Spring 2026 Cohort

Topics

Participating in this Learning Community has, in the very best way, shifted and reshaped my approach to my project, constantly challenging me to ask how I can avoid extractive practices and make sure my research questions are genuinely grounded in community needs.
Spring '26 Cohort Student

Supported by Campus Advisory Committee on Student Services and Fees (CACSSF) during the Spring 2026 semester, the Graduate Learning Community was thrilled to support 16 graduate students from various departments and disciplines to participate in a workshop series to discuss readings and hear from guest speakers on topics related to navigating community-based work, community-engaged scholarship, and the university.

Spring '26 Learning Community Schedule

Student Final Presentations

The Spring ‘26 Graduate Learning Community was split into four small groups around project themes. Each group worked together to create a final presentation that reflected on their takeaways from the community, which they presented to the larger cohort at their final session. 

Housing/Unhoused Cluster
Race and Gender Cluster
Indigenous Knowledge/Archiving/Storytelling Cluster
Migration Cluster
Although each project is very different, this cultivation of a group of scholars interested in community based work is very motivating to enact the humanistic work needed in the academy. I have learned about community-based participatory work through small mentions in classes of alternative methodologies that exist but it always seemed outside the realm of possibilities because of the unique community involvement needed. Through this short course and the open discussions, I feel more confident in making community-based work a central part of my current and future academic work.
Spring '26 Cohort Student

Spring 2026 Cohort Facilitators

Cohort Facilitator Degree / Program Project Title
Joanna Cardenas

PhD in African American and African Diaspora Studies,

Berkeley Law, Criminal Law & Justice Center

 Gendered Violence: Surviving South Central Los Angeles’ Carceral Landscape

Pablo Paredes Burgos

PhD in Performance Studies, 

Caribbean Coalition & CLACS

 Bay Area Boricua Bomba – Verbatim Theater Project

Spring 2026 Cohort Participants

Participant Name Degree / Program Project Title
Alina Zarate PhD in Energy and Resources Climate Change From the Fields: Farmworker Experience and Expertise with Climate and Our Food System
Allison Pardo Master of Public Health (Health and Social Behavior) Export of Empire: Examining the public health impact of forced migration among Filipino workers in the Bay Area
Betsy Davis Master of Public Policy (MPP) Cultivating Communities, Conserving the Basin
Bilal Hisam PhD in Sociocultural Anthropology Building Life after Defeated Revolution
Chantel Mccrea PhD and MA in African American and African Diaspora Studies The Erotics of Liberation: Black Queer Sex Workers and Kink Practitioners and the Regime of Relation
Claudia Garza-García Master of Public Policy (MPP) Constructive Dialogue
Emily Thompson PhD in Anthropology Community-Controlled Memory: Preserving and Protecting Hidden Archives in Post-Conflict Peru
Jessica Benally PhD in Learning Sciences & Human Development Angling the Stars: A Diné Astronomical Design for Euclidean Geometry, PhD Learning Sciences & Human Development
Jimena Perez PhD in Geography Restorying the Los Angeles River
Leila Mire PhD in Performance Studies Dance and Resistance in Gaza
Maya Sapienza PhD in Geography Oakland' Hidden Abode: Black Women Parking Technicians
Raginee Sudhir Chaurey Master of Journalism (Multimedia) Amplifying South Asian Community Voices Through Community-Engaged Journalism
Victor Xie PhD in Ethnic Studies “For Freedom”: Border-Crossing, Cold War Afterlives, and the Performance of Trauma among Chinese Asylum Seekers in the Bay Area
Yizus Rodrigo Rangel-Gutierrez Joint Degree: UC Berkeley/UCSF PhD in Medical Anthropology El Ruido del Barrio': Radio Comunitaria de la Ciudad de México