President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Awards 2004– 2005

Social Sciences

Melinda Yuen-ching Chen

Education: B.S., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Computer Engineering; M.A., University of California at Berkeley, Linguistics; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Linguistics

Dissertation: Speech Lost from Speech: The Cognitive Linguistics of Alienation, Objectification, and Reclaiming

Thesis Advisor: Eve Sweetser, Professor of Linguistics, University of California, Berkeley

Research Topic: Emotion in Cognition: Comparative Cognitive Strategies and Politics of Diasporic “Asians” in the U.S.

Mentor: Patricia M. Greenfield, Professor of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Gender and Women's Studies, UC Berkeley

Julie Chu

Education: B.A., University of California, Berkeley, Political Science/Mass Communications; M.A., New York University, Anthropology; Ph.D., New York University, Anthropology

Dissertation: Cosmologies of Credit: Fuzhounese Migration and the Production of Value

Thesis Advisor: Angela Zito, Professor of Anthropology, New York University

Research Topic: Examining silence and the unspoken in the production of knowledge about migration experiences via human smuggling networks from Fuzon, China

Mentor: Lisa Rofel, Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago

Julia Coates

Education: B.A., San Francisco State University, Anthropology; English (Creative Writing); M.A., University of New Mexico, American Studies; Ph.D., University of New Mexico, American Studies

Dissertation: Applies contemporary theory about identity construction to build a critique of histories that have been produced about the Cherokees. Challenges prevailing paradigms and offers an alternative historical overview.

Thesis Advisor: Les Field, Professor of Anthropology, University of New Mexico

Research Topic: A participant-observation study of diasporic Cherokee population in California with the goal of developing strategic civic and cultural relationships between the Cherokee Nation and its expatriates.

Mentor: Martha Macri, Professor of Native American Studies, University of California, Davis

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Native American Studies, UC Davis

Robin Maria DeLugan

Education: B.A., University of California, Berkeley, Anthropology; M.A., University of California, Berkeley, Anthropology; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Anthropology

Dissertation: Re-Imagining the Ties that Bind: State Practices of Nation Building in Post-war El Salvador

Thesis Advisor: Nelson Graburn, Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley

Research Topic: The Impact of Long Distance/Transnational Practices of the Salvadoran State on “Hermanos Lejanos”

Mentor:  Beatriz Manz, Professor of Ethnic Studies, University of California, Berkeley

Current Position:  Assistant Professor, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, UC Merced

Julie Dowling

Education: B.A., Southwestern University, English and Sociology; M.A., University of Texas at Austin, Sociology; Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, Sociology and Mexican American Studies

Dissertation: Explores the disjuncture between federal definitions and regional constructions of race, examining Mexican American responses to the U.S. Census race question. Utilizing both census data analysis and in-depth interviews with Mexican Americans in five Texas cities I investigate the complex relaationship between personal histories and local community constructions of identity that influences racial and ethnic identification.

Thesis Advisor: Christopher G. Ellison, Professor of Sociology, University of Texas at Austin

Research Topic: Mexican American racial and ethnic labeling in California; multiracial identities; sexuality and space.

Mentor: Denise A. Segura, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Santa Barbara

Current Position: Assistant Professor, Department of Latina & Latino Studies, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

Ann Aurelia López

Education: B.A., University of California, Riverside, Biology; M.A., University of California, Santa Barbara, Environmental Biology; Ph.D., University of California, Santa Cruz, Environmental Studies

Dissertation: From the Farms of West Central Mexico to California's Corporate Agribusiness: The Social Transformation of Two Binational Farming Regions

Thesis Advisor: Patricia Zavella, Professor of Latino and Latin American Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz

Research Topic: Farm Labor Contractors: An Ethnographic Resource for Determining Farm Worker Agrochemical Exposure and Post-NAFTA Rural Social Transformation

Mentor: Jeffrey Romm, Professor of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley; Patricia Zavella, Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz

Current Position: Research Associate with the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at the University of California, Santa Cruz

K. Wayne Yang

Education: B.A., Harvard University, Physics; M.A., University of California, Berkeley, Education; Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley (2004), Education

Dissertation: Discourses of reform and agency: The construction of an urban school reform movement

Thesis Advisor: Anne Haas Dyson, Professor of Teacher Education, Michigan State University

Research Topic: Graduating from the Oakland small schools movement: Does critical literacy translate into academic success?

Mentor: Jeannie Oakes, Professor of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles

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