9 Grad Center Scholars to Be Proud of During Pride And Every Day

In a tumultuous year, Graduate Center scholars have pushed boundaries with activism and outstanding scholarship about the LGBTQ+ community, from discovering the economic benefit of mental health care for older HIV+ patients to presenting a scholarly understanding of drag. Here are nine scholars that make us swell with Pride: 

Alumni Jama Shelton (Ph.D. ’13, Social Welfare), chief strategy officer for True Colors United, explains how racism and poverty are often overlooked factors in LGBTQ+ youth homelessness.

Alumnus Jagadīśa-devaśrī Dācus (Ph.D. ’18, Social Welfare) started a new position at the Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing (ISGMH) at Northwestern University, bringing a wealth of experience and a distinct perspective on LGBTQ+ health. 

In a new study, Ph.D. student Joseph Carter (Psychology) and fellow researchers unearth the connections between incarceration, police discrimination, and HIV risk and outcomes. 

(L-R) Christos Giannikos, Andreas Kakolyris, and Robert Utzinger

Three Graduate Center economists, Professor Christos Giannikos, alumnus Andreas Kakolyris, and Ph.D. candidate Robert Utzinger, discovered that providing mental health care for older HIV+ patients makes good economic sense. 

Alumnus Jaime Shearn Coan (Ph.D. ’20, English) was named a Mellon/ACLS Public Fellow for his work as the communications manager at One Archives Foundation, the oldest active LGBTQ organization in the United States.

Ph.D. student Jack Crawford (Art History) won both a Luce/ACLS Dissertation Fellowship in American Art and a Graduate Center Dissertation Fellowship for her research on drag and burlesque in her doctoral dissertation, Flamboyant Abundance: Performing Queer Maximalism, 1960–1990.

Alumna Amy Raffel (Ph.D. ’17, Art History) published a book based on her dissertation about artist, gay icon, and AIDS activist Keith Haring.