Kelly Lytle-Hernández elected vice president of the Society of American Historians
Her deeply researched historical writing has challenged dominant narratives of U.S. history
Citlalli Chávez-Nava
Photo Courtesy of Kelly Lytle Hernández
UCLA historian Kelly Lytle Hernández, the holder of the Thomas E. Lifka Endowed Chair in History, has been elected vice president of the Society of American Historians, further cementing her deeply researched historical writing challenging dominant narratives of U.S. history.
A member of the society since 2019, Lytle Hernández will join its executive board, the principal governing body of the society, which guides the fulfillment of the organization’s mission.
“It’s a career honor to serve the Society of American Historians,” said Lytle Hernández. “The Society’s mission, to advance and recognize excellence in historical writing, is increasingly urgent in our world.”
Founded in 1939, The Society of American Historians, was founded with the mission of promoting literary distinction in the writing of history and biography. The Society’s membership includes more than 450 academic scholars, public historians and professional writers working on topics in American history. Members are elected based on achievement in the vivid and compelling presentation of history and biography in a variety of forms, including books, essays, film, drama, museum exhibitions and other emerging forms of public communication.
Known for her unflinching examinations of race, power and state violence, Lytle Hernández is the author of several award-winning books. Her 2010 publication, “Migra! A History of the U.S. Border Patrol” (University of California Press), traces the untold history of the United States Border Patrol from its beginnings in 1924 to its emergence as a large professional police force drawing on lost on archival materials stored in garages, closets, an abandoned factory and in U.S. and Mexican repositories.
In 2019, Lytle Hernández received the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship in recognition of her historical and contemporary work, from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
Lytle Hernández co-directs Mapping Deportations, a project that uses maps, data, and timelines to unmask the relationship between race and U.S. immigration enforcement throughout U.S. history and was the founding director of Million Dollar Hoods, a big data research initiative housed at UCLA’s Bunche Center for African American Studies that maps the fiscal and human cost of mass incarceration in Los Angeles. She is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Pulitzer Prize Board.
This year, the society also elected Alexandra Minna Stern, dean of the UCLA College Division of Humanities, to its membership.
UCLA Cotsen Institute hosts ceremony to repatriate remaining limestone burial jars to the Phillipines
The artifacts are part of the larger Sally von Dem Hagen Collection discovered during hunting expedition in the 1970s
Standing, left to right: Abel Valenzuela Jr., Stephen Acabado, Levi Malaylay, Bembit Villa; Seated, left to right, Celina Duffy, Yey Coronel-Alcid, Jeremy Barns, Marianne Ubalde-Baclor. Photo: Paul Connor/UCLA Social Sciences
UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology
Eight remaining artifacts from the Sally A. von dem Hagen Collection of limestone burial objects from the Kulaman Plateau in Cotabato were formally repatriated to the Philippines at a ceremony hosted by UCLA’s Cotsen Institute of Archaeology held on April 10.
At the event held at the Fowler Museum at UCLA, Yey Coronel-Alcid, former executive director of the Filipino American Services Group, Inc. (FASGI), turned over the artifacts to Director-General Jeremy Barns of the National Museum of the Philippines. The turnover was witnessed by Celina Duffy, chairperson of FASGI, and Marianne Ubalde-Baclor, director of the National Museum of Anthropology of the Philippines. The event marked the return of the final pieces of the collection that had remained in the United States under the care of FASGI, with representatives from the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles, Consul Levi Malaylay and Cultural Officer Bembit Villa, in attendance.
The repatriation process involved collaboration among several institutions and individuals, including the National Museum of the Philippines, Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles, FASGI and UCLA’s Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, where the artifacts were temporarily safeguarded prior to their return. The ceremony symbolized the completion of this effort and highlights the role of diaspora organizations and academic institutions in safeguarding cultural heritage while facilitating its return to its country of origin.
“This repatriation is symbolic in many ways,” said Stephen Acabado, chair of UCLA’s Archaeology Interdepartmental Program and director of Center for Southeast Asian Studies. “For decades, these objects were separated from the communities and landscapes where they were created and used. Returning them restores an important connection between heritage and place.”
The jars were carved from limestone blocks and date to approximately the mid-first millennium C.E., reflecting burial traditions practiced in parts of Mindanao during around 1,500-2,000 years ago. Photo: Paul Connor/UCLA Social Sciences
The artifacts are part of the larger Sally von dem Hagen Collection, a group of limestone burial jars and associated objects originating from the Kulaman Plateau in what is now Sultan Kudarat, Mindanao, a mountainous region that remains home to Manobo communities whose cultural traditions continue to shape the social and historical landscape of the area.The artifacts were acquired in the early 1970s by American businesswoman Sally von dem Hagen after Dulangan Manobo hunters discovered them in caves during a hunting expedition. When von dem Hagen left the Philippines in 1979, she brought the objects with her to the United States, where they remained for decades.
In 2024, most of the collection—52 limestone burial jars and related objects—was repatriated and officially transferred to the National Museum of the Philippines through the initiative of von dem Hagen’s children and in collaboration with scholars, cultural institutions, UCLA students enrolled in a class titled “Collaborative and Community-Engaged Archaeology” that produced a virtual exhibit as part of this effort and members of the Filipino American community.
“The limestone ossuaries are unique within Philippine archaeology,” said Acabado. “Unlike most burial jars in the country, which are made of clay, the Kulaman examples are carved from limestone blocks and date to approximately the mid-first millennium C.E., reflecting burial traditions practiced in parts of Mindanao during around 1,500-2,000 years ago.”
In 2023, UCLA students enrolled in a class titled “Collaborative and Community-Engaged Archaeology,” produced a virtual exhibit to document the repatriation process: Cotabato Limestone Urns: Navigating Repatriation.
Once received by Director-General Barns, the eight artifacts will be transferred to the National Archaeological Collection of the National Museum of the Philippines, where they will join the rest of the repatriated von dem Hagen materials. The objects will contribute to ongoing research on ancient burial practices, stone-carving technologies and the complex cultural histories of Mindanao. The collection can be viewed at the National Museum of Anthropology of the Philippines.
“By working with partners in the Philippines and the Filipino American community, we can help ensure that these materials return to the institutions and communities where they hold the greatest significance,” said Acabado.
The recent ceremony underscores the importance of cooperation between scholars, cultural institutions and diaspora communities in ensuring that heritage objects are treated with respect and returned to the public domain where they can be studied and appreciated.
“Events like this show how universities can contribute to responsible stewardship of cultural heritage,” said Abel Valenzuela, dean of UCLA’s Division of Social Sciences. “It’s an example of UCLA’s commitment to archaeological practices that respect communities and a recognition that heritage objects carry meaning beyond the academy.”
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Is college still worth it? New course explores the economics of education
Interview featuring James Lee, fifth-year economics student, who will teach a research course through UCLA’s Collegium of University Teaching Fellows Program exploring this topic
Lee’s class gives undergraduates an opportunity to engage directly with faculty-level research while learning what graduate study entails.
Citlalli Chávez-Nava
Is going to college still worth it? What can government policy do to improve educational outcomes? And how do researchers measure the real return on education?
Those are the kinds of questions that James Lee, a fifth-year doctoral candidate in UCLA’s Department of Economics, will explore in his undergraduate students in his course, “Research Practice 98T: Economics of Education.”
Lee was selected as a teaching fellow in UCLA’s Collegium of University Teaching Fellows (CUTF) program, a campuswide initiative coordinated by UCLA’s Learning and Teaching Center that brings together a group of innovative graduate student instructors. Fellows design and teach one-time undergraduate courses that connect cutting-edge research and creative practice.
CUTF courses, offered each winter and spring, also give undergraduates an opportunity to engage directly with faculty-level research while learning what graduate study entails.
Lee’s course is designed for students interested in education policy and economic research. The class will examine economics research spanning the full arc of education —from preschool to college — exploring both theory and real-world outcomes. Along the way, students will gain hands-on empirical research skills. They will learn to code in R, a free, open-source programming language used for data analysis and visualization, work with public microdata and write a literature review. By the end of the quarter, students will submit a peer-reviewed policy proposal aimed at increasing educational attainment.
In the interview below, we learn more about Lee’s upcoming class, how he became interested in economics and education policy and his future plans.
The interview was edited for length and clarity.
How did you become interested in researching education policy and its economic impacts?
I’ve always enjoyed teaching students, so I think when I was searching for a research topic I was naturally drawn to education. I specifically research community college and transfer students. Interestingly, this focus began through a random conversation I had with a transfer student here at UCLA about the Transfer Admission Guarantee Program known as TAG. I had never heard of a guaranteed admission program, so that led me to look further into the university and community college systems and student choices and outcomes.
You say your class will explore the full arc of education beginning in preschool. Does preschool lead to specific to educational outcomes?
There is quite a bit of research and experiments done for young children and early education. For example, pre-K and universal pre-K programs have been found in several papers to have very high economic returns — parental income increased due to parents having more time to work and children’s non-cognitive skills increased from going to preschool. The “Heckman Curve,” developed by economist James Heckman, illustrates that investments in early childhood education have the highest returns to society, and that the returns decline with age.
Plus, I think it would be a more complete class if we went through the whole range of education – from preschool to college.
What are some of the other topics you’ll explore during lectures?
The class will start with some basic economic theory, technical skills and definitions to catch everyone up to the same level. Then we will learn about different economic theories about education before going through research related to different education levels, like preschool, elementary, middle, high school and college. We’ll discuss different policies, such as universal pre-K, academic tracking in schools and whether college should be tuition free.
As college students, I’m sure students will also be curious about discussing things like whether the friends you make or the major you study or your professors impact long-term outcomes like earnings.
I’ve also learned a lot from talking to all sorts of students at UCLA since everyone has their own unique experience, so I also hope every student feels empowered to share their own experiences in my class.
“I also hope every student feels empowered to share their own experiences in my class.”
Your class concludes with a policy proposal. Why do you think it’s important to include an assignment of this type?
I wanted to include a final assignment that could demonstrate what the students have learned throughout the class while also putting together a document that could serve as a writing sample for their future endeavors. I also think it’s important to be able to put together an organized document that can be used to pitch an idea to a broad audience and provide logical explanations in a succinct manner.
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What led you to pursue your doctorate in economics at UCLA?
Honestly, I had never touched economics before college, but once I entered college, I thought I’d give it a try. I really enjoyed it because it’s a quantitative social science. I was drawn to social science research in undergrad but wasn’t sure about academia, so after graduating I worked as a research associate at the Federal Reserve Bank for two years before I decided I wanted to pursue a Ph.D. Ultimately, I wanted to do research about people and policy that could make things practically better, so an economics Ph.D. seemed to be the right fit.
What is your dissertation topic?
In recent years, more schools and states are encouraging more community college students to transfer. Given this push, a question that has come up is what might happen to the students already present at a receiving institution.
My dissertation takes a first step in answering this question by investigating the peer effects between community college transfer students and freshman admits at UCLA. I find that, on paper, academic outcomes improved for freshman admits by having more transfer students in their classes, but I find evidence that there is no actual ‘gain’ in knowledge. While my interview and survey-based findings would suggest that there could be beneficial effects from these two groups interacting, it appears that these groups do not interact much in the classroom. If anything, the only interaction is due to the “curve” present in certain classes and departments.
Despite this, I find no evidence of harmful effects on initial post-grad outcomes and given the on-paper benefit for academic outcomes and the massive benefit for transfer students to be able to transfer to a school like UCLA, I conclude that having transfer programs does not hurt the students already present at a given university.
I hear you just landed a job, where are you going next?
I’ll be an assistant professor in the economics department at Pepperdine University next year.
Do you feel the CUTF program has helped you grow as an instructor?
I think the CUTF program has been great to learn about properly organizing a class, such as developing the syllabus, preparing lesson plans and learning ways to engage students.
It’s also been great to be with other fellows who are also designing a class for the first time in other fields. I’ve also learned about other resources that I admittedly hadn’t really considered before — I’m very excited to use my new knowledge and skills once I start my class next quarter.
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Lastly, is college still worth it? What would you say to those who are skeptical about the value?
I’d say it’s still worth it, but there’s a pretty big asterisk about that statement. From a data perspective, the benefits still outweigh the costs on average. Though, college is what you make of it – such as what you choose to study, who you become friends with, how you spend your time both inside and outside the classroom and what opportunities you find.
Most students would say what they learn in class feels unapplicable to their future job. Depending on your field or job, that could very well be true. But one economic theory of education says that a college degree is a signal that you are smart and capable enough to make it through the challenging environment that is college. From that point of view, if you know how to market yourself well, you could achieve high returns no matter what you studied.
Another economic perspective tells us college is a time to invest in yourself – your human capital. That’s both your cognitive skills as well as your non-cognitive skills. But again, it’s what you personally make of your time in college.
Lee’s 2026 spring quarter class is listed as: “Research Practice 98T: Economics of Education, SEM 1 (Lee) – Tuesday/Thursday 10-11:50am.” A listing of all CUTF courses is available: here.
