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Faculty

The Ethnic Studies curriculum is built upon both the individual interests and collective strengths of our faculty. We emphasize the use of interdisciplinary methodologies (such as archival, ethnographic, literary and critical cultural approaches) and comparative and relational frameworks (including transhistorical, transnational, feminist, queer, and decolonial analytics). Faculty members demonstrate a robust range of research and teaching specializations, yet we share a common interest in how relations of difference are produced, inhabited, and transformed. Particular areas of focus include aesthetics, performance, and cultural production; materialist approaches to labor, value and consumption; science and technology; (settler) colonialism, migration, and movement. Please see individual profiles for more information.

Department Faculty

  • Patrick W. Anderson

    Patrick W. Anderson

    Professor (Joint Appointment with Department of Communication)

    Ph.D., Performance Studies, University of California, Berkeley

    Performance studies and cultural studies; women, gender, and sexuality

  • Yến Lê Espiritu

    Yến Lê Espiritu

    Distinguished Professor and Chair

    Ph.D., Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles

    Gender and migration; Race and U.S. militarism; Refugee studies; Asian American studies; Southeast Asian American Studies

  • Ross H. Frank

    Ross H. Frank

    Associate Professor

    Ph.D., History, University of California, Berkeley

    Native American History and Culture; Colonial Americas; Material Culture Studies; Indian-White Relations

  • José I. Fusté

    José I. Fusté

    Assistant Professor

    Ph.D., Ethnic Studies, UC San Diego

  • Monika Gosin

    Monika Gosin

    Associate Professor

    Ph.D., Ethnic Studies, UC San Diego

    Black and Latinx studies, migration studies, race and gender in popular culture and media, intergroup relations.

     

  • Curtis F. Marez

    Curtis F. Marez

    Professor 

    Ph.D., English, University of California, Berkeley

    Latino/a studies, migration studies, and technology studies

  • Sam Museus

    Sam Museus

    Professor and Vice Chair

    Ph.D., Higher Education Administration, Penn State University

    smuseus@ucsd.edu

  • Holly Okonkwo

    Holly Okonkwo

    Assistant Professor

    Ph.D., Anthropology, University of California, Riverside

    Technology and culture and the development of feminist science studies

     

  • Shaista Aziz Patel

    Shaista Aziz Patel

    Assistant Professor

    Ph.D., Social Justice Education, University of Toronto

  • Roy Pérez

    Roy Pérez

    Assistant Professor

    Ph.D., New York University 

  • Christopher Perreira

    Christopher Perreira

    Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies

    Ph.D., University of California, San Diego

  • Christen T. Sasaki

    Christen T. Sasaki

    Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies

    Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles

  • Shelley Streeby

    Shelley Streeby

    Professor

    Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley

    Environmentalisms and Ecologies; Speculative Futures and World-Making; Science Studies; Feminist and Queer Theories; Latinx and Hemispheric American Studies; Social Movements and Culture; Media Studies and Digital Humanities; Visual Culture

  • Daphne Taylor-García

    Daphne Taylor-García

    Associate Professor

    Ph.D., Ethnic Studies, University of California, Berkeley
    Decolonial philosophy and politics
  • Brenda K. Wilson

    Brenda K. Wilson

    Assistant Teaching Professor in Ethnic Studies and Global Health Program (joint appointment)

    Ph.D., University of Texas - Medical Branch

    structural and social determinants of health, critical migration and refugee studies, social studies of medicine and health, health equity, postcolonial science and technology studies, ethnography and qualitative research methods
  • K. Wayne Yang

    K. Wayne Yang

    Professor

    Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley

    Youth Culture and Pedagogy in the Emergence of Social Movements

Adjunct Professor

  • Andrew Jolivétte

    Andrew Jolivétte

    Adjunct Professor

     

    Ph.D., Sociology, University of California, Santa Cruz (2003)
    Native American and Indigenous Studies (Senior Specialist); Critical Mixed Race Studies; Two-Spirit, Gender and Sexuality Studies; Medical Sociology, Public Health and HIV; Research Justice, CBPR and Indigenous Methodologies; Decolonial Education; Queer Indigenous Citizenship and Knowledges; Creole, Black, Latinx and Comparative Critical Ethnic Studies.

Professor Emeriti

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    Robert R. Alvarez

    Professor Emeritus

    Ph.D., Anthropology, Stanford University
    U.S.-Mexico Borderlands; Ethnography; Transnational Markets and Entrepreneurs

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    Ramón Gutiérrez

    Professor Emeritus

    Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison
    Chicano history, race and ethnicity in American life

    rgutierrez@uchicago.edu

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    Louis J. Hock

    • Professor Emeritus, Visual Arts

      Films, video tapes, media installations, public art practice
      lhock@ucsd.edu | Website

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    Ana Celia Zentella

    Professor Emerita

    Ph.D. in Educational Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania
    Anthro-Political Linguistics, Bilingualism, Child Language Socialization, Latino Spanish and English Dialect

Affiliated Faculty

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    Patty Ahn

    • Assistant Professor, Communication

      Critical histories and theories of U.S. television, transnational media studies with a focus on the Asia-Pacific region, gender and sexuality studies, and popular music
      pahn@ucsd.edu

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    Luis A. Alvarez

    • Associate Professor, History

      Comparative race and ethnicity, popular culture, Chicana/o studies, Latina/o studies, African American studies, U.S.-Mexico borderlands, transnationalism, resistance, identity and community formation, cultural theory
      l2alvarez@ucsd.edu

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    Boatema Boateng

    • Associate Professor, Communication

      Globalization and culture, intellectual property law, gender studies
      bboateng@ucsd.edu

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    John D. (Jody) Blanco

    • Associate Professor, Literature

      Filipino literature; nineteenth-century Latin American and Caribbean literature; anti-colonial thought
      jdblanco@ucsd.edu

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    David Borgo

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    Julie Burelle

    • Assistant Professor, Theatre & Dance

      Performance Studies, Cultural Studies, Native American studies,First Nations Theatre
      jburelle@ucsd.edu

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    Robert Cancel

    • Assistant Professor, Literature

      Oral literature; modern African literature and film; Caribbean literature 
      rcancel@ucsd.edu

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    Gloria Elizabeth Chacon

    • Assistant Professor, Literature

      Indigenous literatures of the Americas; Chican@/Latin@ literary and cultural movements; Central American poetics and politics; US Central Americans; Latin American literary and cultural theories
      gchacon@ucsd.edu

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    Thandeka K. Chapman

    • Associate Professor, Educational Studies

      Schooling outcomes of desegregation policies in urban and suburban districts, institutional racism in school climate, curriculum, adult and student relationships, and school policies, teaching and learning writing in secondary classrooms
      tkchapman@ucsd.edu

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    Dennis Childs

    • Associate Professor, Literature

      African American literature and culture; Black literary modernism
      drchilds@ucsd.edu

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    Erica Cho

    • Assistant Professor, Visual Arts

      Experimental film, short-form narrative, and LGBTQ and Asian American media art
      erc037@ucsd.edu

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    Luz Chung

    • Lecturer/Supervisor Secondary World Languages, Educational Studies

      Critical pedagogy, multicultural and multilingual education, and service-learning
      lmchung@ucsd.edu

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    Frances Contreras

    • Associate Professor, Education Studies

      Equity and access for Latina/o; Underrepresented students in the education pipeline
      contrerasf@ucsd.edu

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    Anthony Davis

    • Professor, Music

      African American music; the integration of improvised and notated expressive resources
      adavis@ucsd.edu | Website

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    Zeinabu Davis

    • Professor, Communication

      Altering and diversifying the terrain of mass media, film history, world cinema and folklore
      zdavis@ucsd.edu

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    Ricardo R. Dominguez

    • Associate Professor, Visual Arts

      Co-founder of Electronic Disturbance Theater; co-Director of the THING, an ISP for artist and activist; former member of Critical Art Ensemble; member of the New York Zapatistas; performances, tactical media events, direct actions on the streets and around the world
      rrdominguez@ucsd.edu | Website

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    Gerald D. Doppelt

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    Steven P. Erie

    • Professor, Political Science

      Urban politics, public policy, ethnic/minority group politics, and American political development
      serie@ucsd.edu

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    Ivan T. Evans

    • Professor, Sociology

      Power, culture, and social revolt; sociology of intellectuals
      ievans@ucsd.edu

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    Camille F. Forbes

    • Associate Professor, Literature

      Nineteenth-century African-American literature and culture; African-American performance; American literature; cultural studies
      cfforbes@ucsd.edu | Website

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    Jessica Graham

    • Assistant Professor, History

      Twentieth century U.S. and Brazil, (U.S.) African American and Afro-Brazilian history, race, political ideology, cultural policy/diplomacy, and transnational history
      jlgraham@ucsd.edu

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    David G. Gutiérrez

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    Joseph Hankins

    • Associate Professor, Anthropology

      Social movements of labor and identity, multiculturalism, neoliberalism, stigma; circulation, materiality, processes of recognition, publics; Japan, East Asia
      jdhankins@ucsd.edu | Website

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    Michael Hardimon

    • Associate Professor, Philosophy

      19th century German Philosophy, ethics, and social and political philosophy; development of ethical thought in German philosophy from Kant to Nietzsche, and its relevance for contemporary ethical theory; "normative meta-ethics"; applied and professional ethics and philosophical problems of race
      mhardimon@ucsd.edu | Website

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    Tara Javidi

    • Associate Professor, Electirical and Computer Engineering

      Communication networks, stochastic resource allocation, stochastic control theory, and wireless communications
      tjavidi@ucsd.edu | Website

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    Sara E. Johnson

    • Associate Professor, Literature

      Nineteenth- and twentieth-century anglophone, francophone and hispanophone Caribbean literature and theory; African-American literature; literature of the Americas; cultural studies of the African Diaspora
      sejohn@ucsd.edu

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    Makeba Jones

    • Lecturer, Educational Studies

      Urban education and educational equity, social and cultural organization of schools, student engagement, tracking/ability grouping, secondary school reform, educational policy, teacher professional development, school-university partnerships, and youth leadership
      m3jones@ucsd.edu

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    Bennetta Jules-Rosette

    • Professor, Sociology

      Ethnographic Film, sociology, semiotic studies of religious discourse, tourist art, and new technologies in Africa
      bjulesrosette@ucsd.edu

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    Dredge Käng

    • Assistant Professor, Anthropology

      Anthropology of love, beauty, sex work, sexual health, structural violence, and Hallyu (Korean Wave) studies. Geographic specialization is Southeast Asia (Thailand), with particular attention to inter-Asia and Asian diaspora connections
      kbyung@ucsd.edu

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    Martha Lampland

    • Associate Professor, Sociology

      Political economy, history, feminist theory, science studies, social theory, and the symbolic analysis of complex societies
      mlampland@ucsd.edu

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    Jin-Kyung Lee

    • Associate Professor, Korean and Comparative Literature

      Modern Korean Literature; Gender Studies; Korean Diasporic Cultures
      jinkyung@ucsd.edu | Website

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    James Lin

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    Simeon Man

    • Assistant Professor, History

      Asian American history, transnational U.S. history, politics of race and empire, history of social movements
      siman@ucsd.edu

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    George (Jorge) Mariscal

    • Professor, Literature

      Sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spanish culture; Chicano/a studies; U.S. literature of the Viet Nam War
      gmariscal@ucsd.edu

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    Luis Martin-Cabrera

    • Associate Professor, Literature

      Peninsular and Latin American Literature and Culture; TransAtlantic Studies, Spanish Film, Critical Pedagogy, Cultural Theory
      lmartincabrera@ucsd.edu

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    Wendy Matsumura

    • Assistant Professor, History

      Transnational labor struggles, development of class antagonisms, gender oppression and racialized discourses in the Japanese empire
      wmatsumura@ucsd.edu

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    John C. Moore

    • Professor, Linguistics

      Spanish syntax, causative and restructuring constructions, lexical semantics, judgment types
      johnmoore@ucsd.edu | Website

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    Dana Murillo

    • Associate Professor, History

      Intersections of colonialism with gender, ethnicity, identity formation in early Latin America
      dvmurillo@ucsd.edu

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    Elizabeth Newsome

    • Associate Professor

      Visual Arts Ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica, including the Aztec, Olmec and Izapan cultures
      enewsome@ucsd.edu | Website

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    Hoang Tan Nguyen

    • Associate Professor, Literature

      Asian American visual culture, Southeast Asian cinema, queer cinema, experimental film, race and pornography, film programming, and video production
      hoangnguyen@ucsd.edu

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    Kyong Park

    • Professor, Visual Arts

      Public Culture, urban landscapes, contemporary social geography, visual arts, architecture, theory and curatorial practices, and activism in public spaces
      kdpark@ucsd.edu

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    Jade Y. Power-Sotomayor

    • Assistant Professor, Theatre and Dance

      Latinx theatre and performance, epistemologies of the body, the intersections between race, gender and language, and inter-cultural performance in the Latin Caribbean diaspora
      jypower@ucsd.edu

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    Danielle Raudenbush

    • Assistant Professor, Sociology

      Health and well-being of low-income people living in the United States, health in urban contexts, social cohesion among the urban poor
      draudenbush@ucsd.edu

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    Vanesa Ribas

    • Assistant Professor, Sociology

      International Migration, Race Relations, and Work
      vribas@ucsd.edu

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    Emily Roxworthy

    • Associate Professor, Theatre and Dance

      Performance studies, race relations, interculturalism, and Asian American theatre
      eroxworthy@ucsd.edu

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    Rosaura Sánchez

    • Professor, Literature

      Nationalism, ethnicity, and politics; critical theory; cultural studies; Third World studies; gender studies
      rasanchez@ucsd.edu

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    Gershon Shafir

    • Professor, Sociology

      Director, IICAS; Comparative-historical sociology, with emphases on nationalism, ethnicity, and citizenship rights
      gshafir@ucsd.edu | Website

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    Christo Sims

    • Assistant Professor, Communication

      Science and technology studies, moral and political anthropology, and design
      christosims@ucsd.edu

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    Erin Suzuki

    • Assistant Professor, Literature

      Asian American literature, Pacific Island literatures, American literature 1850-present, transpacific studies
      esuzuki@ucsd.edu

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    Olga Vásquez

    • Associate Professor, Communication

      Education, Language and Ethnic Identity
      ovasquez@ucsd.edu

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    Kathryn Walkiewicz

    • Assistant Professor, Literature

      Native American and Indigenous studies, early U.S. literature and culture, nineteenth-century literature and culture, hemispheric studies, print culture, and formations of U.S. empire
      kwalkiewicz@ucsd.edu

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    Mariana Wardwell

    • Associate Professor, Visual Arts

      Modern / Contemporary Latino American Art History
      mwardwell@ucsd.edu

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    Brad "bt" Werner

    • Professor, Scripps Institute of Oceanography

      Coastal Processes, Coastal Oceanography, Global Hydrography and Circulation, Modeling and State Estimation of the Oceans, Atmosphere, and Climate
      bwerner@ucsd.edu

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    Daniel Widener

    • Associate Professor, History

      African American and Californian history; expressive culture, race and ethnicity and political radicalism
      dwidener@ucsd.edu

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    Tom K. Wong

    • Assistant Professor, Political Science

      Politics of immigration, citizenship, and migrant illegality
      tomkwong@ucsd.edu

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    Elana Zilberg

    • Associate Professor, Communication

      The borders between anthropology and cultural studies as they converge in debates about public culture, and Latino and Latin American studies as they intersect with developments in new critical area studies
      ezilberg@ucsd.edu | Website

Temporary Faculty

  • Tsekani Browne

    Tsekani Browne

    Lecturer

    Ph.D. in History, University of California, Los Angeles

    etbrowne@ucsd.edu

    Office Hours: remote
    Office Location: SSB 242

    • Fall 2024 Courses 
      • ETHN 128/MUS152. Hip-Hop: The Politics of Culture
      • ETHN 161. Black Politics and Protest Since 1941
    • Winter 2025 Courses
      • ETHN 165/CGS165. Gender and Sexuality in African American Communities
      • ETHN 170. Slavery and the Atlantic World
  • Marisol Cuong

    Marisol Cuong

    Lecturer

    Ph.D. in Literature, University of California, San Diego

    Office Hours: remote

    Office Location: SSB 242

    • Spring 2025 Course
      • ETHN 127/CGS 112. Sexuality and Nation
  • Tricia Gallagher-Geursten

    Tricia Gallagher-Geursten

    Lecturer

    Ed.D. in Curriculum and Teaching, Teachers College, Columbia University

    Office Hours: remote

    Office Location: SSB 242

    • Fall 2024 Courses 
      • ETHN 113. Decolonizing Education
    • Spring 2025 Course
      • ETHN 189. Special Topics: Ethnic Studies and Education
  • Mary Klann

    Mary Klann

    Lecturer

    Ph.D. in US History, University of California, San Diego

    Office Hours:
    Mondays 9am-10am
    Wednesdays 12pm-1pm 

    Office Location: SSB 240

    • Fall 2024 Course
      • ETHN 112A. History of Native Americans and Indigenous Peoples in the U.S. I
    • Winter 2025 Course
      • ETHN 112B. History of Native Americans and Indigenous Peoples in the U.S. II
    • Spring 2025 Course
      • ETHN 110. Cultural Worldviews of Indigenous America
  • Ly Thi Hai Tran (aka Hai Ly)

    Ly Thi Hai Tran (aka Hai Ly)

    Lecturer

    Ph.D. in American Culture Studies, Bowling Green State University

    hltran@ucsd.edu
    Office Hours: Remote
    Office Location: SSB 242

    • Fall 2024 Course
      • ETHN 152. Law and Civil Rights
    • Winter 2025 Course
      • ETHN 122. Asian American Culture and Identity
    • Spring 2025 Course
      • ETHN 140. Comparative Refugee Communities from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia