REHR Center Team

Danielle Denardo received her PhD in Sociology from the University of Colorado Boulder. Dr. Denardo’s research focuses on health, stigma, and social inequalities in Africa and North America. Her current research projects examine health behaviors and the lived experience of health conditions in different epidemic and social policy contexts. Dr. Denardo teaches courses on health disparities, race and ethnicity, families, and research methods. She has also taught learning clusters on topics such as COVID-19 and global inequalities, medical racism and violence against women, and period poverty.

Ian Read is Professor of Latin American Studies at Soka University of America and inaugural co-director of the Center for Race, Ethnicity, and Human Rights. His research focuses on the social and medical history of Brazil, especially slavery, race, and public health, and he is the author of The Hierarchies of Slavery in Santos, Brazil, 1822–1888 (Stanford University Press) as well as numerous articles on inequality and disease in the Americas. At Soka, he has led the REHR Center in advancing interdisciplinary dialogue, research, and public engagement on issues of race, ethnicity, and human rights, while also developing international programs that connect students to questions of sustainability, justice, and global citizenship.

Sarah England is Associate Professor of Anthropology. She received her BA in Anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin, and PhD in Anthropology from the University of California at Davis. Her research focuses on the region of Central America and issues related to inequality, racial identities, immigration, and gender violence. She has conducted research on Garifuna (Afro-Indigenous-Honduran) social movements and immigration to the United States which has been published in several journal articles as well as in the ethnography Afro-Central Americans in New York City: Garifuna Tales of Transnational Movements in Racialized Space (2006). She has also written about dougla (mixed Afro and Indo-Trinidadian) identities and politics. Her second book Writing Terror on the Bodies of Women: Media Representations of Violence against Women in Guatemala (2018) and several articles explore the topic of gender-based violence in Guatemala. Her current project looks at immigration to Costa Rica from both the Global North and Global South, how those flows intersect in gentrifying and tourist areas of the beaches of Guanacaste, and how debates about these flows of people engage with discourses of Costa Rican national/racial identity and “exceptionalism.”

Oleg Gelikman received his PhD in Humanities (Comparative Literature) from the Humanities Center at Johns Hopkins University. He is an Associate Professor of Comparative Literature at Soka University of America and served as Director of the Humanities Concentration. His primary field of expertise is the aesthetics of prose from Enlightenment to Modernism. His interests include critical theory, conceptual history and history of criticism (formalism and semiotics). His articles appeared in Angelaki, boundary 2, Comparative Literature and Culture, MLN and edited collections (Modernism and Theory; Modernism and Film; Messianic Thought Outside Theology). He also translated theoretical texts from Russian and French. His current project, Inceptions of the Political, concerns retrieval of names, concepts and figures immobilized or elided in the vernacular of political theory.

Sonwabile Mafunda received his PhD in Mathematics from the University of Johannesburg in South Africa, where his research focuses on graph theory, particularly the study of distance measures and graph automorphisms in graphs and digraphs. His research also includes aspects of algebra and cryptography, building on his MSc thesis from the University of KwaZulu-Natal that explored the applications of algebraic graph theory to cryptography.

Prior to joining Soka University of America, he was a full-time faculty member at the University of Johannesburg, involved in lecturing, supervising (advising), research and service in mathematics. He has advised graduate students in graph theory and cryptography ranging from Honours to PhD.

He is also actively involved in projects that empower young researchers and enrich communities. One of his key contributions is the Winter School for STEM subjects, a program designed to inspire and support high school learners from underprivileged or underserved areas, where information dissemination is limited. More about these initiatives can be found on the School on Graph Theory website, as well as on TikTok and YouTube.

At Soka University, he has facilitated a learning cluster on Mathematics and Security, examining the impact of mathematics and cryptography on international relations and modern warfare.

I am a fourth-year student from São Paulo, Brazil, double concentrating in International Studies and Social & Behavioral Sciences with a focus on international relations and political science. Coming from Latin America, I have always been interested in human rights, especially because of Brazil’s history of dictatorship and ongoing struggles for justice. Even though I didn’t live through that period, its memory is still present in society today and I see it as my generation’s responsibility to make sure such injustices don’t happen again.

Moving to the U.S. for college was both exciting and challenging as I had to leave family and friends behind to pursue better opportunities. This experience motivates me to use my education to defend democracy, amplify underrepresented voices, and create spaces where people of all backgrounds feel heard and respected. Growing up in a region where inequality is part of daily life gave me a strong sense of urgency to act, and it continues to guide the work I do here at Soka and beyond. On campus, I am currently Secretary for the UNA-USA Soka chapter and President of the MUN club, where I work to advance human rights and promote diplomacy, dialogue, and inclusion. I also enjoy learning new languages and exploring different cultures, which help me connect with people across communities. I am excited to join the REHR Center as a student fellow and to deepen my passion for human rights while contributing to important conversations with peers who share the same commitment.

I am a sophomore studying International Studies with a focus on Japan-China relations. Growing up in Osaka and witnessing the persistent racism against Zainichi Koreans, I was driven to ask a fundamental question: “what divides people into ‘us’ and ‘them’?” This experience sparked my interest in social justice and human rights, leading me to deepen my academic work through the SIGS conference on “Peace and Reconciliation in East Asia.” As a Student Fellow, I hope to apply my skills in community service, program coordination, and curriculum development, which I gained from my experiences with Alternative Spring Break and an educational internship in Japan. I am committed to empowering my fellow students to become “change makers” by fostering community-based engagement and cultivating a culture of global citizenship rooted in wisdom, courage, and compassion. Beyond my academic pursuits, I am an active leader on campus, serving as the president of the Soka Chinese Club and the Student Movement of Culture of Peace (SMCP), as well as an Attorney General of the Executive Council. I am dedicated to creating an inclusive and just campus community where students feel empowered to tackle social issues as our own.

I am a transnational storyteller, Japanese Brazilian researcher, and social impact entrepreneur. During my time at Soka, I joined Soka’s B2B Leadership Circle, founded our Brazilian Student Association, and contributed as a Junior Scholar to the PBRC. I am now honored to bring my diverse experiences (lived, academic, and artistic) to the REHR as a student fellow, with a particular interest in issues of race/ethnicity, poverty, and immigration. Some of my main research interests center around decolonial theory, international cinema, Asian Brazilian history, and West African innovation.