Experts Directory: Women’s Issues

Xochitl Alvizo

Department of Religious Studies
work: (818) 677-2742
email: xochitl.alvizo@csun.edu
Also speaks: Spanish

Feminism and religion
Congregational studies
Religion and social justice
Emerging church
Co-author: “Women Religion Revolution”

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

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 work:

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

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 Maquita Gammage work:

Africana Studies Faculty, Alumni and Students Gather to Honor Department’s Origins

Phyllis Herman

Department of Religious Studies
work: (818) 677-3925
email: phyllis.k.herman@csun.edu
Also speaks: French, Sanskrit

Indian (South Asian) religious traditions
Women and religion
Author: “The Constant and Changing Face of the Goddess in Asian Traditions”

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: Lara.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 work:

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

Breny Mendoza

Department of Gender and Women’s Studies
work: (818) 677-5641
email: breny.mendoza@csun.edu
Also speaks: German, Spanish

Political theory
Feminist theory
Latin American studies
Queer theory
Social movements
Gender planning
Author: “The Making of the Honduran Feminist Movement,” “Rethinking the Political” and “Rethinking Feminism in the Americas”

Learn more about Breny Mendoza work:

CSUN Launches Institute of Feminist Studies and Social Action

Ashley Samson

Department of Kinesiology
work: (818) 677-6151
email: ashley.samson@csun.edu

Sports psychology
Sports sociology
Student-athlete family stressors
Motivations and mental toughness in distance runners
"Think-Aloud" protocol in distance runners
Psychological changes during endurance sports training
Verbalization of thoughts during sports tasks
Women in sports

Nayereh Tohidi

Department of Gender and Women’s Studies
work: (818) 677-7218
email: nayereh.tohidi@csun.edu
Also speaks: Farsi, Persian, Tajik, Turkic

Middle Eastern culture
Middle Eastern politics
Gender and women’s issues in the Middle East, Central Asia, the Caucus and Caspian regions, Iran and Azerbaijan Republic
Human rights and democracy
Islam and Islamist extremism
Women, religion and politics
Islam and ethnic issues in Iran
U.S. policy in Iran and the greater Middle East
Co-author: “Globalization, Gender and Religion: The Politics of Women’s Rights in Catholic and Muslim Contexts”
Co-editor: “Women in Muslim Societies: Diversity within Unity”
Author: “Feminism, Demokrasy ve Islamgarayi dar Iran” (in Persian)

Learn more about Nayereh Tohidi's work:

Veda E. Ward

Department of Recreation and Tourism Management
work: (818) 677-3202
email: Veda.ward@csun.edu
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

Kathleen Young

Department of Health Sciences
work: (818) 677-4725
email: Kathleen.young@csun.edu

Women's health prevention education
Cultural competency in healthcare
Health policy
Health policy development
Community health advocacy
Health inequities
Comprehensive breast cancer prevention education/screening programming

Learn more about Kathleen Young work: