Tenure Track Faculty
Akhila L. Ananth, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Research Interests: Race, gender, child welfare in Los Angeles, juvenile justice in global contexts
Courses Taught: Juvenile Justice, Multiculturalism and the Criminal Justice System, Probation Service Learning
Carly B. Dierkhising, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
[email protected]
Research Interests: Juvenile Justice, Trauma, Trauma-Informed Systems, Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children, Gang Intervention, Child Welfare
Courses Taught: Juvenile Justice, Criminal Justice Research Methods, Statistics, Advanced Theory and Practice, and others.
Gabriel Ferreyra, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
[email protected]
Research Interests: Drug trafficking, transnational organized crime, drugs; courts, law, corruption, U.S. drug policy, social justice, U.S.-Mexico border
Courses Taught: Judicial Organization, Multiculturalism in the Criminal Justice System, Written Communication in Criminal Justice, Ethics and Professional Responsibility
Jane Florence Gauthier, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
[email protected]
Research Interests: Hate Crimes, Hate Groups, Spatial Patterns of Crime
Courses Taught: Theories and Perspectives in Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice Research Methods, Statistics in Criminal Justice, Hate Crimes, Advanced Criminal Justice Theory and Practice
Lisa Graziano, Ph.D.
Professor
[email protected]
Research Interests: Community Policing, Police-Community Interaction, Media and Policing
Courses Taught: Police and Society, Theories and Perspectives in Criminal Justice, Legal Issues for Police Officers, Community Policing and Problem Solving, Police and the Media, Statistics in Criminal Justice
Denise C. Herz, Ph.D.
Professor
[email protected]
Research Interests: Juvenile justice and delinquency, crossover youth, multisystem approaches to delinquency, gangs, program development and evaluation
Shichun (Asminet) Ling, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
[email protected]
Research Interests: Biopsychosocial, Neurocriminology, antisocial behavior, psychopathy / callous-unemotional traits, experimental, developmental and life-course, autonomic functioning, brain structure and function, brain stimulation
Courses Taught: Introduction to the Discipline of Criminal Justice, Introduction to Criminology, Theories and Perspectives in Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice Research, Biopsychosocial Criminology, and Statistics in Criminal Justice.
Xiaohan Mei, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
[email protected]
Research Interests: Construction, Validation, and Application of Adult and Juvenile Risk and Needs Assessment (RNA) instruments; Program/Policy Evaluation and Quantitative Methods.
Courses Taught: Theories and Perspectives in Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice Research Methods, Statistics in Criminal Justice, Introduction to Administration of Justice
Khadija Monk, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
[email protected]
Research Interests: Crime Prevention, Environmental Criminology, Police-Community Relationships, Community Violence Prevention, Sexual Assault Victimization, Crime & Policy Analysis, Disparities in the Criminal Justice System
Courses Taught: California Criminal Justice Policy, Introduction to Administration of Justice, Written Communication in Criminal Justice, Theories and Perspectives in Criminal Justice, Police, and Society, and Special Topics in Criminal Justice.
Carlena Orosco, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
[email protected]
Research Interests: Crime Analysis, Crime, and Place, Police Dispatchers, Policing – Decision-Making, De-Escalation, Use of Force, Program Evaluation, and Quantitative and Qualitative Methods
Courses:
Multiculturalism and the Criminal Justice System, Criminal Justice Leadership, Police and Society
Katherine A. Roberts, Ph.D.
Professor, Executive Director, California Forensic Science Institute Director, Criminalistics Graduate Program
[email protected]
Research Interests: Trace Evidence Analysis, Mitochondrial DNA, Sexual Assault Evidence, Fingerprint Aging
Courses Taught: Forensic Microscopy, Trace Evidence Analysis, Forensic Science Research Methods, Forensic Chemistry, Applications of Forensic Science
Joshua Ruffin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
[email protected]
Research Interests:
Police-Community Relations, Race and Justice, Marginalized Populations and Reentry, Qualitative Methods, Correctional and Community-Based Institutions
Courses Taught:
Introduction to Administration of Justice, Police and Society, Written Communication in Criminal Justice, Community Policing and Problem Solving
Bill Sanders, Ph.D.
Professor
[email protected]
Research interests: Young Offenders, Gangs, Substance use, Qualitative research methods, Public health, HIV/HCV, Diversion, Intervention, Desistance, Community-based organizations
Courses taught: Criminological Theory, Forensic Mental Health, Gangs, Substance Use, and Crime, Violence, Advanced Theory and Practice, Criminal Justice Internships
Katharine Tellis, Ph.D. MSW
Professor and School Director
[email protected]
Research Interests: Sexual Assault, Intersectionality, Violence Prevention, Criminal Justice Policy and Practice
Courses Taught: Women and Crime, Advanced Theory and Practice, Writing for Criminal Justice, Criminal Justice Ethics
Jay R. Vargas, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
[email protected]
Research Interests: Analytical techniques used in Forensic Science, Toxicology, Neuroscience, Pharmacology
Courses Taught: Introduction to Forensic Science, Ethics and Professional Responsibility, Forensic Chemistry, Clandestine Laboratory Investigations, Forensic Toxicology & Controlled Substances Analysis
Lecturers
Elizabeth Alvarez, Psy. D.
[email protected]
Dr. Elizabeth Velazquez has a Psy. D. in Clinical Forensic Psychology. She has 11+ years of experience in community policing. Some of her experience includes promoting, organizing, and developing events and/or programs to support community partnerships with law enforcement. Some of these events and/or programs focused on the education of municipal code enforcement, neighborhood cohesiveness, emergency preparedness, and the creation and facilitation of education programs to address juvenile delinquency. She has worked on treatment aspects of substance abuse and mental health. Specifically, she has experience treating dual diagnosis and substance abuse patients. She has also worked with the court system to create programs used by judges for diversion or sanctions. Dr. Velazquez first taught at California State University in 2016 and has taught CRIM 1010 - Introduction to Administration Justice, CRIM 2100 - Multiculturalism in Criminal Justice, CRIM 3010 - Written Communication in Criminal Justice, CRIM 3030 - Theories and perspectives in Criminal Justice, CRIM 3070 - Forensic Mental Health, CRIM 3090 - Juvenile Justice, CRIM 3100 - Ethics and Professional Responsibly CRIM 4020- Substance Use and Crime, and CRIM 4280 – California Criminal Justice Policy.
Carlos Chung, J.D.
[email protected]
Mr. Chung worked as a prosecutor for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, where he was assigned to the Hardcore Gang Division and the Major Crimes Division. He currently serves as a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge. He teaches Criminal Concepts and has taught Criminal Procedure in the past.
Margaret Finnegan, Ph.D.
[email protected]
Dr. Finnegan received her Ph.D. from UCLA. She teaches CRIM 3010: Written Communication for Criminal Justice and is interested in the history of criminal justice in America. She is also the Cal State LA CETL Faculty Fellow for Reading & Writing, where she shares reading and writing pedagogy with faculty across campus. Her work has appeared in American Quarterly, College Composition and Communication, Los Angeles Times, and other publications. She is also the author of Selling Suffrage: Consumer Culture and Votes for Women (Columbia University Press) and of the novels We Could Be Heroes (Simon Kids), Susie B. Won’t Back Down (Simon Kids), New Kids and Underdogs (Forthcoming from Simon Kids).
Joel Lofton, JD
[email protected]
Mr. Lofton is a Los Angeles Superior Court Judge currently assigned to an Independent Civil courtroom in Alhambra. In this assignment, he handles unlimited civil lawsuits for all purposes. Examples of the types of cases he handles include Medical Malpractice, Wrongful Death, Breach of Contract, Lemon law, Employment Actions, and Defamation. Before this assignment, he presided over unlawful detainers in downtown Los Angeles and criminal cases in Lancaster. Before being appointed to the bench by Governor Edmond (Jerry) Brown in 2015, he worked as a deputy public defender both in Los Angeles and Riverside Counties. He has also tried cases in the military during his time as a JAG officer in the United States army. Most of those court martials involved sexual assault allegations at active-duty installations. Mr. Lofton was born and raised in Los Angeles.
Jeffry R. Phillips, DPA
[email protected]
Dr. Phillips received his B.S. in Criminal Justice and his M.S. degree in Public Administration, both from CSULA, and is a Doctor of Public Administration (DPA); at the University of La Verne. Dr. Phillips has served over 30 years with local and federal law enforcement agencies. He is currently the Facilities Management Division commanding officer for the Los Angeles Police Department. Dr. Phillips has also served as a consultant for Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. He is currently the vice president of the Hispanic American Command Officer's Association. Dr. Phillips has been an adjunct professor for 15 years and has been at CSULA for five years; he teaches Ethics and Professional Responsibility, Research Methods, and other criminal justice courses.
Nicole Smolter, M.S.
[email protected]
Ms. Smolter has experience in offender reentry, domestic violence, and program evaluation. She earned her Master's degree at American University and completed additional graduate studies at the University of Delaware in Criminology and Sociology. She teaches various classes, including Correctional Systems, Research Methods, Statistics, and Criminological Theory.
Rick Sternfeld, J.D.
[email protected]
Mr. Sternfeld is a criminal defense attorney with the Alternate Public Defender’s office. He has practiced criminal defense for over 35 years. For the last 13 years, his practice has been focused on murder and death penalty cases. Mr. Sternfeld received his law degree from the Southwestern School of Law. He has taught in the School of Criminal Justice and Criminalistics since 2018.
Tracy Webb, M.S., J.D.
[email protected]
Tracy Webb is the Communication & Law Enforcement Outreach Director for the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. Before this role, she was Counsel for Child Abuse Policy and Cyber Crime Prosecution at the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office. She is a career prosecutor who has spent most of her career prosecuting crimes against children and family violence cases, including domestic violence, physical, sexual, exploitation, and sex trafficking, and technologically facilitated crimes against children. Tracy was an active member of the Federal Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force for nine years and is currently co-chair of the Los Angeles County Cyber Crime Task Force, a position she has held for the past 14 years. She is an adjunct professor at Cal State LA, USC, and the University of California, Irvine. She is a frequent speaker locally and nationally in cybercrime, child abuse, human trafficking, and online exploitation. Her keynotes, presentations, and workshops are renowned for their generous mix of knowledge, humor, and the reality of the world of technology and exploitation. For the past 38 years, Tracy has dedicated her career to prosecuting criminals, supporting children and families, and educating law enforcement, students, and the community. She teaches Cyber and Technology-Facilitated Crime, Ethics, Leadership, and Senior Capstone courses.
Mark Zavidow, J.D.
[email protected]
Mr. Zavidow had a 30-year career as a deputy public defender, mainly as a member of The Office of the Los Angeles County Public Defender and The Office of the Los Angeles County Alternate Public Defender. His primary focus was in death penalty litigation, serving as a courtroom litigator and supervisor/trainer of attorneys assigned to handle capital cases. He also is a credentialed public school educator, teaching Advanced Placement and Honors English. He surfs badly. He plays the trumpet badly. He rides horses badly. And he skis badly. He excels at reading while sitting in a comfortable chair.
Staff
Paige Williams
Administrative Support Coordinator
Phone/Ext: 323.343.4615
[email protected]