Graduate students

Salma double majored in Psychology and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (FGSS), and minored in African American Studies (AFAM) at Wesleyan. Salma joined the Culture, Emotion, and Social Image Lab during the fall of her junior year in 2020 and has been working with Professor Rodriguez Mosquera ever since.

During her Master’s year, Salma conducted her M.A. thesis research in Psychology under the guidance of Dr. Rodriguez Mosquera. Her thesis, titled “How Religious/Spiritual Practices Support and Empower Muslims Despite Experiences of Islamophobia Towards their Religious Identities,” aimed to highlight the resilience and empowerment of Muslim individuals in the face of discrimination.

Salma has been admitted to Loyola University Chicago’s Ph.D. Counseling Psychology program for the fall of 2024. She plans to continue representing marginalized and underserved communities and conduct research on the intersection of cultural identity and social justice.

Lucy double majored in Psychology and Sociology at Wesleyan. In the Culture, Emotion, and Social Image lab, Lucy worked on research projects on the intersection between culture, gender, and emotions. Lucy’s M.A. thesis focused on culture, masculinity, and male honor threats. While at Wesleyan, Lucy also spent her time coordinating the Wesleyan University/Middle School Tutoring Program and spinning poi and fans in Prometheus, Wesleyan’s fire performance troupe. Lucy completed her Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia and will join Wesleyan’s Psychology Department as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2024.

Hazal double majored in Psychology and Economics at Wesleyan. Hazal’s M.A. thesis focused on how cultural individualism and collectivism shape fear of happiness, or the belief that happiness leads to negative consequences and should be avoided. For her M.A. thesis, Hazal focused on Asian American and European American cultures. Hazal is Director of Product Analytics at Wise & Ex-LinkedIn.

I am pursuing a PhD in Social Justice Education at the University of Toronto at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. My research focuses on emotions and justice, media culture, and post-conflict divisions. Regionally my work examines Northern Ireland, South Asia, and Palestine. My career experiences range from film production, arts programming, and book preservation to quantitative and qualitative research. At present I also serve as the Director of Global Programs at the MacMillan Center for International & Area Studies at Yale University, where I support interdisciplinary programs with a global focus. At Wesleyan I received a B.A. degree in Cultural Psychology with a certificate in South Asian Studies. I also completed an M.A. in the same field, through which my thesis examined feminine honor in the South Asian diaspora.
https://macmillan.yale.edu/person/hira-jafri

Leslie double majored in Psychology and Economics at Wesleyan. Leslie joined the Culture, Emotion, and Social Image Lab in 2009, where she worked on research projects focused on family honor, feminine honor, cultural perceptions of happiness, and the interplay between self-image and social image. Leslie’s M.A. thesis examined cultural variations in emotional and behavioral responses to family devaluation. In her free time, Leslie enjoys sunbathing, iced chai lattes, and music festivals. Leslie is Center Director of Kumon North America, New York.

Raz double majored in Psychology and Religion at Wesleyan. Raz is interested in raising interpersonal and institutional conscientiousness of the subtle ways in which we sustain oppressive cognitive models of social perceptions in day-to-day interactions.

In the Culture, Emotion, and Social Image Lab, Raz wrote a B.A. thesis on emotions and religious microaggressions towards Muslims in the U.S., and a M.A. thesis on gender-based microaggressions towards women and gender non-conforming individuals. Raz also worked in the Wesleyan Digital Archives of Psychology.

Raz also served as a Survey Coordinator for the textbook “Trans Bodies, Trans Selves.” Raz is broadly concerned with working to integrate structural elements of queer theory and gender theory into empirical practices in research psychology. In addition to holding an M.A. in Psychology from Wesleyan University, Raz holds an M.A. in Public Health from CUNY School of Public Health, with a specialization in Health Policy and Management.

When Raz is not surveying people or crunching numbers, they are writing pop music under the name “Little Lion.”

Graduate students

Salma Hassan

Lucy De Souza

Hazal Muhtar

Hira Jafri

Leslie Tan

Raz Edwards