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Social Sciences Division
Assistant Professor
Faculty
Education Department
Latin American & Latino Studies
Critical Race and Ethnic Studies
Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas
Oakes College
Social Sciences 2
Room 381
Room 315/317 (Lab)
Monday, 12-1 pm, Room 381 (SS2) or by appointment via zoom - email for info.
Psychology Faculty Services
Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Applied Psychology, New York University
Ph.D., Education - Psychological Sciences, Stanford University
M.A., Psychology, Stanford University
B.A., Psychology & Comparative Studies in Race & Ethnicity w/ Honors, Stanford University
Saskias Casanova uses an interdisciplinary, intersectional, and contextual approach to examine how Black, Latine, Indigenous, and immigrant-origin students’ educational experiences influence their psychological processes and learning. She examines 1) these students’ experiences with structural and interpersonal stigmatization and discrimination, 2) the influence multiple contexts (e.g., school, home, community, etc.) have on students’ learning and identity development, and 2) the community and familial strengths these students bring to educational contexts. As director of the Migration, Identity, and Education Lab (MIEL), she collaborates with graduate and undergraduate students in community-engaged research. She co-produces knowledge with community partners to inform curriculum and student programming. Saskias recently received a Spencer Foundation Small Grant as co-PI to conduct a mixed-method study examining how Black Muslim college students sustain joy, strength, and resistance in the face of interlocking systems of oppression. She is also co-PI for UCSC’s Hispanic Serving Institution Cultivamos Excelencia grant to create a transfer-receptive culture for Latine and other transfer students of color. Saskias is a UCSC Campus+Community Faculty Fellow.
Social identities; intersectionality; stigmatization; resistance; belonging; educational equity; strengths-based learning for Indigenous Latinx, immigrant-origin, and minoritized students; familial and community contexts of learning; microaggressions and campus climate; institutional transfer receptivity; ethnographic, case study, and critical methodologies (e.g., testimonio); participatory action research; mixed methods research
Latinx Psychology; Cultural Psychology; Psychology of Immigration; Intersectionality in Social Psychology; Qualitative Research Methods; Introduction to Psychological Statistics; Inequality and Diversity in Education; Transborder Culture; Identity Development and Learning; Group Dynamics
Recent Awards & Honors
2023-2026 Gary Licker Memorial Chairship, Cowell College, UC Santa Cruz
2022-2023 Recipient, Excellence in Teaching Award, Committee on Teaching, Academic Senate, UC Santa Cruz
2021-2022 Recipient, Golden Apple Outstanding Teaching Award, Division of Social Sciences, UC Santa Cruz
Recent Grants
Herzon, C. (PI, UCSC), Casanova, S. (Co-PI). Cultivamos Excelencia Project. Title V, Part A: Hispanic Serving Institutions Grant, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C. (2022-2027)
McGuire, K. (P.I., Arizona State University), Casanova, S. (Co-PI), Rahman, S. (Co-PI, CSU Long Beach). Black Muslim Worldmaking: Race, Religion, and Gender in the Lives of Black Muslim College Students, Spencer Small Research Grant, Spencer Foundation, Chicago, IL (2022-2024)
Casanova, S. (PI), Radoff, S. (Co-PI), Herzon, C. (Co-PI), & Alonso Blanco, V.J. (Co-PI). Cultivating the Transfer Landscape: Assessing Racial Equity for Community College Transfers. Office of Research Seed Funding for Early-Stage Initiatives, UC Santa Cruz (2022-2023)
Casanova, S. (PI), Radoff, S. (Co-PI), Herzon, C. (Co-PI), & Alonso Blanco, V.J. (Co-PI). Developing a Transfer Receptive Culture to Attain Transfer Racial Equity at a Hispanic Serving Research Institution. Sprout Grant, Santa Cruz Institute for Social Transformation Program, UC Santa Cruz (2022-2023)
