Faculty Directory
Ricardo Diego Suarez Rojas
Part-time faculty
Ricardo Diego Suarez Rojas
M.S.W.
Contact
Email: suarezrr@bc.edu
Education
- B.A., Universidad Iberoamericana
- M.A., University of Chicago
- M.S.W., Boston College
Research Interests
Neuroscience of trauma and imagination
Systemic inequality
Violence
Participatory action research
Critical pedagogy
Expertise
- Community Development and Organizing
- Innovations in Research Methods
- Neuroscience
- Systemic Inequities
- Trauma
- Stress and Health at the Workplace
Biography
Diego Suarez Rojas is a bioethicist and clinical social worker specializing in trauma, imagination, stress, and community development. He has over 10 years of experience integrating the humanities, the arts, and social and biomedical sciences in higher education settings (Universidad Iberoamericana, University of Chicago) and community settings in Mexico.
He is the founder and director of Laboratorio en Movimiento, an organization that promotes science, art, and participatory research in community settings in the South of Mexico. For the last 5 years, through Laboratorio en Movimiento, he has developed mixed-methods interventions with the police force, qualitative research in schools, free educational workshops, and several campaigns to disseminate science and influence policy. Currently, he directs a scholarship program with his team to provide citizens with training in philosophy, creative writing, and neuroscience to have a community impact in Chiapas.
As a researcher and community organizer in larger teams, he has collaborated at the Behavioral Insights and Parenting Lab (Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago), International House at The University of Chicago, Cell to Society Lab (Boston College), and the Center for Work, Health, and Wellbeing (Harvard School of Public Health).
Selected Publications
Suarez Rojas, R.D. (2022). How to enhance brain potential in fieldwork education? The Multimodal Integration of Imagination and Trauma (MIIT) Framework, in Drolet, J., Charles, G. & McConnell, S., Transforming Social Work Field Education: New Insights from Practice Research and Scholarship, University of Calgary Press.
https://ucp.manifoldapp.org/projects/9781773854403/resource/tswfe-chapter16
(2020). Especies del Caos (short-story collection), México: Editorial Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas, 143 pp.
https://www.diegosuarezrojas.com/_files/ugd/aa1be8_c177f1189ffc4d23a9feca73ce518ce5.pdf
Suarez Rojas, R.D. (2019). “They call us puercos and indios.” A mixed-methods intervention to reduce the stress perception of police officers. (Policy Brief). Laboratorio en Movimiento, Vol. 2, 1-24.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/341255211_They_call_us_puercos_and_indios_A_mixed-methods_intervention_to_reduce_the_stress_perception_of_police_officers
Selected Grants
2023-2024 Recipient of the research grant “Pilot Project Award” for developing research in occupational health and theoretical neuroscience on violence from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. $15,000 USD.
Selected Appointments and Awards
2020-2021 Field Research Scholar Position for innovative research (clinical neuroscience and critical pedagogy), as part of the Transforming the Field Education Landscape Project at The University of Calgary.
2019 City Hall Youth Award granted by the Mayor of San Cristóbal de Las Casas, due to academic achievement and Laboratorio en Movimiento’s social commitment.
2019 First place in the “National Short Story Competition Joaquín Porrúa: Literary Promises,” for the short story “Ahuízotl.”
2015-2017 Watkins Fellowship for Latin-American students in the realms of academic achievement and cultural promotion. Given by the International House at The University of Chicago.
Clinical Practice Experience
Cell to Society Lab: Clinical Neuroscience Research
Southern Jamaica Plain Health Promotion Center, Group Therapy and Project Management on Racial Trauma