Faculty

The graduate faculty in the Cultural Studies Graduate Group pursue research in a plethora of fields while drawing on a variety of methodologies. Many of our faculty focus on “identity politics”—the study of cultural representations of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and nationality—through both humanities and social science methods. Our faculty also research in the general areas of science, technology, technoculture, and cultural geography as well as in the specific arenas of cultures of food, fashion, tourism and travel, mobility, and disability studies. Visual culture (media, film, television, and virtual reality) and textual analysis are strong emphases among our faculty. We also have faculty who study entertainment and culture industries, drawing on archival materials as well as more representational practices. Many of our faculty study immigration, diasporas, and the situation of refugees as well as or in relation to the history of European colonialism, the modern phenomenon of globalization, and transnational cultural processes. We include faculty who practice ethnographic fieldwork techniques as well as literary close readings. What draws this large and diverse group together is a recognition of the importance of culture in relation to the equally important social categories of politics and economics. Many of our faculty collaborate in research and working groups, both formally and informally.

The following list of affiliated faculty members is organized by department.

African American and African Studies

  
Name Research Interests Email Address
Moradewun Adejunmobi African Studies and Literature   madejunmobie@ucdavis.edu
Bettina Ng’weno Cultural Anthropology, States, Property, Race and Ethnicity, Rural Societies, Politics, Social Justice, Equality, Latin America and Africa bngweno@ucdavis.edu
Halifu Osumare African American Performance, Hip Hop Youth Culture hosumare@ucdavis.edu
Patricia Turner African American Culture and Society paturner@ucdavis.edu
     

American Studies

 
Name Research Interests Email Address
Charlotte Biltekoff Food and eating in America from the late nineteenth to the present; the culture of food and health; cultural politics of dietary ideals cbiltekoff@ucdavis.edu
Carolyn de la Peña Technology and Culture ctdelapena@ucdavis
Ari Y. Kelman Sound studies, the margins of recording history, music and worship, Jews aykelman@ucdavis.edu
Jay Mechling Folklore, Popular Culture jemechling@ucdavis.edu
Eric Smoodin American Film History, 1895-1960; the American Film Industry; the Film Audience; the History of Film Studies as a Discipline esmoodin@ucdavis.edu
Julie Sze Environmental Justice, Race and Science, the Politics of the Urban Environment, Health & Risk, Social Movements and Community Activism jsze@ucdavis.edu
Grace Wang Asian American studies, popular culture and music, Ethnic American literature, transnational studies grwang@ucdavis.edu
     

Anthropology

 
Name Research Interests Email Address
Timothy Choy Ethnography; Critical Theory; Knowledge Practices of Exemplification; Environmental Politics; Hong Kong tkchoy@ucdavis.edu
Marisol de la Cadena Race, Masculinity, Social Movements mdelac@ucdavis.edu
Donald Donham Ethnography of modernity, political economy, intersections of class, race, gender and sexuality, history of anthropology dldonham@ucdavis.edu
Joseph Dumit Social Studies,  Medical Anthropology, Anthropology of Science, Technology & Computing jpdumit@ucdavis.edu
Suad Joseph Middle East Cross-Cultural Studies sjoseph@ucdavis.edu
Suzana Sawyer Environment, Indigenous People smsawyer@ucdavis.edu
Smitri Srinivas Contemporary Religious Movements ssrinivas@ucdavis.edu
Li Zhang Cultural and Political Anthropology lizhang@ucdavis.edu
     

Art History

 
Name Research Interests Email Address
Simon Sadler Architecture, Design, Urbanism and Architectural Theory since World War II sjsadler@ucdavis.edu
Blake Stimson Art and Visual Culture bstimson@ucdavis.edu
Heghnar Watenpaugh Urban and Architectural History in Islamic Societies hwatenpaugh@ucdavis.edu
     

Asian American Studies

 
Name Research Interests Email Address
Wendy Ho Asian American women waho@ucdavis.edu
Richard Kim Race and ethnicity, Transnationalism rskim@ucdavis.edu
Sunaina Maira South Asian youth, Popular Culture smaira@ucdavis.edu
Susette Min Asian American Literature, Ethnic American Literature, Asian American Art, Contemporary Art,   Visual Culture ssmin@ucdavis.edu
Stanley Sue Ethnicity and Mental Health ssue@ucdavis.edu
     

Chicano/a Studies

 
Name Research Interests Email Address
Angie Chabram-Dernersesian Chicano/a Cultural Studies adchabramdernersesian@ucdavis.edu
Sergio de la Mora Film Studies, Chicano/a studies sedelmora@ucdavis.edu
Miroslava Chavez-Garcia Immigration Policies, U.S.-Mexico   Border Relations, State Politics, Maquiladoras, People and Drug Smuggling, Environmental Problems and Community Activism in the Southwest chavezgarcia@ucdavis.edu
Yvette Flores-Ortiz Latina Feminist Psychologies ygfloresortiz@ucdavis.edu
     

Comparative Literature

 
Name Research Interests Email Address
Gail Finney German and Comparative Literature gefinney@ucdavis.edu
Neil Larsen Latin American Postcolonial Studies nalarsen@ucdavis.edu
Sheldon Lu Chinese and Hong Kong Cinema shlu@ucdavis.edu
Juliana Schiesari Feminist theory, Psychoanalysis, Renaissance and early modern literature, Women's Literature jkschiesari@ucdavis.edu
     

English

 
Name Research Interests Email Address
Gregory Dobbins Postcolonialism, Modernism gjdobbins@ucdavis.edu
Frances E. Dolan Early modern literature (especially drama), law, and history, the histories of marriage, the family, and domestic violence, feminist legal theory, early print culture, and gender and crime fdolan@ucdavis.edu
Elizabeth Freeman Gender and Sexuality esfreeman@ucdavis.edu
Hsuan L. Hsu 19th and 20th-Century U.S. literature, Asian American Literature, cultural geography, visual culture, comparative racialization, and theories of globalization hlhsu@ucdavis.edu
Mark Jerng Race theory; kinship studies; narrative and the novel; intersections between psychoanalysis and literature mcjerng@ucdavis.edu
Alessa Johns 18th Century British Literature amjohns@ucdavis.edu
Kathleen Frederickson Victorian literature and culture; feminist and queer studies; the history of biology, psychology, and the social sciences; Marxism; and psychoanalysis kfrederickson@ucdavis.edu
Desirée Martín U.S.-Mexico Border Studies, Chicano/a & Latino/a Literature and Culture, Performance Art and Theater, Subaltern Studies dmartin@ucdavis.edu
Colin Milburn Relations of Literature and Science, Science Fiction, Gothic Horror, History of Biology, History of Physics, Posthumanism cnmilburn@ucdavis.edu
Catherine Robson British Literature, Masculinity Studies cmrobson@ucdavis.edu
Parama Roy Postcolonial theory and literature; Victorian studies; feminist studies; cultural studies; appetite, consumption, taste/food studies proy@ucdavis.edu
Scott C. Shershow Deconstruction, Contemporary Law and Politics, History and Theory of Drama, Popular Culture, Early-Modern Theater scshershow@ucdavis.edu
Scott Simmon Film Studies, American Culture, 20th-century American Literature sasimmon@ucdavis.edu
David Van Leer American Cultural and Intellectual History, American Philosophy and Literature, Colonial Period through Civil War, 20th-century Popular Culture, Gay Studies, Minority Discourse dmvanleer@ucdavis.edu
Evan Watkins Literacy Theory, Gender Studies epwatkins@ucdavis.edu
Michael Ziser American literature before the Civil War, American nature writing, ecocritical theory, Anglophone settlement literature (Canada, Australia, South Africa). mgziser@ucdavis.edu
     

Environmental Design

 
Name Research Interests Email Address
E. Dean MacCannell Tourism, Consumer Culture edmaccannell@ucdavis.edu
     

French and Italian

 
Name Research Interests Email Address
Julia Simon 18th Century French Literature jsimon@ucdavis.edu
     

German and Russian

 
Name Research Interests Email Address
Jaimey Fisher Film Studies, 20th-century German Literature, Intellectual History jrfisher@ucdavis.edu
Elisabeth Krimmer Gender Studies, History and Representation of War, German Literature 1800-2000, Hollywood film emkrimmer@ucdavis.edu
Gerhard Richter

European Critical Thought since Kant; Frankfurt School; Deconstruction; literary and aesthetic theory

grichter@ucdavis.edu
     

History

 
Name Research Interests Email Address
David Biale Jewish Intellectual and Cultural History, European Intellectual History, History of Religion dbiale@ucdavis.edu
Omnia El Shakry History of the Modern Middle East (especially Egypt), History of Colonialism, Modern European Intellectual History oselshakry@ucdavis.edu
Catherine Kudlick Disability Studies cjkudlick@ucdavis.edu
Benjamin Lawrance Colonialism, Pan-Africanism, Law, West Africa, Borderlands, Human Rights, AIDS bnlawrance@ucdavis.edu
Sudipta Sen Late Medieval and Modern India, British Empire ssen@ucdavis.edu
Clarence Walker Black American history: 1450-Present, 19th-century social and political history of the United States cewalker@ucdavis.edu
     

Human and Community Development

 
Name Research Interests Email Address
Michael P. Smith Urban Social Theory mpsmith@ucdavis.edu
   

Landscape Architecture

  
Name Research Interests Email Address
Michael Rios Public policy, professional practice, and citizen participation in regional planning and urban design mxrios@ucdavis.edu
   

Linguistics

 
Name Research Interests Email Address
Vaidehi Ramanathan Sociopolitical aspects of language learning and teaching, vernacular languages, globalization, language policies, teacher education, pedagogies, and literacy practices vramanathan@ucdavis.edu
   

Religious Studies

 
Name Research Interests Email Address
Alison Coudert History of Christianity, Religion and Science, Jewish-Christian Relations, Women and Religion, Comparative Mysticisms apcoudert@ucdavis.edu
     

School of Education

 
Name Research Interests Email Address
Karen Watson-Gegeo Sociolinguistics, Bilingual Education kawatsongegeo@ucdavis.edu
     

School of Law

 
Name Research Interests Email Address
Kevin Johnson Critical Race Theory, Immigration krjohnson@ucdavis.edu
Madhavi Sunder Law and Culture, Intellectual Property msunder@ucdavis.edu
     

Sociology

  
Name Research Interests Email Address
Ryken Grattet Governance, Judicial Decision Making, Law Enforcement, Public Policy, Intergroup Violence & Conflict rtgrattet@ucdavis.edu
Laura Grindstaff Popular Culture, Feminist Theory lagrindstaff@ucdavis.edu
John Hall Cultural Epistemology jrhall@ucdavis.edu
Bruce Haynes Race and Ethnicity bdhaynes@ucdavis.edu
Diane Wolf Gender and the “Third World” dlwolf@ucdavis.edu
     

Spanish and Portuguese

  
Name Research Interests Email Address
Robert Irwin Mexican Cultural Studies rmirwin@ucdavis.edu
Michael Lazzara Contemporary Latin American Literature and Culture, Literature of the Southern Cone, Chilean Culture, Dictatorships, Democratic Transitions, Trauma, Memory, Exile and Migration milazzara@ucdavis.edu
Ana Peluffo Latin American literatures and cultures with an emphasis on the 19th and early 20th century. Areas of interest include gender and ethnicity, literature and the nation, Andean and Southern Cone cultures, poetry and visual arts aopeluffo@ucdavis.edu
     

TechnoCultural Studies

 
Name Research Interests Email Address
Frances Dyson Sound and New Media fmdyson@ucdavis.edu
Douglas Kahn History and Theory of Sound in the Arts, the Arts and Technology, and Electromagnetism and the Arts djkahn@ucdavis.edu
Robert Ostertag Technology, culture, art, politics, machines, and the environment rostertag@ucdavis.edu
Julie Wyman Gender and the body jfwyman@ucdavis.edu
     

Textiles and Clothing

 
Name Research Interests Email Address
Susan Kaiser Feminist Studies of Fashion and Science sbkaiser@ucdavis.edu
Margaret Rucker Sexual Orientation on Consumer Behavior mhrucker@ucdavis.edu
     

Theatre and Dance

 
Name Research Interests Email Address
Lynette Hunter History of Rhetoric and Performance lhunter@ucdavis.edu
Jon Rossini Ethnicity and Theatre jdrossini@ucdavis.edu
     

University Writing Program

 
Name Research Interests Email Address
Carl Whithaus Impact of information technology on literacy practices; writing assessment; writing in the sciences and engineering cwwhithaus@ucdavis.edu
     

Women and Gender Studies

 
Name Research Interests Email Address
Elizabeth L. Constable French Literature elconstable@ucdavis.edu
Maxine Craig Sociology of the body, masculinities, and
intersections of race, class and gender.		 mbcraig@ucdavis.edu
Wendy Ho Asian American women waho@ucdavis.edu
Suad Joseph Middle East Cross-Cultural Studies sjoseph@ucdavis.edu
Susan Kaiser Feminist Studies of Fashion and Science sbkaiser@ucdavis.edu
Caren Kaplan Travel, Mobility, Transnational Cultural Studies cjkaplan@ucdavis.edu
Anna K. Kuhn Feminist Theory, Film Studies akkuhn@ucdavis.edu
Luz Mena Latin America, Gender, Music lmmena@ucdavis.edu
Kimberly Nettles Feminist methodology and epistemology, particularly ethnography, reflexive ethnography, and auto-ethnography; Black women identity; African Diaspora; food politics; race, gender and food cultures kdnettles@ucdavis.edu
Margaret Swain Gender and Global Issues mbswain@ucdavis.edu