New Faculty

2020-21 Cohort

Martha Bailey

Martha Bailey

Economics

Martha’s research focuses on issues in labor economics, demography and health in the United States, within the long-run perspective of economic history, including studies of Great Society programs, the gender gap in pay, and social mobility.

Natalie Bau

Natalie Bau

Economics

Natalie is an economist studying topics in development and education economics. She is particularly interested in the industrial organization of educational markets and the effect of cultural traditions on human capital investment.

Mario Biagioli

Mario Biagioli

Communication

Mario studies the processes of the communication and evaluation of scientific claims, and the relationship between academic metrics and new forms of fraud and misconduct.
Cesi Cruz

Araceli (Cesi) Cruz

Political Science

Cesi works on political economy, with a focus on the interplay between electoral incentives and economic outcomes in consolidating democracies.
Justin Dunnavant

Justin Dunnavant

Anthropology

Justin is an archaeologist who investigates the relationship between ecology and slavery through terrestrial and maritime landscapes.

Daniel Eisenberg

Daniel Eisenberg

Economics

Daniel’s research goal is to improve understanding of how to invest effectively in the mental health of young people.

Jason Ferguson

Jason Ferguson

Sociology

Jason studies the global struggle for and against homosexual rights, the divergent trajectories of nations in how they regulate same-sex practices, and the domestic and geopolitical dimensions of that regulation.

Chris Herring

Chris Herring

Sociology

Chris joins the UCLA Sociology faculty after completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard’s Inequality in America InitiativeHis research focuses on poverty, housing, and homelessness in US cities.
Choon Hwee

Choon Hwee

History

Choon’s research interests include the Ottoman empire, infrastructure, social and economic history.

Desi Rodriguez

Desi Rodriguez-Lonebear

Sociology

Desi is a social demographer focused on Indigenous populations and tribal nations. Her research examines the intersection of race, indigeneity, data, and inequality.

Foridalma Boj Lopez

Floridalma Boj Lopez

Chicana/o Studies

Floridalma’s work uses a transborder approach to analyze the experiences of Maya migrants as they cross settler colonial borders and encounter distinct racial logics in the United States. Her research examines cultural production among the Guatemalan Maya diaspora with a particular emphasis on intergenerational relationships, gender, and the production of Indigenous migrant community in Los Angeles, CA.

Laura Chavez-Moreno

 Laura Chávez-Moreno

Chicana/o Studies

Laura’s work examines how schooling teaches about race and makes Latinidad. She connects these theorizations with questions about educational equity, particularly in the areas of language and literacy.

Natasha Quadlin

Natasha Quadlin

Sociology

Natasha is a quantitative and experimental sociologist whose work focuses on issues of social inequality, education, gender, work, and family.

Will Rafey

Will Rafey

Economics

Will works on problems in environmental economics, focusing primarily on climate change and the evaluation and design of new environmental regulations.

Michael Rubens

Michael Rubens

Economics

Michael’s research focuses on industrial organization and labor economics. He is particularly interested in the interaction between imperfect labor market competition and technological change.

Stuart Soroka

Stuart Soroka

Communication

Jessica’s work spans substantive areas — employing social psychological concepts and theories in the study of family, religion, work, and education — and uses diverse methodological approaches.

Steve Stroessner

Steve Stroessner

Communication

Steve’s research examines cognitive and motivational factors involved in intergroup perception and communication, with a specific focus on the role of stereotypes. His recent work examines similar processes in human-robotic interactions.

Veronica Terriquez

Veronica Terriquez

Chicana/o Studies

Veronica’s research focuses on Latinx communities, youth transitions to adulthood, social inequality, and immigrant political incorporation.

Andrés Villarreal

Andrés Villarreal

Sociology

Andrés conducts research in the areas of international migration, race and ethnicity, social stratification and health.

Greg Woolf

Greg Woolf

History

Greg is an historian of the Ancient Mediterranean world. His interests include pre-modern urbanism, migration and mobility and the workings of ancient empires.
Wei-Hsin Yu

Wei-hsin Yu

Sociology

Wei-hsin Yu is a sociologist specializing in the areas of social stratification and gender inequality. Her recent work has addressed earnings and attitudinal differences between women and men, job insecurity and its consequences, and the dynamics of marriage and relationship formation.