Experts Directory: Minorities: General

José Luis Benavides

Department of Journalism
work: (818) 677-7242
email: jose.benavides@csun.edu
Also speaks: Spanish

• Spanish-language media
• Ethics media
• Diversity
• Media in Latin America

Learn more about José Luis Benavides: 

• CSUN Professor Receives National Award for Teaching Journalism
• CSUN Play to Explore the Lives of People Who Live on the Border
• CSUN's El Nuevo Sol Wins Emerging Youth Voices Award
• American Photographer John Kouns Donates Collection to CSUN

Scott Brown

Department of Journalism
work: (818) 677-3135
email: scott.brown@csun.edu

• Images of minorities and women in the media
• Literary journalism
• Cultural and societal factors regarding the media

Joyce Burstein

Department of Elementary Education
work: (818) 677-6850
email: joyce.burstein@csun.edu
Also speaks: Spanish

• Social studies
• Arts
• Multicultural education
• Teacher education
• Activism in teaching
• Social studies research in elementary schools

Learn more about Joyce Burstein:

Special Education Professors Developing High School Literacy Intervention Program for National Use

Edith Chen

Department of Asian American Studies
work: (818) 677-4966
email: edith.chen@csun.edu

• Asian American studies
• Race and ethnicity in the U.S. and Latin America
• Asian Pacific American women
• Chinese Americans
• Pedagogy
• Applied research
• Youth opportunity grant impact on Molokai, Hawaii
• Author: “Teaching About Asian Pacific Americans: Effective Activities, Assignments and Strategies for Classrooms”

Learn more about Edith Chen:

CSUN to Help Digitize 10,000 Documents, Oral Histories Relating to WWII Internment of Japanese Americans

Irene C. Cota

Department of Elementary Education
work: (818) 677-7893
email: irene.cota@csun.edu

• Bilingual/multicultural education
• Parent education
• Student teachers

Marquita Gammage

Department of Africana Studies
work: (818) 677-3112
email: marquita.gammage@csun.edu

•  African-American sociology
• Africana womanhood
• Popular culture
• Black women in the media
• Black women's health and wellness
• Author: "Representations of Black Women in the Media: The Damnation of Black Womanhood"

Learn more about Marquita Gammage:

• CSUN professor shares what taught her to be ‘unapologetically Black’
• Africana Studies Faculty, Alumni and Students Gather to Honor Department’s Origins

Shu-Sha Angie Guan

Department of Child and Adolescent Development
work: (818) 677-7249
email: angie.guan@csun.edu

• The ways social contexts (e.g. relationships, culture and technology/digital media) affect mental and physical well-being, particularly among ethnic minority and immigrant adolescents and young adults
• Cultural psychology
• Immigrant experiences
• Language brokering (immigrant translation/interpretation)
• Social support
• Digital/social media

Learn more about Shu-Sha Angie Guan:

Discrimination During Teen Years Can Have Health Repercussions Later in Life

Debra L. Hammond

Executive Director, University Student Union
work: (818) 677-2390
email: debra.hammond@csun.edu

• Multiculturalism
• Leadership
• Student development
• Customer service
• Team building
• Management
• Goal setting
• Program planning and development
• Organizational development, i.e. restructuring and strategic planning
• Restructuring and strategic planning
• Change management
• Nonprofit management
• Decision making
• Mentoring

Learn more about Debra L. Hammond:

• Debra Hammond, Natural-Born Leader
• Q&A with CSUN University Student Union Executive Director Debra Hammond
• CSUN's Oasis Wellness Center Receies Honor for Outstanding Institutional Design
• CSUN University Student Union Director Receives CSU's Highest Honor
• CSUN Student Recreation Center Recognized for Leading the Way in Student Wellness
• CSUN Student Recreation Center Receives Architecture Award

Michele Haney

Department of Special Education 
CHIME Institute
work: (818) 677-3874 / 2596
email: michele.haney@csun.edu

• Infant development
• Early childhood special education
• Families of children with special needs
• Mother/child interaction
• Early intervention within a bilingual/multicultural context
• Policy development relative to children

Learn more about Michele Haney:

• CHIME Marks 25 years of Providing Inclusive Education to All Children
• CHIME Institute (video) 

Virginia Huynh

Department of Child and Adolescent Development
work: (818) 677-7727
email: virginia.huynh@csun.edu

• Adolescence among ethnic minority and immigrant children

Learn more about Virginia Huynh:

• CSUN Prof: Discrimination Impacts Health & Substance Abuse Within Families
• CSUN Professor Finds Few Studies Look at the Well-Being of LGB Youth of Color
• CSUN Prof Studies How Social Status Can Affect a Teen's Health
• Discrimination During Teen Years Can Have Health Repercussions Later in Life
• Money, Family Obligations & Discrimination Hamper Student's College Dreams
• CSUN Professor's Study Links Even Minor Forms of Discrimination to Teen Sleep Loss
• The Changing Face of Racism (video)

Piljoo Paulina Kang

Department of Child and Adolescent Development
work: (661) 478-5184
email: piljoo.kang@csun.edu

• Developmental psychology
• Research methods
• Bilingual/bicultural development

Kristyan Kouri

Department of Gender and Women’s Studies
work: (818) 677-5018
email: kristyan.m.kouri@csun.edu

• Education
• Gender
• Race
• Family

Florence Kyomugisha

Department of Gender and Women’s Studies
work: (818) 677-5662
email: florence.kyomugisha@csun.edu

• HIV and AIDS in women and minority populations

Allen Lipscomb

Department of Social Work
work: (818) 677-7630
email: allen.lipscomb@csun.edu

• Trauma
• Mental health treatment with communities of color
• Author, "Black Male Grief Reaction to Trauma: A Clinical Case Study of One Man's Mental Health Treatment"

Marta Cristina López-Garza

Department of Gender and Women’s Studies
Department of Chicana/o Studies
work: (818) 677-6488 / 4785
email: marta.lopez-garza@csun.edu
Also speaks: Spanish

• Economic development
• Ethnographic field research
• Formerly incarcerated women
• Immigration and public policy
• Race and class studies
• Urban sociology
• Women’s/feminist studies
• Documentary filmmaking from a social science perspective
• Visual sociology (photography)
• Member, Community Coalition for Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment, South Los Angeles
• Member, Institute for the Renewal of the California Draw
• Co-author: “Regions That Work: How Cities and Suburbs Can Grow Together”
• Co-editor: “Asian and Latino Immigrants in a Restructuring Economy: The Metamorphosis of Los Angeles”
• Documentary: “ ‘When Will the Punishment End?’ Formerly Incarcerated Women Rebuilding Their Lives”

Lara Medina

Department of Chicana/o Studies 
work: (818) 677-3392
email: ara.medina@csun.edu
Also speaks: Spanish

• U.S. Latinos and religion
• Chicano/a religious history
• Religion and ethnicity
• Women and religion
• Liberation theology
• Popular religious traditions and transformations
• Dia de los Muertos
• Chicano/a Catholic healing traditions

Learn more about Lara Medina:

CSUN Chicana/o Professor Explores the Spiritual Healing of Ancestral Traditions and Knowledge in her New Book

Scott W. Plunkett

Department of Psychology
work: (818) 677-7480
email: scott.plunkett@csun.edu

• Program evaluation
• Parenting/family dynamics
• Neighborhood, family, school and peer influences on adolescent development (ethnic minorities)
• Gender differences
• Non-verbal communication
• Parenting education
• Communication and conflict resolution

Boris E. Ricks

Department of Political Science
work: (818) 677-5133
email: boris.ricks@csun.edu

• Racial and ethnic politics
• Political leadership
• Black politics
• Urban politics
• California politics
• Local politics
• Black elected officials
• County government
• Public policy

Learn more about Boris Ricks:

Science to Play Key Role in Future Elections, CSUN Prof Says

Cristina Rubino

Department of Management 
work: (818) 677-4440
email: cristina.rubino@csun.edu

• Employee stress and wellbeing
• Diversity issues and managing diversity
• Team processes, outcomes and composition
• Employee performance and engagement
• Recruiting and hiring
• Job design
• Leadership
• Training and development

Kathryn Sorrells

Department of Communication Studies
work: (818) 677-2853
email: kathryn.sorrells@csun.edu

• Intercultural communication
• Intercultural conflict
• Gender, race, class and sexuality
• Feminism
• Globalization

Learn more about Kathryn Sorrells:

• CSUN Graduate Students Present on 'A Year of Activism' 
• Civil Rights Icon Transmits Peaceful Protest Philosophies to CSUN Students
• Civil Rights Leader the Rev. Lawson Continues to Teach on Nonviolence at CSUN

Nate Thomas

Department of Cinema and Television Arts
work: (818) 677-3162
email: nate.thomas@csun.edu

• Issues of diversity and image portrayal in film and television
• The business and marketing of feature films
• Film and television production
• Issues in the foster care and child protection systems in Los Angeles County
• Child advocacy
• Producer/director: “East of Hope Street”'

Learn more about Nate Thomas:

• CSUN Dedicates Building Wing in Honor of Hollywood Foreign Press Association
• CSUN Awarded $60,000 From Hollywood Foreign Press for Senior Film Projects
• The Hollywood Reporter and Variety Rank CSUN Among Top Universities in Entertainment Education
• Variety Compares CSUN Alum's Film to 'Gravity,' 'Apollo 13'
• Matadors Get Bird's-Eye View of Golden Globes Red Carpet
• Film Executive Glenn Gainor Credits His Years at CSUN with Influencing His Movie-Making Decisions
• Hollywood Foreign Press Association Gives CSUN's Curb College Film Department $2 Million
• CSUN Professor Nominated for Regional Emmy for Work with FBI
• Northridge Film Professor to Receive One of the CSU's Highest Honors
• CSUN Film Program Awarded $50,000 from Hollywood Foreign Press
• CSUN Named Among Top 25 Film Schools by Hollywood Reporter
• CSUN Professor Wins Regional Emmy for Work with FBI
• Hollywood Foreign Press Award CSUN $50,000 for Senior Film Projects
• CSUN Film Students, Faculty Team with FBI for Intellectual Property Warnings
• Nate Thomas: 2015 Wang Family Excellence Award Recipient(video)

Maria Mami Turnmeyer

Department of Asian American Studies
work: (818) 677-4966
email: mariaturnmeyer@yahoo.com

• Asian American literature and poetry
• Postmodern and post-colonial literature
• Popular culture and the Asian American experience
• Creating writing workshops
• Diversity projects
• Asian American performance art and drama

Gregory Velazco y Trianosky

Department of Philosophy
work: (818) 677-7202
email: gregory.trianosky@csun.edu
Also speaks: Spanish

• Race
• Racism
• Racial identity
• Ethics
• Moral character
• Ethics of war
• Political philosophy
• Diversity and multiculturalism
• Diversity in faculty and curriculum
• Diversity training for corporations and governmental organizations

W. David Wakefield

Department of Child and Adolescent Development
work: (818) 677-5926
email: david.wakefield@csun.edu

• Ethnic and racial socialization of minority youth
• Children and teens’ understanding of race and ethnicity
• Minority adolescents’ experience with racism and discrimination
• Bridging the achievement gap between ethnic minority and white students
• Adolescent peer relationships (friendships)
• Adolescent/young adult risk taking behavior
• Bullying
• Childhood aggression
• First-generation college students pursuing graduate/professional degrees

Learn more about David Wakefield:

David Wakefield: Following His Dream to Bridge the Achievement Gap

Wendy Wen Wang

Department of Sociology
work: (818) 677-3597
email: wen.wang@csun.edu
Also speaks: Chinese

• Social demography
• Social stratification
• Race and ethnic relations
• Quantitative sociology
• Population movement
• Migration
• Fertility transition
• Occupational mobility
• Discrimination in the United States

Veda E. Ward

Department of Recreation and Tourism Management
work: (818) 677-3202
email:
Also speaks: Spanish

• Parks, recreation and tourism curriculum development, assessment and national accreditation
• Women, leisure and family—work life balance
• Community development—new urbanism, facilities, open space, human potential
• Leisure and spirituality
• Leisure and aging—nutrition, exercise and personal development
• Parks and recreation—statewide master plans
• Recruiting minorities into the parks and recreation profession

Teresa Williams-Leon

Department of Asian American Studies
work: (818) 677-4966
email: teresa.k.williams@csun.edu
Also speaks: Japanese

• General Asian American studies
• Biracial/multiracial identity
• Interracial marriages
• Race and ethnic relations
• Sociology of race
• Gender studies
• Japanese American identity
• Japanese American families