- Teaching Professor of Sociology, Chair of GWS
- Office: Roosevelt Hall, Rm 317
- Phone: 401.874.2482
- Email: rpisa@uri.edu
Biography
Dr. Pisa has a Ph.D. in Sociology and an M.A. in Political Science from Northeastern University. She conducts research in Mexico and Italy to study the dynamics of gender, racism, and postcoloniality in rural contexts. Her previous research explored the sociocultural impact of the 1992 Agrarian Reform in rural and indigenous communities in Mexico.
Building on this research, Dr. Pisa directs two faculty-led study abroad programs, one in Mexico (Oaxaca) and one in her native country of Italy (Naples). Both programs focus on the intersection of culture, environment, and sustainability.
Her research on the Mexican Agrarian Reform has been published in Urban Anthropology and Habitat International and in edited volumes in the U.S. and Mexico.
Dr. Pisa teaches interdisciplinary courses that include gender and agriculture, sustainable agriculture and food cultures, migration in the Americas, Mexican society, and gender, class, and regionalism in Italian society.
Research
- Gender and Agriculture
- Critical Agrarian Studies
- Agrarian Reforms in Mexico
- Indigenous Rights in Latin America
Education
- Ph.D. in Sociology, 2001, Northeastern University
- M.A. in Political Science, 1991, Northeastern University
- B.A. in Political Science, 1986, University of Texas at Dallas