People

Affiliated Faculty

Ralph Armbruster Sandoval

Chair, Professor

Chicano Studies

Professor Armbruster Sandoval specializes in race, labor, empire, social movements, urban studies, Latin American studies, pedagogy, Marxism, liberation theology. He holds a B.A. from Cal State University Long Beach, M.A.and Ph.D. from University of California Riverside.

Andres Consoli

Advisory Committee; Associate Professor

Gevirtz Graduate School of Education

Professor Consoli was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he received a licenciatura degree in clinical psychology at the Universidad de Belgrano (1985). He earned a Masters (1991) and doctorate in counseling psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara (1994), and received postdoctoral training in behavioral medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine (1994-1996). Prior to joining UCSB Andrés was professor and associate chair of the Department of Counseling, College of Health and Social Sciences, at San Francisco State University (1996-2013). Dr. Consoli's professional and research interests involve transnational collaborations, multicultural supervision, psychotherapy integration and training, systematic treatment selection, ethics and values in psychotherapy, access and utilization of mental health services within a social justice framework, and the development of a bilingual (English/Spanish) academic and mental health workforce.

Aida Hurtado

Advisory Committee Ex-Officio Member, Luis Leal Endowed Chair, Professor

Chicano Studies

Dr. Aida Hurtado is a Professor in the UCSB Chicano Studies Department and a prolific author. With an academic background in psychology and sociology, Hurtado has focused her research on social and ethnic identity, feminist theory, media portrayals of ethnic and racial groups and equity in education. Professor Hurtado made history as a featured speaker at the recent Women’s March in Washington D.C., said to be the largest such civic event ever in the U.S. Her book “Beyond Machismo: Chicana Intersectional Understandings of Latino Feminist Masculinities,” which she co-authored with Mrinal Sinha, a former graduate student who is an assistant professor at Cal State Monterey Bay, is often cited and becoming a staple in the field. The book is the result of more than 100 interviews with Latino men around the country ages 20 to 30, the book examines male views on feminism and gender consciousness. Dr. Hurtado holds a B.A. from Pan American University, M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

Dana Mastro

Advisory Committee, Professor Media Psychology & Intergroup Communication

Department of Communication

Dr. Dana Mastro received her B.A. in History from UCLA, her M.A. in Communication-Urban Studies from Michigan State University, and her Ph.D. in Communication from Michigan State University. Dr. Mastro’s research is aimed at increasing our understanding of media effects processes related to racial/ethnic stereotyping. To this end, her work investigates the influence of exposure to stereotypical racial/ethnic images in the media on perceptions of self and other as well as on interethnic/racial relations in society. This program of research is evidenced in three primary ways in her work. First, her research documents depictions of racial/ethnic minorities (primarily Latinos) on television and across the broader media landscape. Next, her work assesses the extent to which exposure to these characterizations influences White consumers’ real-world race-related cognitions, emotions, and behaviors. Last, her studies explore the degree to which media use impacts on the self-concept and social perceptions of Latino audience members. In testing these relationships, her research incorporates a broad range of quantitative methods (content analysis, experiment, survey, IAT, ECG, EMG) and diverse bodies of literature including those rooted in social identity theory and self-categorization theory; stereotyping and discrimination; and priming. Dr. Mastro’s most recent projects examine: (a) the effects of exposure to racially stereotypical humor on TV on physiological responses, social perceptions, and voting behaviors; (b) the impact of exposure to subtle racial/ethnic linguistic biases in the news on judgments about Latinos; and (c) the influence of exposure to both positive and negative racial/ethnic media portrayals on audience members’ self-concept, group identity, and esteem.

Melissa Morgan Consoli

Advisory Committee Chair; Associate Professor

Gevirtz Graduate School of Education

Professor Consoli specializes in multicultural, international and immigrant research, with an emphasis on Latino/a populations. In particular, she focuses on the areas of resilience and thriving and their relationship to cultural variables. All of this research is conducted through a social justice lens, utilizing qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods designs as well as community-based research paradigms. Her goal is for research to be culturally relevant, informative in the development of prevention and other community programs, and useful in addressing societal issues of concern for the populations with whom she works.

Laura Romo

Professor of Education, Former Director CSI

Gevirtz Graduate School of Education

Professor Romo's research has focused on the impact of the Latina mother-daughter relationship on adolescent well-being. Topics include how mother-daughter communication is associated with their dating and sexual behaviors, body image, academic achievement and aspirations. As a William T. Grant Foundation Scholar, she designed and implemented a community-based mother-daughter sexual health education program to improve communication between Latina mothers and daughters about dating and sexuality. She is currently evaluating the efficacy of a science-based curriculum created by her research team to increase Latino preschoolers’ understanding of basic health concepts. This project received funding from the National Institute of Health. At the high school level, she is implementing a theory-based science curriculum that teaches students about risk behaviors (e.g., e-cigarettes) that increase their risk for cancer in adulthood.