USC Rossier has announced the visiting scholars for its fourth annual Scholars of Color Research Lecture Series. The series, sponsored by the USC Rossier Office of Research and Faculty Affairs, brings in seven researchers throughout the 2019–20 school year to present to students, faculty and staff. This year’s scholars research topics ranging from preparing students for STEM subjects to pedagogy in teacher education to higher education policy, all through an equity-focused lens.
Dana Mil ler-Cotto,
University of California, San Francisco
October 8, 2019
Dauterive Hall LL-101, Noon
Dr. Miller-Cotto’s research applies a psychological, ecological systems theory perspective to math and science achievement. She aims to understand the associations among antecedent factors (e.g. SES, race) and opportunities (e.g., classroom instruction, home and child care experiences,) factors that shape children’s readiness in math and science.
Constance Lindsay,
UNC Chapel Hill
October 31, 2019
Dauterive Hall LL-101, Noon
Dr. Lindsay has worked in education policy in various contexts, applying her research training in traditional studies and in creating and evaluating new systems and policies regarding teachers. Lindsay’s areas of expertise include teacher quality and diversity, analyzing and closing racial achievement gaps, and adolescent development. Before doctoral study at Northwestern, she was a Presidential Management Fellow at the U.S. Department of Education.
Niral Shah,
University of Washington
November 6, 2019
Dauterive Hall LL-101, Noon
Dr. Shah’s research focuses on equity and implicit bias in STEM education. Although mathematics is often seen as “neutral” and “race free,” Shah’s research shows that math classrooms are highly racialized spaces. Through classroom observations and student interviews, he studies how false racial narratives (e.g., “Asians are good at math”) affect classroom interaction and serve to position students as more or less capable of learning math. Shah also studies how perceptions of status affect student learning in elementary computer science.
Cheryl Matias,
2019-2020 IRISE Visiting Faculty, University of Denver
November 20, 2019
Dauterive Hall LL-101, Noon
Dr. Matias’s research focuses on race and ethnic studies in education with a theoretical focus on critical race theory, critical whiteness studies, critical pedagogy and feminism of color. Specifically, she uses a feminist of color approach to deconstruct the emotionality of whiteness in urban teacher education and how it impacts urban education. Her other research interest is on motherscholarship and supporting woman of color and motherscholars in the academy.
Denisa Gándara,
Southern Methodist University
January 29, 2020
Waite Phillips Hall 403, 3 p.m.
Dr. Gándara’s research agenda broadly explores higher education policy formulation processes and impacts, especially on populations traditionally underserved in higher education. Her work appears in The Journal of Higher Education, Research in Higher Education, and Review of Higher Education, and she is a co-author of the book Outcomes Based Funding and Race in Higher Education: Can Equity be Bought? Dr. Gándara is the recipient of an AERA Research Grant and a dissertation fellowship from the Ford Foundation and the National Academies of Sciences.
Amalia Dache-Gerbino,
University of Pennsylvania
February 25, 2020
Time and Location TBD
Dr. Dache-Gerbino’s major research areas include the postcolonial geographic contexts of higher education, racial justice movements and the college access experiences of African diasporic students and communities. Her experiences as a former Cuban refugee and student traversing U.S. educational systems, such as urban K–12 schools, community college, state college and a private research intensive university inform her research and professional experiences.
Nolan Cabrera,
University of Arizona
April 9, 2020
Time and location TBD
Dr. Nolan Cabrera studies the racial dynamics on college campuses, with a particular focus on Whiteness, and was the only academic featured in the MTV documentary White People. Dr. Cabrera is also involved in the controversy surrounding the Tucson Unified School District’s former Mexican American Studies program. He is a recipient of the Spencer/National Academy of Education postdoctoral fellowship.
