Professor of Sociology and Associate Dean of the Faculty for the Social Sciences Nazli Kibria recently received a Voices of Economic Opportunity Grand Challenge Grant from the Gates Foundation and Raikes Foundation. These grants are designed to support scholarship that explores global poverty and aims to decrease society’s economic gaps. She will work with Karen Hansen, a professor of sociology and women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at Brandeis University.
Their project, titled “Cascading Lives: Stories of Loss, Resilience, & Resistance,” will involve them collecting the life histories of people who have suffered economic decline to highlight the dynamic nature of the underlying causes and better inspire empathy. They will conduct interviews with people across backgrounds, from ages 25 to 60, who experienced an economic shock over the last decade. This project is one of 28 from across the country receiving a $100,000 grant.