transnational Family Formation
• Race and Ethnic Relations
• Race in a Global Perspective
• 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. 

Amy Rutstein-Riley, PhD, MPH, is associate provost for academic affairs at Lesley University. She was previously interim dean of the Graduate School of Education, and has taught 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!

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. 

Kyle’s teaching and scholarship are focused on struggles for social justice. His research interests include collective action, social movements and social change, the sociology of families, gender and development, poverty and inequality, and Latin America. His current research examines grassroots political organizing in Lima, Peru.

At Lesley, Kyle teaches the following courses: Introduction to Sociology, Sociology of Family, Social Theory, Contemporary U.S. Society, and Senior Capstone Seminar. His teaching interests also include social movements and community-engaged learning courses, particularly in Peru.

Kyle holds a BA from Saint Anselm College, a MA from Brandeis University and a PhD from Loyola University Chicago.