UCLA Ethnic Studies Centers & Departments

UCLA Institute of American Cultures (IAC)

The UCLA Institute of American Cultures (IAC) is the central hub to four ethnic studies centers- American Indian Studies Center, Asian American Studies Center, Bunche Center for African American Studies, and Chicano Studies Research Center. Together, the IAC and the four centers work to increase understanding of the emerging social and cultural realities in America through innovative research, events, fellowships, scholarship, grants, and civic engagement. In 2019, the IAC and the centers will mark their historic 50th anniversary during UCLA’s centennial year.

Institute of American Cultures

Ethnic Studies Center

Teacher Collaborators

In 2016, California passed AB 2016, mandating ethnic studies in high schools. While we are thrilled that California’s students will have the opportunity to learn about diverse and rich his- and her-stories, we also recognize that teachers must be supported, especially those thrust into teaching this for the first time.

Our commitment to teachers: To creatively mobilize UCLA IAC’s resources and networks, on- and off-campus, to support you. This website is one part of our commitment, aiming to be a living repository of resources. It is a work in progress and we want it to work for you, so please tell us how to improve it here.

Our Collaborators:
The most useful solutions come from the people who use them: teachers. We are proud to co-produce this website with the direct leadership and vision of recognized Ethnic Studies teacher leaders from across Los Angeles. Together they have decades of experience developing curriculum, publishing books and scholarly articles, and promoting ethnic studies across the nation.

Connie Lau

Connie teaches Ethnic Studies at Environmental Charter High School. As a graduate of UCLA Teacher Education Program, she has been teaching since 2015. She has taught in the Boyle Heights, El Sereno and Lawndale communities. This year she led a mutual aid effort at her school to provide monetary relief to her students and families as response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, she co-authored the article, Transforming Green and Sustainable Schools Curriculum Using Ethnic Studies Pedagogy. Her essential question for her course is: How does identity, power, and history impact our lives?

Jorge Lopez, PhD

Jorge is a teacher of Social Studies and Ethnic Studies at Roosevelt High School in the Los Angeles Unified School District since 2002. He is also a National Board certified teacher, member of LAUSD’s Ethnic Studies Leadership Team, and an Instructional Leader for the California Teachers Association, working towards the implementation of Ethnic Studies across the state. Dr. López recently received his Ph.D. in Education from Claremont Graduate University. His research focuses on the impact of Ethnic Studies on high school Latinx youth, and examines Ethnic Studies curriculum and pedagogy that centers youth narratives and testimonios. His published work is on Ethnic Studies and critical pedagogies.

Nivia Alvarado, M.Ed.

Nivia was born and raised in the Pico neighborhood of Santa Monica, California. Nivia currently works in East Los Angeles, a community that has a long history of youth activism. As an Ethnic Studies educator, Nivia hopes that when her students leave the classroom they are able to develop a critical consciousness that allows them to read the world, feel humanized and become agents of social change. She enjoys collaborating with other educators who are interested in creating curriculum through an Ethnic Studies framework and believes that these are often the best lessons because they are cultivated in community and with confianza.

Ron Espiritu, M.A.

Ron (B.A Amherst College, M.A.. Loyola Marymount University) has been teaching Ethnic Studies to high school students in Los Angeles for the past fifteen years. He currently leads the Camino Nuevo Charter Academy’s K-12 Interdisciplinary Ethnic Studies for All Program across 7 schools in the Macarthur Park Neighborhood of Downtown Los Angeles. Ron is a founding member of The People’s Education Movement, a grassroots community organization focused on social justice in and out of the classroom. Espiritu is also a National Board Member for the Education for Liberation Network and engaged in local and national campaigns that defend and promote Ethnic Studies.

Roxana Duenas, M.Ed.

Roxana is an Ethnic Studies and History teacher at Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights. In 2009, Roxana received a Masters in Education and a teaching credential from UCLA’s Teacher Education Program. Roxana helped co-create the curriculum for an Ethnic Studies course titled Boyle Heights and Me, focusing on developing a critical analysis of systems of oppression, methods of empowering transformative resistance and resilience. As part of the course and curriculum, students publish books with their testimonies and reflections on resistance, resilience and reimagination. Student authored books include: “This Is My Revolution,” “You Are My Roots,” and “We Are What They Envisioned.”

Project Partners

Project Faculty Leads

Lorrie Frasure, Ph.D.

Departments of Political Science and African American Studies

Gaye Theresa Johnson, Ph.D.

Chicana/o Studies and Central American Studies Department

UCLA Asian American Studies Center

Karen Umemoto, Ph.D., Director, UCLA Asian American Studies Center
Melany De La Cruz-Viesca, Associate Director, UCLA Asian American Studies Center
Tom Nguyen, EdIT Coordinator, UCLA Asian American Studies Center
Irene Park, Web Graphic Designer, UCLA Asian American Studies Center
Daniel H. Kim, Programmer, UCLA Asian American Studies Center

UCLA Center X

Emma Hipolito, Director, Teacher Education Program
Darlene Lee, TEP Faculty Advisor