Latin American and Latino Studies
2014-15 General Catalog
32 Merrill College
(831) 459-4284
http://lals.ucsc.edu
Program Description | Course Descriptions
Faculty and Professional Interests
Core Faculty
Gabriela Arredondo, Associate Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies
Latina/o studies; Chicana/o history; U.S. immigration histories; U.S. social and cultural history; critical race and ethnicity theories; Chicana and Mexicana feminisms; “borderlands” studies; history of modern Mexico
John G. Borrego, Professor Emeritus of Latin American and Latino Studies
Sylvanna Falcón, Assistant Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies
Human rights activism, racism/antiracism, globalization, gender, transnational feminism, contemporary Peru
Adrián Félix, Assistant Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies
International migration; Mexico-U.S. migration; migrant transnationalism; racial/ethnic politics and identity; politics of citizenship; Latino politics
Jonathan Fox, Professor Emeritus of Latin American and Latino Studies
Rosa-Linda Fregoso, Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies
Human rights, feminicide, and violence studies; critical and cultural theories; decolonial and intercultural feminist studies; media and visual studies
Walter L. Goldfrank, Professor Emeritus of Latin American and Latino Studies and Sociology
Fernando Leiva, Associate Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies
Political economy of Latin American capitalism; critical cultural political economy; social movements; state-society articulations under neoliberalism and post-neoliberalism; social network analysis
Lourdes Martínez-Echazábal, Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies
Latin American and Caribbean literatures; Afro-Latin American literatuers, cultures, and societies; found[n]ational narratives; Brazilian literature; literatuers of Cuba and the Cuban diaspora, cinema and social change in Cuba; critical race theory, queer literature and cinema in Latin America
Hector Perla, Jr., Assistant Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies
International relations; Latin American studies; Latino politics; 21st-century left in Central America; U.S. foreign policy; social and revolutionary movements; asymmetric conflicts; political psychology; transnational political mobilization
Catherine Ramirez, Associate Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies
United States cultural history, with a focus on immigration and assimilation; theories of citizenship; Latino literature; comparative ethnic studies; feminist and gender studies; cultural studies
Cecilia M. Rivas, Assistant Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies
Transnationalism; media and communication (Internet, newspapers); migration; globalization; race, ethnicity, and gender; bilingualism; consumption; El Salvador, Central America, Southern Mexico
Jessica K. Taft, Assistant Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies
Youth activism; childhood and youth studies; social movements; participatory democracy; girls studies; Latin American radicalisms; feminist theory; qualitative and participatory research methods
Patricia Zavella, Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies
Transnational migration by Mexicans, poverty, family, sexuality, labor, social networks, feminist studies, Chicana/o-Latina/o studies, ethnographic research methods
Participating Faculty
Mark D. Anderson, Associate Professor of Anthropology
Racial formation, diaspora, nationalism, transnationalism, indigeneity, consumption, Central America, Honduras, Latin America, African diaspora
Jeffrey T. Bury, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
Political ecology; sustainable development; Latin American studies; international relations; institutional dimensions of natural resource conservation in the global south
Pedro G. Castillo, Associate Professor Emeritus of History
Cynthia Cruz, Assistant Professor of Education
Feminist ethnography; community-based learning; decolonial pedagogies; LGBTQ street youth; women of color thought; cultural studies and education
Kent H. Eaton, Professor of Politics
Comparative politics, Latin America international relations, political economy, public policy,political institutions
Lisbeth Haas, Professor of History, Professor of Feminist Studies
U.S.-Mexico borderlands, Chicano and Native American history; visual culture in the colonial Americas; the U.S. West and California; historical memory, theory, and historical methodology
Norma Klahn, Professor of Literature
Latin American literary and cultural studies (specialization: Mexico); Chicano/Latino literature and culture from a cross-border perspective; modernity/postmodernity; poetics and politics; genre theory (novel, poetry, autobiography); critical theory (i.e., border, ethnic, feminist, transnational/global)
Flora Lu, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies
Ecological anthropology, human behavioral ecology, Amazon rainforest, indigenous peoples, conservation, Ecuador, culture change, market integration, indigenous resource management, political ecology, environmental justice
Eduardo Mosqueda, Assistant Professor of Education
Mathematics education of English learners; large-scale dataset quantitative analysis; urban education issues
Olga Nájera-Ramírez, Professor of Anthropology
Folklore theory, ritual, festival, dance, greater Mexican culture, history and folklore, transnationalism, identity; expressive culture, ethnomusicology, bilingual communication, gender, history, and culture of Latin America, the U.S., and Mexico
Marcia Ochoa, Associate Professor of Feminist Studies
Gender and sexuality, race and ethnicity, Latina/o studies, media and cultural studies, ethnography of media, feminism, queer theory, multimedia production, Latin American studies—Colombia and Venezuela, political philosophy, geography
Juan Poblete, Professor of Literature
Latin(o) American literatures; transnational/global cultures (literature, radio, film); Latin(o) American cultural studies; 19th-century studies; the history of reading practices
Renya K. Ramirez, Associate Professor of Anthropology
Native American studies, Indian identity, Native Americans and anthropology, urban Indians, Native American women, cultural citizenship, expressive culture, and anti-racist education
B. Ruby Rich, Professor of Social Documentation and Film and Digital Media
Documentary film and video, post-9/11 culture, new queer cinema, feminist film history, Latin American and Latin/a cinema, U.S. independent film and video, the essay film, the politics of film festival proliferation and the marketing of foreign films in the U.S.
Barbara Rogoff, Professor of Psychology
Human development in sociocultural activity; informal and formal arrangements for learning; adult/child and peer communication in families and schools in diverse cultural communities (especially in Guatemala, Mexico, and the U.S.); learning through observation and collaboration
Felicity Amaya Schaeffer, Associate Professor of Feminist Studies
Transnational feminism, migration, Latin American/Latino studies, Chicana/o studies, Internet, technology and the body, sexuality, gender and globalization
Helen Shapiro, Associate Professor of Sociology
Political economy, Latin American economic history and development (with an emphasis on Brazil), industrial policy, the auto industry, the state and transnational corporations
Affiliated Faculty
Jorge Aladro Font, Professor of Spanish Literature
Spanish mysticism, theory and historical developments of imagery in the Middle Ages to the baroque period, Renaissance and baroque Hispanic literature, Italian ideas in the Spanish Renaissance, Cervantes
Chelsea Blackmore, Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Pre-Columbian archaeology (Mesoamerican focus), identity formation, complex societies, class and state formation, gender, feminist/queer theory
Carolyn Dean. Professor of History of Art and Visual Culture
Cultural histories of the native Americas and colonial Latin America
Maria Elena Diaz, Associate Professor of History
Atlantic world, Colonial Latin America and the Caribbean, Cuba; social and cultural, global and local histories; colonialism, slavery and freedom, race/ethnicity, gender and class; legal, political, popular, and religious culture
Robert W. Fairlie, Associate Professor of Economics
Labor economics, entrepreneurship, education, applied econometrics
Dana Frank, Professor of History
U.S. social and economic history; women, labor, and working-class history; contemporary political economy; modern Central America
Gregory S. Gilbert, Professor of Environmental Studies
Disease ecology, forest ecology, tropical ecology, biological invasions, conservation biology, applied evolutionary ecology
María Victoria González-Pagani, Lecturer in Spanish Language
Language teaching methodology; Spanish syntax; computer-assisted foreign language learning; Latin American cultural studies, especially women's contributions
Shelly Grabe, Associate Professor of Psychology
Structural and individual components of women's rights violations and social justice in the context of globalization; partnership with grassroots women's organizations; embodied oppression
Miriam Greenberg, Associate Professor of Sociology
Urban sociology, media studies, cultural studies, political economy, globalization, and urban political ecology
Kirsten Silva Gruesz, Professor of Literature
Chicano/Latino literatures and cultures, Comparative Americas studies, language ideologies and bilingualism in literature
Daniel Guevara, Associate Professor of Philosophy
Kant, moral philosophy, moral psychology, environmental ethics, history of modern philosophy
Craig Haney, Professor of Psychology
Applications of social psychological principles to legal settings, assessment of the psychological effects of living and working in institutional environments, social contextual origins of violence, development of alternative legal and institutional forms
Karen D. Holl, Pepper-Giberson Professor, Environmental Studies
Restoration ecology, conservation biology, landscape ecology
Regina D. Langhout, Associate Professor of Psychology
School-community-university collaboration; how schooling and neighborhood experiences are informed by social class, race, and gender; participatory action research
John Leaños, Assistant Professor of Social Documentation
Documentary animation, social documentation, social art practice, community arts, Chicana/o art and culture, new media, critical media studies, cultural studies, documentary photography, installation art, public art and interventionist art practice
Deborah Letourneau, Professor of Environmental Studies
Agroecology, tropical biology, insect-plant interactions, biological conservation for ecosystem services, biological processes as an alternative to pesticides, environmental risks of genetically engineered organisms, redwood forest community ecology
Daniel T. Linger, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology
Paul M. Lubeck, Professor Emeritus of Sociology
Andrew Salvador Mathews, Associate Professor of Anthropology
Environmental anthropology, science and technology studies, conservation and development, climate change, environmental history, Mexico, Latin America, Italy
Judit Moschkovich, Professor of Mathematics Education
Mathematical thinking and learning; student conceptions of functions; mathematical discourse; everyday mathematical practices; bilingual mathematics learners
Matthew D. O’Hara, Associate Professor of History
Modern Latin America and Mexico; late colonial Latin America; religion, spirituality, and ritual; urban history; race, ethnicity, and identity; political culture
Lucinda Pease-Alvarez, Professor of Education
Language and literacy development, language-minority education, bilingualism, informal learning, teachers as policy makers
Jennifer Poole, Assistant Professor of Economics
International trade, Latin American economics, applied microeconomics
Daniela Sandler, Assistant Professor of History of Art and Visual Culture
Modern and contemporary architecture and urbanism; visual and cultural studies; social inequality in space; architectural preservation; history and memory in the built environment; architecture and visual culture in Latin America and Europe, with foci on Brazil and Germany
Ana Maria Seara, Lecturer, Portuguese Language
Portuguese language; literature, film, and music of Brazil and the Portuguese-speaking world; acquisition and teaching of foreign, second, and heritage languages
Dana Y. Takagi, Professor of Sociology
Social inequality and identity, research methods, race relations, nationalism and social movements
Kip Telléz, Professor of Education
Preparation of teachers for linguistic and cultural diversity, second language learning, studies of the school curriculum, educational assessment
Gustavo Vazquez, Associate Professor of Film and Digital Media
Film and video production, documentary and experimental cross-cultural experiences in film
Rasmus Winther, Associate Professor of Philosophy
Philosophy of science, philosophy of biology, philosophy of mind, pragmatism, Latin American philosophy, continental philosophy, philosophy of multiculturalism, post-colonial theory, feminism, ontology, evolutionary theory, cognitive science
Thomas Wu, Assistant Professor of Economics
International finance, macroeconomics, Brazilian macroeconomic policy
Karen Tei Yamashita, Professor of Literature (Creative Writing)
History and anthropology of Japanese immigration to Brazil, Asian American literature, modern fiction, playwriting
Revised: 09/01/14
