Graduate Emphasis Alumni
The following scholars earned their doctoral degrees from UC Irvine and completed the Graduate Emphasis in Chicano/Latino Studies. Their dissertation titles and placement highlight the interdisciplinary nature of the field.
2026
Dr. Brenda Bustos, Ph.D., MPH in Public Health
Dissertation: “Mamá De Dónde Eres?: Compositional Differences, Neighborhood Characteristics, and Birth Outcomes among Subgroups of Hispanic Mothers”
Placement: Postdoctoral Scholar, Department of Health, Society, and Behavior, UCI
Dr. Jennifer Cabrera, Ph.D. in Sociology
Dissertation: “Academic Instagram: How Latinas use Instagram to Navigate Doctoral Education”
Placement: Senior Program Coordinator for the Graduate Student Center, Cal State University, Fullerton
Dr. Alejandro Granados Vargas, Ph.D. in Education
Dissertation: “Multilingual, Multimodal, and Multiliterate Languaging Practices Across Contexts”
Placement: Assistant Professor in Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, CSU East Bay
Dr. Lauren Abigail Houchin, Ph.D. in Neurobiology and Behavior
Dissertation: “The Role of the Enlargement of Perivascular Spaces in the Pathophysiology of Alzheimer's Disease in Hispanic/Latino Older Adults”
Placement: Completing Medical Degree (M.D.)
Dr. Geidy Mendez, Ph.D. in Political Science
Dissertation: “In with the Old, Out with the New: The Rise of New Immigrant Resentment in Latino/a's Political Behavior”
Placement: United States CENSUS on the American Community Survey
Dr. Julybeth Murillo, Ph.D. in Sociology
Dissertation: “La Decision es Mia: Educational Trajectories of Latine Students”
Placement: School of Continuing Education, Santa Ana College, Adjunct
Dr. Jenniffer Pérez López, Ph.D. in Sociology
Dissertation: “Local Context, Transnational Space, and Legal Realities: Identity Development among Central American Children of Immigrants”
Placement: Teaching Pathway Postdoctoral Faculty, UC San Diego
2025
Dr. Diego Aleman, Ph.D. in Sociology
Dissertation: “Mentoring During the College Application Process Through the Perspective of First-Generation College Students of Color”
Placement: TBD
Dr. Maricela Bañuelos, Ph.D. in Sociology
Dissertation: “Seals and Leaks in the Latine Ph.D. Pipeline”
Placement: UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship, School of Education, UC Berkeley
2024
Dr. Veronica Valencia González, Ph.D. in Social Ecology
Dissertation: “Global Influences, Local Realities: Unraveling Intimate Partner Violence in Rural Michoacán”
Placement: Research Assistant Professor, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of South Carolina
Dr. Martha Morales Hernández, Ph.D. in Sociology
Dissertation: “An Asset-Based Approach to the Mental Health of Undocumented College Students in California”
Placement: UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Sociology, UC Merced
2022
Kayla Puente, Ph.D. in Education
Dissertation: “Examining the Development of Latinx Adolescents’ Science Intrinsic and Utility Values: A Family Systems Approach”
Placement: Assistant Professor of Psychology, Lewis & Clark College
2021
Dr. Deyanira Nevarez Martinez, Ph.D. in Urban and Environmental Planning and Policy
Dissertation: “Homelessness in Orange County: Examining the Role of the State through Street-Level Encounters”
Placement: Assistant Professor in the Urban & Regional Planning Program at Michigan State University
Dr. Archibaldo Silva, Ph.D. in Sociology
Dissertation: “Authentically Gay, Authentically Latino: Contesting Sexual and Ethnic Identity Boundaries”
Placement: Assistant Professor of Sociology, California State University, Long Beach
Dr. Jose A. Torres, Ph.D. in Criminology, Law and Society
Dissertation: “The Impact of the United States Immigration Enforcement Regime on Salvadoran Immigrant Fathers in the United States and Deported Fathers in El Salvador”
Placement: Assistant Professor in Criminology and Justice Studies, California Lutheran University
Dr. Michelle E. Zuniga, Ph.D. in Urban and Environmental Planning and Policy
Dissertation: “Beneficial or Disruptive Change: Perspectives of Neighborhood Change in Santa Ana, CA”
Placement: Assistant Professor, Department of Earth, Environmental and Geographic Sciences, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
2020
Dr. Karen Arcos, Ph.D. in Cognitive Science
Dissertation: “Short-term and Working Memory in Blind and Sighted Individuals”
Placement: UC President's Postdoctoral Fellowship, Dept. of Psychology, UC Santa Cruz
2019
Dr. Daniel Millán, Ph.D. in Sociology
Dissertation: “The Role of Family Household Composition and Household Transitions in the Educational Performance of Latina/o Children of Immigrants”
Placement: Core Fellow & Visiting Assistant Professor, Boston College
Dr. Alberto E. Morales, Ph.D. in Anthropology
Dissertation: “Experimental Ecologies: Expert Networks and Research Infrastructures in Panama's City of Knowledge”
Placement: Assistant Professor of Global Studies and Modern Languages, Drexel University
2018
Dr. Daina Sánchez, Ph.D. in Anthropology
Dissertation: “The Children of Solaga: Ritual, Identity, and Transnationalism Among the Children of Indigenous Mexican Immigrants”
Placement: Associate Professor, Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies, UC Santa Barbara
2017
Dr. Mark Anthony Ocegueda, Ph.D. in History
Dissertation: “Sol y Sombra: San Bernardino's Mexican Community, 1880-1960”
Placement: Assistant Professor of History, Brown University
2016
Dr. Edelina M. Burciaga, Ph.D. in Sociology
Dissertation: “The Latino Undocumented 1.5-generation: Navigating Belonging in New and Old Destinations”
Placement: Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of Colorado, Denver
Dr. Jonathan Calvillo, Ph.D. in Sociology
Dissertation: “Diverging Pathways of Assimilation: The Influence of Religious Affiliation on the Ethnic Identity of Mexican Immigrants”
Placement: Assistant Professor of Sociology of Religion, Boston University School of Theology
Dr. Cathery Yeh, Ph.D. in Education
Dissertation: “Mathematics, Language, and Learning: A Longitudinal Study of Elementary Teachers and Their Mathematics Teaching Practices”
Placement: Associate Professor, UT Austin
2015
Dr. Alfredo Carlos, Ph.D. in Political Science
Dissertation: “Economic Democracy: From Continual Crisis to a People-Oriented Economy”
Placement: Assistant Professor of Political Science and Chicano and Latino Studies, California State University, Long Beach
Dr. Raúl Pérez, Ph.D. in Sociology
Dissertation: “Navigating the Hurtline: Race in American Stand-up Comedy from Civil Rights to Color-Blindness”
Placement: Associate Professor of Sociology, La Verne College
2014
Dr. Alejandra Albarrán, Ph.D. in Education
Dissertation: “Improving School Readiness through Parent Education Programming: Understanding the Role of Community-Based Organizations in a Large Urban City Center”
Placement: Early Childhood Education Coordinator, Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services
Dr. Maria Patrice Amon, Ph.D.. in Drama
Dissertation: “Little Girls and Legal Defendants: Theatricalization and Performances of Innocence in Modern American Culture”
Placement: Stage Director and Theater Department Chair, Cal State University, San Marcos
Dr. Dana Nakano, Ph.D. in Sociology
Dissertation: “A Matter of Belonging: Dilemmas of Race, Assimilation, and Substantive Citizenship among Later Generation Japanese Americans”
Placement: Associate Professor of Sociology, California State University, Stanislaus
2012
Dr. Daisy Verduzco Reyes, Ph.D. in Sociology
Dissertation: “Latino Student Politics: Constructing Ethnic Identities in Organizations”
Placement: Associate Professor of Sociology and the Institute of Latina/o, Caribbean & Latin American Studies, University of California, Merced
2011
Dr. Nicolas Bravo, Ph.D. in History
Dissertation: “Spinning the Bottle: Ethnic Mexicans and Alcohol in Prohibition Era Los Angeles”
Placement: UC Presidents Postdoctoral Fellowship Program, History, UC San Diego
2010
Dr. Armando Ibarra, Ph.D. in Political Science
Dissertation: “Professor, School for Workers, University of Wisconsin Madison”
Placement: Professor, School for Workers, University of Wisconsin Madison