FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Liz Cooper
ecooper@massbay.edu
![Brandi Perri]( "Brandi Perri")
MassBay Community College Assistant Professor of Sociology, Brandi Perri (Photo/ Brandi Perri)
WELLESLEY HILLS, Mass. (September 26, 2024) — MassBay Community College Assistant Professor of Sociology, Brandi Perri, has been awarded a prestigious Working-Class Studies Association 2024 Award which recognizes the best work in the field of Working-Class Studies. Professor Perri’s dissertation, “The Unseen Worker? Rethinking Who and What is Invisible in the Blue-Collar Workplace”, was honored with the Constance Coiner Award for Best Dissertation. The Working-Class Studies Association supports scholarship, teaching, and activism related to working-class life and cultures.
According to their website, The Working-Class Studies Association reviews “new books, dissertations, articles, and essays that illustrate the ongoing growth and relevance of Working-Class Studies across disciplines and toward diverse audiences.” The 2024 Awards recognize significant contributions to Working-Class Studies made in the previous two years, 2022 and 2023.
“Receiving the Constance Coiner Award for Best Dissertation from the Working-Class Studies Association is such an honor,” said Perri. “My dissertation is the culmination of over five years of ethnographic work, where I worked alongside janitors — observing, taking notes, participating in their daily routines, and conducting interviews with 50 participants. I examined whether they truly feel invisible on the job, as much of the service work literature suggests, how they perceive the managerial changes at their sites, and what matters most to them. I am currently working on turning this dissertation into an accessible book that will amplify workers’ voices, examine how power operates in the workplace, and highlight the importance of and potential in unions. This research was more than just an academic project for me. As a third-generation janitor, being able to uplift the voices of janitors was a significant achievement, and to be recognized for effectively researching working-class people is incredibly powerful not only for myself, but also for sociological and working-class scholarship.”
One of the award judges commented on Professor Perri’s work, “This dissertation illustrates the effectiveness of working-class background researchers working on projects about working-class people as Perri has the trust of the workers and understands their situations. This is a very engaging dissertation.”
Professor Perri has worked in MassBay’s Humanities and Social Sciences division since 2022. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Women’s Studies from SUNY Purchase College, a Master of Arts in Humanities and Social Thought: Gender Politics from New York University, a Master of Arts in Sociology and her PhD in Sociology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
MassBay Community College is the most affordable higher education option in MetroWest Boston, offering a robust portfolio of courses and more than 70 associate degree and certificate programs with flexible day, evening, and weekend classes in Ashland, Framingham, Wellesley Hills, and online. MassBay students receive an unmatched educational value by earning stackable credits that transfer to bachelor’s degree programs, and workforce-ready skills necessary to advance careers in high-demand fields such as health and life sciences, automotive technology, engineering, business, cybersecurity, and the humanities. MassBay’s Associate Degree in Nursing (RN) and Practical Nursing (LPN) programs were both ranked as the #1 Nursing Program in Massachusetts in 2020, 2021, and 2023 by national nursing advocacy organizations RegisteredNursing.org, and PracticalNursing.org. Since its founding in 1961, MassBay has been accredited by several governing bodies and remains firmly committed to its mission of meeting the needs of the diverse local communities it serves. We value the intrinsic worth of all individuals, collectively in pursuit of inclusiveness and prioritize our work towards achieving equity within our community and beyond.