MASP Alumni
Congrats to Class of 2025!
- Class of 2025
Area of Interest:
My research specifically focuses on examining women of color鈥檚 experience in video
game culture. I am currently looking into the negative experiences that women of color
face online and in-person in this male dominated culture that also stems from my own
personal experiences. Some of these experiences include sexual harassment, gamer abuse,
toxic masculinity, racism, sexism, and the various 鈥渃oping鈥 mechanisms developed to
survive in a community that is not welcoming to women. The aim of my research is to
validate the experiences of women of color gamers that have traded their voice for
a life sentence of silence in hopes to empower others to speak out and bring a sociological
lens to an area that needs additional research.
Area of Interest:
My research seeks to expound upon previous research from Black and Brown scholar-activists
in their efforts to shift the power dynamics of a white capitalist academic institution
to an institution where liberatory research and pedagogy is uplifted. I investigate
how academia operates within a capitalist and colonial framework that alienates the
intellectualism of scholars from oppressed communities because their intellectualism
presents a threat to the capitalist intelligentsia.
Area of Interest:
My past research includes student engagement in higher education as well as Black
student engagement in higher education. My current research interests include community
advocacy, and the intersectionality of the Black experience with gender and sexuality.
Area of Interest:
Some sections that pique my interest are Children and Youth, Crime, Law and Deviance,
Drugs and Society, Inequality, and Migration. My main interests are Juvenile Delinquency,
Gangs, and Immigration. More specifically, the reasoning behind joining gangs with
an emphasis on why undocumented individuals would put themselves under more extensive
scrutiny by joining a gang.
Area of Interest:
I have a Bachelors in Theatre Arts with Emphasis in Performance. I am researching
Black reproductive experiences in San Diego. As a San Diego actor and mother of two,
the subject is close to my heart. I am also interested in misogynoir in entertainment.
Area of Interest:
My research focuses on the sociology of queer life, cities, and human agency. I explore
what happens to the collective identity of queer neighborhoods as society's perception
of LGBTQ+people evolves. Additionally, I investigate the material impacts that arise
for individuals within these communities. By analyzing the genealogies of queer neighborhoods,
I aim to understand the consequences of changes to both the physical and social spaces
that exist within them.
Area of Interest:
My research is to explore why Latinx/Latine students want to pursue a career in law
enforcement. This would include their motivations and backgrounds contributing to
wanting to be a law enforcement agent. Emphasizing in male and female identifying
is a priority, no voices will be left out. My other interests involve first-generation
college students, immigration, criminalization toward our youth, racial inequality,
and feminism.
Area of Interest:
My research studies include the impact of COVID-19 and the way it has impacted the
landscape of education. Involving school curriculum, classroom settings, professors
and students mental health. The pandemic forced many school institutions to transition
into an online learning environment, but this transition caused many challenges for
both professors, teachers, and students. With the transition that forced educators
to implement an online or virtual learning environment, a rise in mental health issues
rose significantly due to the major change in educational learning.
- Class of 2024
Cameron Bunton
Thesis/Project:
Outnumbered: Black Students' Experiences at Hispanic-Serving Institutions
Jelger Kalmijn
Thesis/Project:
Building Union Member Agency
Bejamin Medina
Thesis/Project:
"Bro ours is going untreated, ours is going unnoticed, and it's fucked up:" Community
Trauma and Education
Lawrence Morris
Thesis/Project:
"Who's Got my Six?": An Investigation into the Interactions between Formerly Incarcerated
Veterans and Service Providers
Brianna Phillips
Thesis/Project:
Where do I Start? Helping Students Explore Student Health and Counseling Resources
on a College Campus
Natalie Picart
Thesis/Project:
Sit, Stay, or Go Away: The Social Experiences of Service Dog Owners
Melvin Sen
Thesis/Project:
"Mississippi with Palm Trees:" Examining Caste and Community Resistance in Escondido,
California
- Class of 2023
Thesis/Project:
Blacks on the BLM Movement: "We Do Have Voice"
Thesis/Project:
Examining Underdocumented Latinx/e young adults' experiences post Trump administration,
through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and beyond the DREAMer narrative
Thesis/Project:
Examining the Experiences and Assets of Women of Color in Computing
Area of Interest:
My interest is to learn more about our educational system, K-12, using critical policy
analysis to understand how this institution prepares Latinx students for higher education.
Emphasis will be placed on push-out rates, graduation rates and school structure.
My other interest is domestic violence within the immigrant community in California.
To understand discriminations within the immigrant community, Intersectionality theory,
and analyzing racial stratification practices are my preferred method.
Thesis/Project:
Stories of Resilience Among First Generation Latinx College Students Navigating the
U.S Education System: A Community Cultural Wealth Perspective
Area of Interest:
Impact of DACA on undocumented students - This would include exploring the educational
& professional outcomes of DACA recipients & the barriers to higher education. Other
interests include exploring mental health issues as a result of status amongst undocumented/immigrant
communities, first-generation undocumented students, & effects of deportation amongst
families.
Thesis/Project:
Assessing the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Latinx Students with Deferred Action
for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)
Area of Interest:
Social inequalities specifically inequalities in criminal sentencing and bureaucracies
of the court systems that have led to the unequal sentencing and treatments of African
Americans and POC.
Thesis/Project:
Trust the Stories of the People: The Intersectional Experiences of Court Users in
San Diego
Area of Interest:
I'm a qualitative researcher, but I also have training in quantitative research methods
as well.
Broadly speaking, my research interests focus on society鈥檚 relationship with its governing
institutions and how their relationship reflects and affects policy considerations
on the local, state and federal levels. However, I do have experience researching
immigration policy, international criminal statutes, applications of criminality,
migration and the global economy, juvenile delinquency, community organizing and informal
economies.
I'm currently attempting to understand the effects that major socio-political events
have had on interpersonal relationships and social dynamics in San Diego County between
2016 and 2022.
Thesis/Project:
Transparency: How Socio Political Events Shape Interpersonal Relationships
Area of Interest:
Race, ethnicity, class, inequalities, and higher education.
Thesis/Project:
"They Hyped It Up": Hispanic Serving Institution Designation and Effectiveness According
to Latinx Student Experiences
Area of Interest:
My areas of interest are in medical sociology and sociology of mental health, especially
looking at the experiences of BIPOC communities and their overall health outcomes
taking stigmatization of mental health and wellness into account. I want to shed light
on health disparities and focus on the social factors that lead to different health outcomes for
minority populations.
Thesis/Project:
Echale Ganas: The Mental Health of Latino Men
Thesis/Project:
Hood to Prison Pipeline
Area of Interest:
Cancel Culture, Inter-Ethnic Racism, Critical Education, Sociology of Deviance, and
Sociology of Music.
Thesis/Project:
The Impact of COVID Quarantine on Local Independent Musicians in Southern California
Area of Interest:
My research project focuses on immigrants that face human trafficking when coming
to the United States. I seek to understand the problem, and the possible solutions
to prevent this issue. My areas of focus will be sex trafficking, forced labor, and
debt bondage. Overall human trafficking is a very relevant problem that is happening
in San Diego.
Thesis/Project:
'Hunger Doesn't Take a Vacation': An Analysis of the Fallbrook Food Pantry
Thesis/Project:
An Advocacy Project: The Case for Culturally Relevant Financial Literacy
Thesis/Project:
Our Skin is Not Our Sin: Black Women and Their Mental Health
- Class of 2022
Area of Interest:
My research interests involve former foster youth and transitional care services that
serve them. I seek to understand the gatekeeping techniques that are used to determine
eligibility for access to these services. I particularly favor looking through the
lense of critical race theory and conflict theory in sociological analysis. I have
further interests in Pasifika communities, religion, cultural sociology, and postcolonialism.
Area of Interest:
My research explores experiences of BLM protesters who have been victims and/ or witnesses
to police violence. In addition to analyzing media鈥檚 role in constructing narratives
of protests/ protesters. Interests of mine include law and society, policing, race,
legal authority, and social movement.
Area of Interest:
Issues affecting Chicanx and Mexican Indigenous communities, the cultural appropriation
and commodification of D铆a de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead), colonialism, capitalism,
race and ethnic relations, and Chicana feminism.
Area of Interest:
My research examines how Chicana/o students are stigmatized by zero tolerance policies
in secondary education. Overall, I am interested in the areas of race/ethnicity, intersectionality,
education, criminology, and inequality.
Area of Interest:
My research project focuses on undocumented students who face the structural barriers
to higher education. I will specifically be looking into some of the services that
are critical to their success (academic advisors, student service specialists and
policies). My other interests include how well undocumented undergraduate students
perform academically compared to other similar students, and what USC鈥檚 are doing
for marginalized students during the post COVID pandemic. I will be using the Mixed
Method approach to provide me with a better understanding for this research problem.
- Class of 2021
Area of Interest:
Chicana/Latina Motherhood & Mothering, Sociology of Family, Sociology of Immigration,
Race, Class, Gender, Chicana Feminism, Resilience & Joy.

Kayli Evans
Area of Interest:
Imposter Syndrome, intersectionality, feminist theory, multiracial identity negotiation,
and higher education navigation.
Laura Martinez Morales
Email:
Area of Interest:
Intergenerational Relationships, Elders, Class, Race, Gender, Non-nuclear Latinx Families,
Chicana Feminism, Ethnography.
- Class of 2020
Area of Interest:
Sex and sexuality, gender, LGBTQA+ studies, masculinity, Latinx experience, police
culture, social justice.
Area of Interest:
Youth, gangs, incarceration, and re- entry.
Area of Interest:
My research interests are crime and gangs, law and inequality, and medical sociology.
Jamie Jackson
Area of Interest:
Social issues that impact indigenous communities, stereotypes, colonialism, capitalism,
domestic violence and missing/murdered indigenous women.
Area of Interest:
Mass incarceration, school-to-prison pipeline, education reform, critical race theory,
and issues affecting the Black community.
Area of Interest:
I wanted to analyze the probation departments progress with their newly implemented
programs to see if they are decreasing recidivism rates for youth.
Damon M. Stevens
Area of Interest:
My areas of interest are in higher education. Specifically, I will research institutional
inequality that leads to failures in preparation and graduation of African American
black males at predominantly white colleges.
- Class of 2019

Lexus Criswell
Email:
Area of Interest:
Medical Sociology, White Collar Crime, and Juvenile Delinquency.
Area of Interest:
Juvenile Delinquency, School to Prison Pipeline, and Third World Country Gangs.
Kelsey
Sportsman
Area of Interest:
Domestic Violence, Racial Profiling, and Gun Control.
- Class of 2018
Area of Interest:
Asian Studies, Cosplay Culture, Sociology and Technology, Poverty, Gender and Sexuality,
Race and Ethnicity, Families and Intimate Relationships, and Gender Performativity.
Area of Interest:
Emphasis on the Prison Industrial Complex Prisoner, Reentry and Recidivism; Youth
and Gangs, Gang Injunctions, Gang Intervention, Prevention and Street Restorative
Justice; Social Justice, Equality, Equity, and Intersectionality.
Area of Interest:
Concept of Intersectionality, Standpoint Theory, Navigation of Public Space, Gender,
Internalized Sexism.
Area of Interest:
Informal Economy/Political Economy, Gentrification, Youth Gangs and their hyper-criminalization
leading to incarceration.
Area of Interest:
Juvenile Justice. Thesis topic: Youth experiences in institutional care.
- Class of 2017
Area of Interest:
Informal Economy, Hyper-Surveillance of Gangs, Youth and Gangs, Mass Incarceration,
and Homelessness.
Area of Interest:
Youth in Mixed Immigration Status Families, Undocumented Youth, and Education.
Area of Interest:
Police Subculture, Critical Race Theory, Power and Privilege, Social Control, Oppression,
and LGBT Studies.
Area of Interest:
Intersectionality of Race, Class, Gender, Latino/a Middle Class, Middle Class Minority
Groups, Colorism, and Identity.
Area of Interest:
Latinos and Education and Medical Sociology.
- Class of 2016
Area of Interest:
Accent Prejudice, Linguicism, CRT, Racialization of Language, Second Language Acquisition,
Identity Formation for ESL Learners, and SocioPoetix.
Area of Interest:
Youth experiences in education and the school-to-prison pipeline, Education, Youth,
Youth in Gangs, Immigration.
Area of Interest:
White Supremacy Ideology and Institutionalized Racism in Corporate America and our
Judicial System that legitimize and perpetuate inequality for Black Americans.
Area of Interest:
Hyper-criminality and Hyper-surveillance as experienced by Xican@ youth, Youth and
Gangs, Critical criminology, Urban sociology and Immigration.
Area of Interest:
Prison Industrial complex emphasis on Disproportionality among Prison Systems, Prisoner
reentry and recidivism, Youth and Gangs, and Gang Injunctions.
If any MASP Alumni would like to make updates to their segments, please contact Sociology@csusm.edu. Thank you!