As another school year begins at UW-Milwaukee, the College of Letters & Science welcomes two new faculty members to our ranks! We’re excited to introduce Derrick Harriell and Srishti Sardana, who bring a wealth of expertise and knowledge in their fields. Say hello if you see them on campus.
Derrick Harriell – Professor, English
PhD 2012, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Previously the Ottilie Schillig Associate Professor of English and African American Studies at the University of Mississippi
Research focus: My interests are in African American Blues, literature, and poetry.
Research discoveries: The Blues and Funk as literary aesthetics are so closely intertwined, just as the two are as musical genres.
Current projects: I’m working on a book of prose.
Goals for the coming year: My goals are to serve our students and our community, to become connected with my new colleagues, and to complete a few creative projects.
Fun fact: I actually was born and raised in Milwaukee and spent the majority of my young life between 45th and Center and 42nd and Hampton. This city means the world to me, and I’m excited for the opportunity to pour back into the city that has poured so much into me. Also, and much less serious, one of the many things on my bucket list is to write and then perform a five-minute standup comedy set. Most people wouldn’t believe it, but I promise I’m funny.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Srishti Meera Sardana – Assistant professor, Psychology
PhD 2023, Columbia University
Previously National Institute of Health – Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Fellow at Johns Hopkins University
Research focus: Mental health and population health of vulnerable populations, both domestically and internationally with a special focus in war and conflict settings. I also explore the interlinkages of non-communicable diseases (such as diabetes and hypertension) with mental health comorbidities and design advanced measurement and methodologies in social networks for the study of social determinants of health, cohesion and conflict in humanitarian settings.
Research discoveries: Despite the horrors of war and tragedies of displacement, social support and contextually-adapted, evidence-based care brings hope and essential resources to people who have lost everything, including the significant people in their lives, rights, and dignity. I continue to discover ways to reduce human suffering globally.
Current projects: In collaboration with the United Nations, Office of Refugee Resettlement, academic partners and colleagues, I am currently prototyping effectiveness frameworks to design, evaluate and integrate evidence-based, low-cost, culturally and contextually validated mental health treatments for most-at-risk-populations including torture survivors, refugees, and forcibly displaced communities.
Fun Fact: I am a reluctant and accidental academic! I have been a corrections officer in a juvenile sex offender special unit in India; entrepreneur leading a non-profit; aspiring Cricketer, and a motorcyclist. I co-habit with my 16-month-old Corgi “Kashi” who loves to paddleboard, camp, and hike from water to the wood!