• Conducting quantitative and qualitative research, especially in the use of interviews with incarcerated persons.
   

• Practice and research experience in the criminal justice and social work fields, as well as knowledge of the multiple stakeholders in this area of research.
   

• Knowledge of existing research in policy and practice related content areas of gender and incarceration, children, families, substance use, mental health, trauma, etc.

My research focuses on issues of diversity, cultural competence and social justice. I collaborate with Dr. Anna Martin-Jearld on the Diversity and Cultural Competence Research Project; this qualitative research project examines the discrimination experiences of members from seven different disenfranchised groups. To date, 150 interviews have been analyzed.

My work on cultural competence, social justice and culturally responsive education, research, and clinical service provision has been published in   Affilia, The Conference Proceedings of the 16th International Consortium for Social Development, Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Social Work (forthcoming), National Online Resource Center on Violence Against Women, Social Justice in Context.

• I am especially interested in work that supports culturally inclusive teaching and learning.
   

• I can provide consultations on informing research methodologies, analysis or dissemination with culturally inclusive principles.

My research interests are in censorship and Latin American studies. Specifically I have been active in researching censorship of GLBT materials in schools and libraries; and studying GLBT issues in Latin America. I regularly teach elementary Spanish at the College and am pro-active in including cultural lessons in my classes through literature, and film. As a librarian, I have developed library lesson plans targeted to international students so that they have a better understanding of the functions of an academic library and our resources.

• Although I have subject expertise in Latin American and Spanish literature, as a librarian I am a generalist. I have collaborated with colleagues in a variety of departments in the Humanities, Social Sciences, Sciences and Education.

• 
  I am available for research consultations and efficient use of library databases.

Erin O'Connor
Department(s): History & CART Research Fellow
Email: eoconnor@bridgew.edu
Campus phone: 508-531-2405

I conduct historical research the intersections of race, gender, and nation in Latin America since independence, and my first monograph addressed ways that gender shaped the development of Indian-state relations in Ecuador. Currently, I am co-editing a two-volume documentary history on gender, race, and politics in Latin America since 1500. In all of my scholarship, I am particularly interested in how less-powerful peoples engage with and ultimately challenge power hierarchies. Although I am not directly connected to feminist or ethnic activism, my research and teaching are inspired by feminist activism and theory and by indigenous activism in contemporary Latin America.

• I work with DIRI, Women's and Gender Studies, and Latin American and Caribbean studies to facilitate discussion and engagement with issues of diversity and power in a variety of venues at BSU.
   

• I am also currently CART research fellow, and have had some success with book publishing on themes of race and gender.
   

• I can offer a global and historically-informed perspective on many diversity issues, as well as advice on internal grant proposals (for CART etc) and on book prospecti (especially within the humanities) on diversity-related themes.

Dr. Petrosino's general teaching and research interests includes the examination of how the criminal justice system impacts social justice concerns, with particular emphasis on race, ethnic, class, and power disparities. Her contributions to hate crimes research are particularly noted. As a result she has participated in a Congressional Briefing on the harms of hate crime in the United States.

Her publications include articles on parole decision-making, community policing, juvenile diversion, historical hate crime, and anti-Black motivated hate crime. Dr. Petrosino is currently writing a comprehensive text on hate crimes, Understanding Hate Crimes: Acts, Motives, Offenders, Victims, and Justice and conducting related research for that project.

• Research initiatives that seeks to incorporate or reflect the cultural norms and values and social practices of racial and or ethnic minorities of color;
   

• Research initiatives that examine how the practices of institutions of social control may contribute to the marginalization of racial and ethnic minorities of color in the United States;
   

• Identifying various social practices that may contribute to bias crime phenomenon;
   

• Examination of how youth are recruited or drawn to the 'hate movement' in the United States.

My academic interests relate to history in areas of East Asian studies, Asian American Studies, and global migrations. My research focuses on both local history of Southern China and Chinese American history in New England. I have published a book about the history and settlement of the Chinese community in Boston from 1870 to 1965. I am currently conducting research on Chinese and Japanese students in early New England, including the first Japanese student Shuji Isawa, a well-known educator, who studied at Bridgewater in the 1870s. My work strongly supports the development of global and multicultural studies on campus.

• I have worked closely with many faculty members in the Asian Studies program and have been involved in various campus initiatives such as the Diversity Council, the Global Studies Council, the Engaged Student Learning Task Force, and the Administrative Fellows program.

• I always love to talk to faculty who would like to develop international content or study tours, or discuss ideas of teaching global and multicultural studies courses.