Current President’s Postdoctoral Fellows
2008–2009
Arts & Humanities
Michelle Armstrong-Partida
Education: B.S., Texas A&M University, Marine Biology; M.A., University of Iowa, History; Ph.D., University of Iowa, History
Dissertation: Misbehaving Clerics: Sexuality, Masculinity, and Pastoral Care in Fourteenth-Century Catalunya
Thesis Advisor: Constance Berman, Professor of History, University of Iowa
Research Topic: Priests and their Concubines: Clerical Families in Fourteenth-Century Catalunya
Mentor: Teofilo Ruíz, Professor of History, University of California, Los Angeles
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of History, University of California, Los Angeles
Education: B.A., University of California, Berkeley, Ethnic Studies; M.A., New York University, Performance Studies; Ph.D., New York University, Performance Studies
Dissertation: Intimate Acts, Martial Cultures: Performance and Belonging in Filipino America
Thesis Advisor: José Esteban Munoz, Professor and Chair of Performing Arts, New York University
Research Topic: Intimacy, Deviance, and Belonging in Filipino/Filipino American Performance and Culture; Asian Americans and War; Race, Gender, and American Popular Culture
Mentor: Deborah Wong, Professor of Music, University of California, Riverside
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Music, University of California, Riverside
Web Site: http://www.music.ucr.edu/people/faculty/balance/index.html
Ofelia Ortiz Cuevas
Education: B.A., University of California, Berkeley, Interdisciplinary Studies; M.A., University of California, San Diego, Ethnic Studies; Ph.D., University of California, San Diego, Ethnic Studies
Dissertation: Mortifications of the Flesh: Racial Discipline in a Time of Crisis
Thesis Advisors: Denise Ferreira Da Silva, Professor of Ethnic Studies, University of California, San Diego and Yen Le Espiritu, Professor of Ethnic Studies, University of California, San Diego
Research Topic: Visual Regimes of Punishment: The Racial Body, Crisis and the State
Mentor: Dylan Rodriguez, Professor of Ethnic Studies, University of California, Riverside
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Ethnic Studies, University of California, Riverside
Michelle Erai
Education: B.A., Victoria University, Sociology and Women's Studies; M.A., Victoria University, Social Science Research; Ph.D., University of California , Santa Cruz , History of Consciousness (Feminist Studies)
Dissertation: In the Shadow of Manaia: Colonial Narratives of Violence against Maori Women, 1820-1870
Thesis Advisor: Angela Y. Davis, Professor of History of Consciousness (Feminist Studies), University of California, Santa Cruz
Research Topic: E Rua, Wahine Whakataparepare: Two Framings of Maori Women – A Narrative Picture-book, and Mihiwera: Theorizing Violence in the Pacific
Mentor: Piya Chatterjee, Professor of Women's Studies, University of California, Riverside
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Women’s Studies, University of California, Riverside
David G. García
Education: B.A., University of California, Los Angeles, Sociology; M.A., University of California, Los Angeles, Latin American Studies; Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, U.S. History
Dissertation: The Evolution of a Critical Race Theater: Culture Clash and Chicana/o Performance Art, 1965-2005
Thesis Advisor: Juan Gómez-Quiñones, Professor of History, University of California, Los Angeles
Research Topic: Culture Clash: Critical Race Satire for Urgent Times
Mentor: George Lipsitz , Professor of Sociology and Black Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara
Education: B.A., California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Liberal Studies; M.A., California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Education; M.A., University of California, Santa Barbara, French; Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara, French
Dissertation: From Cultural Transgressions to Literary Transformations: Recasting Feminine Archetypes in French Caribbean Women's Autobiography
Thesis Advisor: Eric Prieto, Professor of French and Italian, University of California, Santa Barbara
Research Topic: Daring Domestics: Serving and Renegotiating National Identity in France and the United States
Mentor: Jacqueline Bobo, Professor of Women's Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Women Studies Program, University of California, Santa Barbara
Brian Klopotek
Education: B.A., Yale University, Anthropology; Ph.D, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, American Studies
Dissertation: The Long Outwaiting: Federal Recognition Policy in Three Louisiana Indian Communities
Thesis Advisor: Brenda Child, Professor of American Studies, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Research Topic: Recognition Odysseys: Race, Sovereignty, and the Politics of Federal Recognition of American Indian Tribes
Mentor: Tom Biolsi, Professor of Ethnic Studies, University of California, Berkeley
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Ethnic Studies, University of California, Berkeley
Karina Oliva Alvarado
Education: B.A., University of California, Berkeley, English; M.A., University of California, Berkeley, Ethnic Studies; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Ethnic Studies
Dissertation: Transnational Lives and Texts: Writing and Theorizing U.S./ Central American Subjectivities
Thesis Advisor: José David Saldivar, Professor of Ethnic Studies, University of California, Berkeley
Research Topic: A Literary and Historical Analysis of Novels, Testimonio and Poetry produced by First and Second Generation of Central American Born and/or Raised in the U.S. that Explores Emergent Issues of Subjectivity as New American “Border” and “Transnational” Identities.
Mentor: Rafael Perez-Torres, Professor of English, University of California, Los Angeles
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of English, University of California, Los Angeles
Elizabeth Stordeur Pryor
Education: B.A., Tufts University, English; M.A., Cornell University , History; Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara, History
Dissertation: “‘Jim Crow’ Cars, Passport Denials and Atlantic Crossings: African-American Travel, Protest and Citizenship at Home and Abroad, 1827-1865”
Thesis Advisor: Patricia Cline Cohen, Professor of History, University of California, Santa Barbara
Research Topic: “Disabled Citizenship,” African-American Mobility and the Debates over Black Citizenship before the Civil War.
Mentor: Cheryl Harris, Professor of Law, University of California, Los Angeles
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Law, University of California, Los Angeles
Hilda Mercedes Romero
Education: B.A., Barnard College, English; M.A., University of California, Berkeley, Ethnic Studies; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Ethnic Studies
Dissertation: Wonder's Collapse
Thesis Advisor: Jose David Saldivar, Professor of Ethnic Studies and English, University of California, Berkeley
Research Topic: “Still Life: Black Radical Movement and Courtroom Drawings, 1971”
Mentor: Gina Dent, Professor of Feminist Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Feminist Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz
Juan L. Sánchez
Education: B.A., Biola University , English; M.A., California State University, Long Beach, English; Ph.D., University of Notre Dame, English
Dissertation: Spain and the British Romantic Imagination
Thesis Advisor: Greg Kucich, Professor of English, University of Notre Dame
Research Topic: Latin America and the British Romantic Imagination: Reconciling Empire and the Modern Liberal State
Mentor: Ian Duncan, Professor of English, University of California, Berkeley
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of English, University of California, Berkeley
Daphne Taylor-García
Education: B.A. (Honors), Trent University, Indigenous Studies/Cultural Studies; B.Ed., Queen's University, Concurrent Education; M.A., University of California, Berkeley, Ethnic Studies; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Comparative Ethnic Studies
Dissertation: Theorizing “The Americas ”: Sexuality, Sociogeny and Print Capital in the Long Sixteenth Century
Thesis Advisor: Laura E. Perez, Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies, University of California, Berkeley
Research Topic: The Articulation of Geopolitical Difference in Early Colonial Nahuatl Print Culture
Mentor: Chela Sandoval, Professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara
Education: B.A., Wesleyan University, Religion and Music; M.A., University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Cultural Anthropology; Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz, History of Consciousness
Dissertation: Race, Affective Labor and Biocapital in the Transmission of Value Between India and America
Thesis Advisors: James Clifford, Professor of History of Consciousness, University of California, Santa Cruz; Neferti Tadiar, Associate Professor of History of Consciousness, University of California, Santa Cruz
Research Topic: Affective Labor and India's Call Center Industry
Mentor: Aihwa Ong, Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley
Biological Sciences
Roberto M. Aguilar
Education: B.S., University of Texas at San Antonio, Biology; Ph.D., University of Texas at San Antonio, Biology
Dissertation: Characterization of Growth Hormone Receptors in a Neuronal Cell Line of Rat Hippocampal Origin (H19-7): A Model for Determining the Biological Actions of Growth Hormone in Neuronal Cells
Thesis Advisor: Luis S. Haro, Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology, The University of Texas at San Antonio
Research Topic: Development of a Bilateral Cervical Contusion Model in Mice
Mentors: Oswald Steward, Professor of Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of California, Irvine and Frances Leslie, Professor of Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of California, Irvine
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, University of California, Irvine
Jackelyn Alva
Education: B.S., University of California, Los Angeles, Cell and Molecular Biology; Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, Molecular Biology
Dissertation: Investigation of the contribution of the Notchl signaling pathway during vascular morphogenesis
Thesis Advisor: Luisa Iruela-Arispe, Professor of Molecular Biology, University of California, Los Angeles
Research Topic: Investigating the mechanisms that cause human embryonic stem cell transformation and the use of HESCs as a tumor model system
Mentor: April Pyle, Professor of Molecular, Cell & Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Molecular, Cell & Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles
Laura Bartley
Education: B.A., Swarthmore College, Biology; Ph.D., Stanford University, Biochemistry
Dissertation: Insights into RNA Tertiary Folding: Examination of Structure Formation between the P1 Helix and the Pre-folded Tetrahymena Group I Ribozyme
Thesis Advisor: Daniel Herschlag, Professor of Biochemistry, Stanford University
Research Topic: The Regulation and Roles of Transcription Factors in Rice Innate Immunity
Mentor: Pamela C. Ronald, Professor of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Plant Pathology, University of California, Davis
Wesley Clapp
Education: B.A., Oberlin College, Neuroscience; Ph.D., University of Auckland, (New Zealand), Psychology/Neuroscience
Dissertation: Non-invasive Induction of Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) in Human Sensory Cortex
Thesis Advisor: Michael C. Corballis, Professor of Neuroscience, University of Auckland
Research Topic: Alterations in Neural Networks Underlying Attention and Memory in Cognitive Aging
Mentor: Adam Gazzaley, Professor of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco
Alberto Cruz-Martín
Education: B.S., Universidad de Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, Biology; Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, Neuroscience
Dissertation: Lack of balance between excitation and inhibition among synaptic connections of CA? pyramidal neurons
Thesis Advisor: Felix Schweizer, Professor of Neurobiology, University of California, Los Angeles
Research Topic: Mechanisms Responsible for deudritic spine abnormalities in Fragile X syndrome
Mentor: Carlos Portera-Cailliau, Professor of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Neurology, University of California, Los Angeles
Education: B.S., Hebrew University, Biology and Computer Science; M.S., Hebrew University, Neural Computation; Ph.D., Hebrew University, Neural Computation
Dissertation: Information Flow in Neocortical Pathways
Thesis Advisor: Misha Tsodyks, Professor of Neurobiology, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
Research Topic: Functional Connectivity and Information Flow in the Human Brain: Multimodal Neuroimaging and Electrophysiological Studies.
Mentor: Robert T. Knight, Professor of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley
Amanda L. Lewis
Education: B.S., California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, Biological Sciences; Ph.D., University of California, San Diego, Biological Sciences
Dissertation: Discovery, Characterization, and Pathological Relevance of Sialic Acid O-Acetylation in Group B Streptococcus
Thesis Advisor: Ajit Varki, Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Diego
Research Topic: The Role of Sialic Acids in bacterial Pathogenesis
Mentor : Victor Nizet, Professor of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego
Education: B.A., Boston College, Psychology; Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara, Psychology
Dissertation: Empathic Forecast Confirmation: Inducing Expected Emotions in Others
Thesis Advisor: Diane M. Mackie, Professor of Psychology and Communication, University of California, Santa Barbara
Research Topic: How cultural differences in cognitive processes influence estimates of others' stress response, which in turn determine the amount and type of social support provided and others' psychological and biological stress
Mentor: Shelley E. Taylor, Professor of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles
Serena Moseman
Education: B.S., University of California, San Diego, Ecology, Behavior, Evolution; M.S., Scripps Institution of Oceanography (UC San Diego ), Oceanography; Ph.D., Scripps Institution of Oceanography (UC San Diego ), Oceanography
Dissertation: Diversity and function from the ground up: Microbial mediation of wetland plant structure and ecosystem function via nitrogen fixation
Thesis Advisor: Lisa A. Levin, Professor of Integrative Oceanography, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego
Research Topic: Denitrification and microbial diversity in coastal wetlands
Mentor: Patricia Holden, Professor of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Environmental Science & Management, University of California, Santa Barbara
Corinne Richards
Education: B.S., University of Michigan, Biology and Chemical Engineering; Ph.D., University of Michigan, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Dissertation: An Integrative Approach to the Conservation of Panamanian Golden Frogs
Thesis Advisor: L. Lacey Knowles, Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan and Ronald A. Nussbaum, Professor of Biology, University of Michigan
Research Topic: Selection and the Evolution of Morphological Diversity Among Strawberry Poison Dart Frogs of the Bocas del Toro Archipelago
Mentors: Jim McGuire, Professor of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley; Eileen Lacey, Professor of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley
Heather Van Epps
Education: B.S., University of Illinois, Urbana, Biochemistry; Ph.D., University of Washington, Biochemistry
Dissertation: Synaptojanin's role in vision and photoreceptor ribbon synaptic architecture
Thesis Advisor: James B. Hurley and Susan Brockerhoff, Professors of Biochemistry, University of Washington
Research Topic: Molecular Mechanisms of Synapse Specification
Mentor: Yishi Jin, Professor of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Cruz
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Physiology, University of California, San Diego
Sacha Vignieri
Education: B.A., University of California, Berkeley, Integrative Biology; Ph.D., University of Washington, Zoology
Dissertation: Dispersal, disturbance, and distance: the connection between ecological processes and spatial genetic patterns in the Pacific jumping mouse (Zapus trinotatus)
Thesis Advisor: G. Jim Kenagy, Professor of Biology, University of Washington
Research Topic: The influence of behavior, habitat, and landscape on adaptive coat coloration in the endangered Choctawhatchee beach mouse (Peromyscus polionotus allophrys)
Mentor: Joshua Kohn, Professor of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego
Mathematics, Engineering &Physical Sciences
Education: B.S., University of Asmara, Eritrea, Soil and Water Conservation; M.S., Michigan State University, Resource Development; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Biogeochemistry
Dissertation: Effect of Soil Erosion and Deposition on Soil Organic Carbon Storage, Loss, and Stabilization
Thesis Advisor: John Harte, Professor of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California , Berkeley
Research Topic: Dynamics of nanoparticulate oxides in the presence of organic carbon
Mentor: Jillian F. Banfield, Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Berkeley
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Berkeley
Cullen R. Buie
Education: B.S., The Ohio State University, Mechanical Engineering; M.S., Stanford University, Mechanical Engineering; Ph.D., Stanford University, Mechanical Engineering
Dissertation: Application of Electroosmotic Pumps to Miniature Low Temperature Fuel Cells
Thesis Advisor: Juan G. Santiago, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford
Research Topic: Carbon Nanotube Enabled Energy Devices
Mentors: Liwei Lin, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
Education: B.S., California State University, Dominquez Hills, Chemistry; Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Dissertation: Light-Induced Processes in Organic Chemistry: Quantum Tunneling, Decarbonylations in Crystals, and Solar Cells
Thesis Advisors: Miguel A. Garcia-Garibay, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles and K. N. Houk, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles
Research Topic: Robust, Efficient, and Orthogonal Materials Platforms: From Biomedical to Energy Applications
Mentors: Craig J. Hawker, Professor of Materials, University of California, Santa Barbara and Dennis O. Clegg, Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Materials, University of California, Santa Barbara
Sukanya Chakrabarti
Education: B.A., North Carolina State University , Physics, Philosophy; M.A., Georgia Institute of Technology, Physics; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Physics, Astrophysics
Dissertation: Spectral Energy Distributions of Embedded Protostars and Dusty Galaxies
Thesis Advisor: Christopher F. McKee, Professor of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley
Research Topic: The Dynamical and Photometric Evolution of Galaxies
Mentor: Leo Blitz, Professor of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley
Education: B.A., University of California, Berkeley, Physics; M.A., University of California, Berkeley, Physics; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Physics
Dissertation: Fluorescent Aerogels for the Capture and Identification of Hypervelocity Extraterrestrial Hypervelocity Particles
Thesis Advisors: Andrew J. Westphal, Associate Research Physicist 4, University of California, Berkeley; P. Buford Price, Professor of Physics, University of California, Berkeley
Research Topic: Development of Sample Handling Techniques for Laser-fluorination Mass Spectrometry of Cometary Particles and First Isotope Ratio Measurements
Mentor: Mark Thiemens, Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego
Teri Lynn Robinson
Education: B.S., Jackson State University, Chemistry; M.S., Louisiana State University, Chemistry; Ph.D., Jackson State University, Chemistry
Dissertation : Formation and Characteristics of Hydrogen Bonding Systems in Dihydrogen Bonded Compounds, Rare Nucleotides, and Clay-Nucleic Acid Base Complexes
Thesis Advisor: Jerzy Leszczynski, Professor of Chemistry, Jackson State University
Research Topic: Prebiotic Chemistry of DNA Bases
Mentor: Mattanjah deVries, Professor of Physical Chemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Physical Chemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara
Education: B.A., Harvard University, Chemistry & Physics; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Chemistry
Dissertation: Nanocrystals Assembly for Bottom-Up Plasmonic Materials
Thesis Advisor: Peidong Yang, Professor of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley
Research Topic: Biomimicry of Cephalopod Skin to Construct Tunable Photonic
Mentor: Daniel Morse, Professor, Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies, University of California, Santa Barbara
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies, University of California, Santa Barbara
Luis Velarde
Education: B.S., Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, Engineering Physics; M.S., New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Physics; Ph.D., University of Arizona, Chemistry
Dissertation: Photoinitiated Dynamics of Cluster Anions via Photoelectron Imaging and Photofragment Mass Spectrometry
Thesis Advisor: Andrei Sanov, Professor of Chemistry, The University of Arizona, Tucson
Research Topic: Molecule-surface scattering with velocity controlled molecular beams
Mentor: Alec Wodtke, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Santa Barbara
Devin Walker
Education: B.S., Hampton University, Physics; M.A., Harvard University, Physics; Ph.D., Harvard University, Physics
Dissertation : Theories on the Origin of Mass and Dark Matter
Thesis Advisor: Nima Arkani-Hamed, Professor of Physics, Harvard University
Research Topic: Framework to evaluate potential new models of electroweak symmetry breaking from generic LHC data
Mentor: Lawrence J. Hall, Professor of Physics, University of California, Berkeley
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Physics, University of California, Berkeley
Michael J. Williams
Education: B.S., University of Georgia , Athens , Mathematics; M.A., University of Georgia, Athens, Mathematics; Ph.D., University of California, Davis, Mathematics
Dissertation: Lens Space Surgeries on Tunnel Number One Knots
Thesis Advisor: Abigail Thompson, Professor of Mathematics, University of California, Davis
Research Topic: Dehn Surgery and Genus Two Heegaard Splittings
Mentor: Martin Scharlemann, Professor of Mathematics, University of California, Santa Barbara
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Mathematics, University of California, Santa Barbara
Social Sciences
Leisy Abrego
Education: B.A., Pomona College, Spanish; M.A., University of California, Los Angeles, Sociology; Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, Sociology
Dissertation: Barely Subsisting, Surviving, or Thriving: How Parents' Legal Status and Gender Shape the Economic and Emotional Well-Being of Salvadoran Transnational Families
Thesis Advisors: Rebecca Jean Emigh, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles and Vilma Ortiz, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles
Research Topic: Effects of Parents' Legal Status on Children Growing Up in Mixed-Status Families in the U.S.
Mentor: Leo Chavez, Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Irvine
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Irvine
Chelsea Blackmore
Education: B.A., Georgia Southern University, Anthropology; M.A., Florida State University, Anthropology; Ph.D., University of California, Riverside, Anthropology
Dissertation: Challenging “Commoner”: An Archaeological Examination of Social Identity and Class Formation at the Northeast Group, Chan, Belize
Thesis Advisor: Wendy Ashmore, Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Riverside
Research Topic: “Queerying” Ancient Maya Archeology: The Application of Critical Social Theory to Class and Identity Formation
Mentor: Rosemary Joyce, Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley
Marne Campbell
Education: B.A., University of California, Los Angeles , History & Afro-American Studies; M.A., University of California, Los Angeles, Afro-American Studies; Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, History
Dissertation: Heaven's Ghetto?: African Americans and Race in Los Angeles, 1870s-1910
Thesis Advisor: Brenda E. Stevenson, Professor of History and Afro-American Studies, University of California, Los Angeles
Research Topic: Heaven's Ghetto: Race, Class, and Revival in Turn of the Century Los Angeles
Mentor: Vincent Franklin, Distinguished Professor of History and Education, University of California, Riverside
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of History, University of California, Riverside
Education: B.S., Santa Clara University, Marketing; M.A., University of New Mexico, Sociology; Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara, Sociology, Women's Studies doctoral emphasis
Dissertation: ‘Where are the Women?’ Transnational Feminist Interventions at the United Nations World Conference Against Racism
Thesis Advisors: Avery F. Gordon, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara; Denise Segura, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara
Research Topic: The Role of the United Nations Committee to Eliminate Racial Discrimination on Anti-Racism Efforts in the United States
Mentor: Piya Chatterjee, Professor of Women's Studies, University of California, Riverside
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Women’s Studies, University of California, Riverside
Jelani K. Mahiri
Education: B.S., Morehouse College, Physics and Spanish; M.A., University of California, Berkeley, Anthropology; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Anthropology
Dissertation: Asphalt Dreams, Concrete Realities: Camelôs and the Struggle for a Space to Work in São Paulo, Brazil
Thesis Advisor: Stanley Brandes, Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley
Research Topic: Examine the Relationships between Expressive Culture, Ethnic and National Identity, the Body, Power and Public Space as exemplified in Bumba-Meu-Boi Celebrations in Maranháo, Brazil.
Mentor: Olga Nájera-Ramirez, Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz
Elisabeth Middleton
Education: B.A., University of California, Davis, Nature and Culture; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Environmental Science, Policy, and Management: Division of Society and Environment
Dissertation: “We Were Here, We Are Here, We Will Always Be Here”: A Political Ecology of Healing in Mountain Maidu Country
Thesis Advisor: Louise Fortmann, Professor of Environmental Science, Policy & Management, University of California, Berkeley
Research Topic: “Spaces of Representation and Resistance: Mapping Maidu Land Divestiture and the Characteristics of Maidu Activism” (the parallels between hydroelectric development and setting aside lands for conservation in terms of their affects on Maidu land ownership and Maidu activism for the lands)
Mentor: Ben Orlove, Professor of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis
Althea Scott Nixon
Education: B.A., Harvard University, Psychology; M.S., University of Pennsylvania, Education; Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, Education
Dissertation: From their own Voices: Understanding Youth Identity and Literacy Practices through Digital Storytelling
Thesis Advisor: Kris D. Gutierrez, Professor of Education & Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles
Research Topic: Understanding Technology Adoption at the Community Level: Youth Engagement with Digital Media in Urban Community Technology Centers
Mentor: Michael Cole, University Professor of Communication, Psychology, and Human Development, University of California, San Diego
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Communication, University of California, San Diego
Russell Rodríguez
Education: B.S., Santa Clara University, Anthropology; M.A., Stanford University, Latin American Studies; Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz, Anthropology
Dissertation: Cultural Production, Legitimation, and the Politics of Aesthetics: Mariachi Transmission, Practice, and Performance in the United States
Thesis Advisor: Olga Nájera-Ramírez, Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz
Research Topic: Musical Transnationality: Binational Cultural Production
Mentor: George Lipsitz, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara
Lilia Soto
Education: B.A., University of California, San Diego, Ethnic Studies/Latin American Studies; M.A., University of California, Berkeley, Ethnic Studies; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Ethnic Studies
Dissertation: Migration as a Matter of Time: Perspectives from Mexican Immigrant Adolescent Girls in California's Napa Valley
Thesis Advisors: Patricia Penn Hilden, Professor Emeritus of Ethnic Studies, University of California, Berkeley and George Lipsitz, Professor of Sociology and Black Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara
Research Topic: Shifting Identities of Mexican Immigrant Adolescent Girls, Time and Migration, Mexican Immigrants and Chicana/o Identities
Mentor: Abel Valenzuela, Jr., Professor of Chicana/o Studies, University of California, Los Angeles
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Chicana/o Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara
Education: B.A., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Sociology; M.A., University of California, Berkeley, Sociology; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Sociology
Dissertation: One Spirit, One Nation: The Politics of Potawatomi Cultural Revitalization
Thesis Advisor: Kim Voss, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley
Research Topic: Exploring the Recent Renaissance of Potawatomi National Identity
Mentor: Duane Champagne, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles
Current Position: President's Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles |
