CLS Faculty & Staff

FACULTY, (TENURED, TENURE-LINE)

José Anguiano wearing a black polo shirt outdoors

José Anguiano, Ph.D., Department Chair

Professor and Chair
Ph.D. Chicana/o Studies, UC Santa Barbara
Office: KH C-4069B
Email: [email protected]
Areas of Interest: Popular Music, Sound Studies, Audiences and Fandom, Popular Culture

Anita Revilla Tijerina wearing a blue top standing outside

Anita Revilla Tijerina, Ph.D.

Professor
Ph.D. Social Sciences and Comparative Education, Race and Ethnic Studies focus, UCLA GSEIS
Office: KH A 3048
Email: [email protected]
Areas of Interest: Muxerista and Jotería Studies, Critical Race Theory and Education, Social Movements, Comparative Ethnic Studies

Lourdes smiling wearing a blue top standing in front of a white background.

Lourdes Alberto, Ph.D.

Associate Professor,

American Indian and Indigenous Studies Faculty
PhD. English, Rice University
Office Location: King Hall D1059
Email: [email protected]

Areas of Interest: Chicana/o Literature, Indigenous Studies, Critical Ethnic Studies, Chicana Feminism, Diasporic and Migratory Indigeneities 

Alejandro Covarrubias sitting in front of a window wearing a polo shirt

Alejandro Covarrubias, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Ph.D. Race and Ethnic Studies in Education, UCLA
Office: KH C-3059
Email: [email protected]
Areas of Interest: Critical Race Quantitative Intersectionality; Movement-Building Praxis; High School Push-Outs; Transformative Resistance and Refusal

Lani with a red in her hair standing in front of a white background

Lani Cupchoy, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Ph.D. History, UC Irvine
Office: KH C-4035
Email: [email protected]
Areas of Interest: Public History; United States Transnational and Global History; History of the Américas; Asia; Asian American and Pacific Islander Studies; Chicanx-Latinx Studies; Indigenous Knowledge; Healing Systems (Curanderismo); Ethnic and Gender Studies; Critical Food Studies; Oral History; Visual, Digital, and Media Storytelling; Artivism; Civic Engagement; Education; K–12 Engagement; Policy-Making; Filmmaking
Olga Garcia sitting in front of trees wearing a black jacket and black scarf

Olga A. Garcia, M.F.A.

Assistant Professor

MFA, University of Texas, El Paso

Office: KH A3048 

Email: [email protected]

Areas of Interest: Chicanx Latinx Literature; Jotería Studies and global majority feminism(s); Black, indigenous, and racialized people(s) narratives of resistance; Literary Arts and creative writing as liberatory tools in academia, community, social movements, and future social imaginings. 

A woman wearing traditional-style clothing holds a decorative object while standing in front of a backdrop with a university-style logo and Spanish text.

Sandra J. Gutiérrez de Jesús, Ph.D

Assistant Professor
Ph.D. Native American Studies, UC Davis
Office: KH C-4035
Email: [email protected]
Areas of Interest: Native American and Indigenous Studies, Indigenous social movements and self-governance, transnational Indigenous migration, linguistic rights and revitalization, Indigenous media studies. 

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Valerie Talavera-Bustillos, Ph.D.

Professor
PhD. Education, UCLA
Office: King Hall B-3023
Email: [email protected] 

Areas of interest: Service-learning and Culturally-Relevant Pedagogy, Resistance Theory, Critical Race Studies, Parent Involvement, and Teaching. Chicana/Latino issues in College Preparation and Attendance.

A woman wearing a red top and a red flower in her hair smiles outdoors near the ocean, with palm trees and a white fence in the background.

Tarisi Vunidilo, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
PhD. Pacific Studies, University of Auckland
Office: King Hall D1059
Email: [email protected]

Areas of interest: Indigenous Museology, Archeology, Repatriation, Indigenous Knowledge and Language Revitalization; Oceania/Pacific Islands

Lecturers

Cynthia wearing a grey blazer, standing outside

Cynthia Alonso

Lecturer

Master of Arts Chicana/o Latina/o Studies, Cal State LA 
Email: c[email protected] 
Areas of Interest: Chicana Feminist Theory, Critical Race Theory, Transformative Educational Resistance, Social Justice Movements, Femtoring and Healing Strategies Within and Beyond Academic Spaces

Maria wearing a black top sitting on a sail boat

María R. Ambriz Hernández

Lecturer

Master of Arts in Spanish, Latin American Literature and Spanish of the Southwest

University of New Mexico (UNM)

Email: [email protected] 

Areas of Interest: Indigenous influences in Latin American Literature; Barro, Tierra, Agua & other elements in Women's Poetry of Mexico;  Humanismo Mexicano; The feminine Voice in Rosario Castellanos; Cantos de Maria Sabina.


 

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Lauren Arenson, Ph.D.

Lecturer
Ph.D. Intercultural Education, USC
Office: KH C-4069
Email: [email protected]
Areas of Interest: Issues of diversity, gender, health inequities, and environmental justice. Academic researcher and supporter of the Gabieleno Band of Mission Indians- Kizh Nation.

A smiling graduate wearing sunglasses, a black cap and gown, and decorated graduation stoles stands outdoors on a grassy campus walkway.

Katherine Batanero

Lecturer

Master of Arts Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies, Cal State LA
Email: [email protected]
Areas of Interest: Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies, Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Chicana lesbian experience.

Karla Cativo wearing glasses and a white top with lemons on it

Karla Cativo

Lecturer

Master of Arts Latin American Studies, Cal State LA

Email: [email protected] 

Areas of Interest: Central American Studies, Higher Education, Latina and Latino Critical Legal Theory

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"Sonny" Richard E. Espinoza, Ph.D.

Lecturer
Ph.D. Film & Television - Critical Studies, UCLA
Office: Fine Arts 230
Email: [email protected]
Areas of Interest: race, history & mass media, social media & AI, film & TV history

A woman wearing a blue cardigan and light-colored pants stands on a wooden deck surrounded by trees.

Joanna Flores

Lecturer
EdD, MSSP, MSW
Office: KH C3059
Areas of Interest:  Immigration Studies, Education Policy and Race and Ethnic Studies
A woman wearing sunglasses takes a selfie outdoors in front of a large stepped pyramid under a clear blue sky.

Michelle L. Lopez, M.F.A.

Lecturer
Master of Arts, Art History
Master of Fine Arts, Studio Art
PhD Candidate, University of San Diego
 
Office: FA 230
Areas of Interest: Chicana feminist praxis, healing justice, healing and self-care, Chicana/o/x history, women of color feminism, decolonial teaching methods, Chicanx spirituality, Chicanx art, cultural production, leadership and knowledge production within fandom, Decolonial leadership models.
Claudia Mercado outside wearing a blue scarf and grey top

Claudia Mercado, MFA

Lecturer
MFA Television, Film & Theater, Cal State LA
Office: KH C4069
Email: [email protected]
Areas of Interest: Film History & Art, Film & Documentary Production, Chicanx/Latinx History, Art & Teatro, Mesoamerican Art & Culture, Women of Color Feminisms, Performance Art, Indigenismo, Poetry, Herbalism

Susana Morales wearing glasses and a blue blazer

Susana Morales

Lecturer

Email: [email protected]
Areas of Interest: Globalization, Feminist studies, Place-based movements, Intersections of Gender, Power, and Ethnicity, Informal Economy, and Decoloniality.

A man wearing red glasses, a gray hoodie, and a blue Los Angeles Dodgers cap looks toward the camera indoors.

Omar G. Ramirez

Lecturer
Email: [email protected]

Areas of Interest: Chicana/o/x art, Muralism, Cultural Production

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Leda Ramos, M.F.A.

Lecturer 
Founder/Director, Central American Memoria Histórica Archive, 
M.F.A., Rutger’s University
Office: KH C4069
Email: [email protected]
Areas of Interest: Chicanx & Central American art and film, Central American archives & collections, internationalist social movements

 

Ryan Santos wearing a striped shirt with a cream background

Ryan E. Santos

Lecturer
Ph.D. Education, UCLA
Office: KH B4006
Areas of Interest: Chicana(o) and Latina(o) history of education & law, critical race studies, critical pedagogy
A smiling person wearing a light pink collared shirt poses in front of a brick wall.

Kiki Rivera, MFA

Lecturer

M.F.A. Theatre and Dance, University of Hawaii at Mānoa

Email: [email protected] 

Areas of Interest: Playwriting, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander theatre, community engagement

Theresa Yugar wearing a a purple top standing outside

Theresa A. Yugar, Ph.D.

Lecturer
Ph.D., Claremont Graduate University
M.Div., Harvard University
Office: Fine Arts Building, Room 230
Email: [email protected]
Areas of Interest: Environmental Justice; Eco/feminism in the Americas; Sorjuanista Scholarship; Chicanas and Latinas in the U.S.; Women's Studies in Religion; Gender in Colonial Latin American History
Website: theresayugar.com