Graduate Fellows

First Year Graduate Fellows

Jesús Gutiérrez

Anthropology, UC Berkeley

Jesús Gutiérrez is a PhD candidate in Anthropology at UC Berkeley. His research, teaching and writing cluster around themes related to mediation, performance and embodiment; religion, ritual, and the secular; and temporality, memory and historical consciousness in Black Atlantic...Read more about Jesús Gutiérrez

Makaela Jones

School of Education, UC Berkeley

Makaela Jones (she/her) is a PhD Candidate in the School Psychology program at Berkeley School of Education and identifies as a radical Black feminist and youth advocate. Her dissertation research focuses on the praxis and pedagogy of Black women educators and how they create...Read more about Makaela Jones

Mitzia Martinez

Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program, UC Berkeley Law

Mitzia E. Martinez Castellanos is a doctoral candidate in the Jurisprudence and Social Policy Program at Berkeley Law. Her research explores the lingering effects of being undocumented and experiencing legal violence after an immigrant gains a legal status. She pays particular...Read more about Mitzia Martinez

Adriana P. Ramírez

Sociology, UC Berkeley

Adriana P. Ramírez is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Sociology at UC Berkeley. Her research interests revolve around migration, citizenship, Latin America, political sociology, and race and ethnicity. The influence of growing up as a migrant student between...Read more about Adriana P. Ramírez

juleon robinson

Geography, UC Berkeley

juleon robinson is an organizer, community educator, and PhD Student in the Department of Geography at UC Berkeley. His research analyzes the relationship between race and property in Bay Area housing geographies, with a specific focus on the persistence of Black housing...Read more about juleon robinson

Ángel Mendiola Ross

Sociology, UC Berkeley

Ángel Mendiola Ross (they/he) is a PhD candidate in sociology at UC Berkeley who conducts research at the intersection of (sub)urban sociology, race and inequality, policing, incarceration and housing. Their current project examines the relationship between prison proliferation and...Read more about Ángel Mendiola Ross

Taesoo Song

City and Regional Planning, UC Berkeley

Taesoo Song is a Ph.D. Candidate in City and Regional Planning at the University of California, Berkeley. He studies the nexus of housing policy, neighborhood change, and residential outcomes for low-income and minority households, particularly in high-cost areas. Taesoo's...Read more about Taesoo Song

Second Year Graduate Fellows

Aukeem Ballard

Education, UC Berkeley

Aukeem Ballard is a former secondary public-school educator, organizer, and school leader whose pedagogy and practices remain grounded in critical love. Aukeem is currently a PhD Candidate in the Berkeley School of Education with a Designated Emphasis in Critical Theory. Aukeem's...Read more about Aukeem Ballard

Renee Clarke

Public Health, UC Berkeley

Renee is a Doctor of Public Health candidate at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research is focused on care after birth for Black birthing people in California. Renee examines the healthcare needs and experiences of Black women until one year...Read more about Renee Clarke

Caylee Hong

Anthropology, UC Berkeley

Caylee Hong is a PhD candidate in Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, where she researches urban oil production in the Los Angeles Basin. Her dissertation examines the ways that diverse stakeholders navigate the decommissioning and...Read more about Caylee Hong

Cathy Hu

Sociology, UC Berkeley

Cathy Hu is a PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. Her work sits at the intersection of punishment and society, social movements, and political sociology. Currently, she is working on a qualitative project examining criminal justice...Read more about Cathy Hu

Clara Pérez Medina

Geography, UC Berkeley

Clara Pérez Medina (they/them) is a PhD candidate in the Department of Geography at the University of California, Berkeley. They are a geographic filmmaker, studying the relationship between race, place, and representation through the modalities of oral history, film, and photography....Read more about Clara Pérez Medina

Everardo Reyes

Ethnomusicology, UC Berkeley

Everardo “Ever” Reyes (Rarámuri descent and Chicanx) is a PhD candidate in Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Berkeley. His research focuses on the intersections between music, social movements, and Indigenous self-determination. His dissertation focuses on the...Read more about Everardo Reyes

Jasmine M. Sanders

Sociology, UC Berkeley

Jasmine M. Sanders is a Sociology PhD candidate at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research centers issues of equity and access with a focus on organizational inequality, culture, and workplace policies and practices. Her dissertation research examines the role of...Read more about Jasmine M. Sanders

Click here to learn more about the Graduate Fellows Program, a two-year program for advanced Berkeley doctoral students conducting research on social change in the United States.