My research focuses on the structural and individual components of women’s rights violations and social justice in the context of globalization. In partnership with grassroots women’s organizations in Nicaragua and Tanzania, my work intends to center the voices and activism of marginalized women who have limited structural power in society.  I have used a multimethod approach from within psychology to provide the currently missing, but necessary links between transnational feminism, the discourse on women’s human rights and globalization, and the international attention given to women’s “empowerment” to help inform strategies and interventions that can contribute to social change for women. I use frameworks informed by feminist liberation psychology, human rights discourse, decolonial feminism, and social justice to organize my research, teaching, and outreach.

I am currently working on three transnational projects exploring: (1) the role of land ownership in empowerment processes and gender-based violence in Nicaragua, (2) land ownership, civic participation, and violence among women in Tanzania, and (3) the role of the grass-roots social movement in promoting justice for women in Nicaragua. I have also partnered with local groups in California to support outreach surrounding sexuality and violence against girls and women.

Research Interests

-Social movements, activism, and justice

-Women’s resistance/activism/empowerment

-Human rights

-Globalization/neoliberalism

-Transnational intersectionality/Decolonial feminism

-Structural inequities

Teaching

-Psych 140G: Women’s Lives in Context

-Psych 140L: Women’s Bodies and Psychological Well-Being

-Psych 159M: Transnational Feminism, Senior Seminar

-Psych 159X: Psychology and Social Activism, Senior Seminar

-Psych 193: Field Study

-Psych 194A: Advanced Research in Social Psychology

-Psych 231: Social Psychology Colloquium

-Psych 256: Transnational Feminism, Development, & Psychology, Grad Seminar

-Psych 248: Survey Methods, Grad Seminar

Curriculum Vitae