Student Research

CAPSTONE PROJECTS

Each year the Institute supports graduate students from all three departments at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs for capstone research projects that align with and advance at least one of the Institute’s key research themes. Learn more about these opportunities.

APPLY: Graduate Student Capstone Award (Deadline: Dec. 15, 2024)

Reducing the Racial Wealth Gap: Utilize Wealth to Fund California Baby Bonds

Graduate students: Jala Abner, Young Choi, Danielle Garcia, Yesenia Jimenez, India Woods | Faculty advisor: Michael Stoll (2024)

Empowering Autonomy: A Community-Based Approach to Sex Work Policy

Graduate students: Rizza Estacio, Leer Fu, Jada Jones, Sarah Nunnink, Vananh Tran | Faculty advisor: Michael Masserman (2024)

Do Small Landlord Lives Matter? An Analysis of Rental Housing Ownership Networks in Burbank, California

Graduate student: Nils Jepson | Faculty advisor: Ananya Roy (2024)

Recommendations for UNITE HERE! Local 11 to Address the Affordable Housing Shortage in LA County

Graduate students: Jack Kearns, Gloria Magallanes, Andrew Rock, Ana Rodriguez, Sydney Smanpongse | Faculty advisor: Michael Stoll (2024)

Raising the Bar: Improving Parole Hearing Representation Standards in California

Graduate students: Esmeralda Luevano, Kamilah Mims, Rachel Berger, Reese Howard, Reid Osherow, Sebastian Cazares | Faculty advisor: Michael Stoll (2024)

Hidden Hazards: The Impacts of Climate Change on Incarcerated People in California State Prisons

Graduate students: Aishah Abdala, Abhilasha Bhola, Guadalupe Gutierrez, Eric Henderson, Maura O’Neill | Faculty advisor: Mark Peterson (2023)

One Dollar Day: Labor Conditions within California Immigrant Detention Centers

Graduate students: Kamal Cheema, Laura Edwards, Thomas Hernandez, Mei Naito, Ibuki Yamada | Faculty advisor: Chris Zepeda-Millán (2023)

Surveillance Technology in Schools: Implications for Equity

Graduate students: Savana Doudar, Dinan Guan, Jaymie Park, Sydney Saubestre, Emily Silberstein | Faculty advisor: Martin Gilens (2023)

The “Miracle” of Cash and Connection: Unhoused Experiences of a Basic Income and Social Support Pilot Program

Graduate students: Keenan Leary, Tee Martin, JC Hall | Faculty advisor: Laura Wray-Lake (2023)

Justice Deserved, Not Justice Deferred: Improving School Achievement and School Discipline Outcomes for Black Youth in California

Graduate students: Mahreen Alam, Julio Alicea, Noann Villalobos-Sanchez, Ilan Zur | Faculty advisor: Wes Yin (2022)

Anti-Displacement & Community Ownership in Koreatown: Acquisition-Rehabilitation of Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing

Graduate student: Nathan Keibler | Faculty advisor: Joan Ling (2022)

Closing the Digital Divide in Telemedicine with a Focus on LA County

Graduate students: Sophia Li, Stacy Songco, Xinyuan Qi, Yixuan Yu, Ziyi Wei | Faculty advisor: Martin Gilens (2022)

Border Health Justice: Ensuring Due Process and Public Health Safety Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

Graduate students: Melissa Candell Villacreses, Nivedita Keshav, Jose Negrete Manriquez, Ashley Reyes, Olivia Ho Wu | Faculty advisor: Wes Yin (2022)

Evaluating the Impact of the L.A. County Office of Immigrant Affairs in Supporting Immigrant Residents

Graduate students: Julie Aguilar, Rayan Bacaloni, Shannon Camacho, Kathreen Lopez | Faculty advisor: Zachary Steinert-Threlkeld (2021)

Interrupting the Cycle of Incarceration for Individuals with Mental Illness: An Analysis of Los Angeles County’s Rapid Diversion Program

Graduate students: Jess Bendit, Joshua Segui, Courtney B. Taylor, Rachel Vogt | Faculty advisor: Wes Yin (2021)

Unheard Voices: Perspectives from the Inside During COVID-19

Graduate students: Ron Calderon, Bernice O. López, Antonio Shallowhorn | Faculty advisor: Laura Wray-Lake (2021)

Diverting Black Girls in Los Angeles County from the School-to-Prison Pipeline through Intersectional Policy Solutions

Graduate students: Amanda De La Cerda, Amy Sage, Mariela Nevárez, Savannah Ramirez, Cassandra DeWitt | Faculty advisor: Wes Yin (2021)

Los Angeles County Youth Diversion: Prioritizing Contract Accessibility for Community Based Service Providers

Graduate students: Kaylyn Canlione, Monique Cardona, Sara Omanovic, Savannah Walker | Faculty advisor: Martin Gilens (2021)

Cambodia Town Thrives: Our Roots, Our Story, Our Future

Graduate student: Daniel Luu | Faculty advisor: Karen Umemoto (2021)

Mutual Aid to Survivors of Gender and Sexual Violence

Graduate student: Mariesa Samba | Faculty advisor: Lee Ann Wang (2021)

Housing in Honolulu: Analyzing the Prospect of Taxing Empty Homes

Graduate students: Adam Barsch, Erika Cervantes, Mary Daou, Dickran Jebejian, Michael Rios | Faculty advisor: Mark Peterson (2020)

The State of Student Loan Servicing: An Analysis of Public Opinion and California Recommendations to Alleviate a National Crisis

Graduate students: Rosie Brown, Na Li, Lorraine Perales, Dulce Vasquez | Faculty advisor: Wes Yin (2020)

Legal Reform and the Olympics: Applying Lessons Learned from South Korea and Japan to Los Angeles

Graduate student: Spike Friedman | Faculty advisor: Stephen Commins (2020)

“Sanar Será Nuestra Revolución”: Radical Activist Care in Colombia for Social Justice-Driven Social Work Praxis

Graduate student: Olivia Miller | Faculty advisor: Amy Ritterbusch (2020)

Piercing the Corporate Veil of LLC Landlordism: A Predatory Landlords’ Eviction Machine of Black and Brown Bodies in Los Angeles’ Working-Class Neighborhoods, 1996-2019

Graduate student: Joel Montano | Faculty advisor: Ananya Roy (2020)

Latinx Mixed-Status Families: Navigating & Making Home in Boyle Heights

Graduate student: Alma Esperanza Villa Loma | Faculty advisor: Ananya Roy (2020)

Tools for Insurgency: Popular Education and Transformative Urban Planning

Graduate student: Amanda Britney Zeidner | Faculty advisor: Kian Goh (2020)

Establishing a Consent Policy for Youth Diversion in Los Angeles County

Graduate students: Susan Baik, Oceana R. Gilliam, Lindsay Graef, Nicollette Lewis, Erica Webster | Faculty advisor: Wes Yin (2019)

Tenants In Foreclosure: An Analysis of How Renters Experience the Financialization of Housing in Los Angeles County

Graduate student: Terra Graziani | Faculty advisor: Ananya Roy (2019)

Secondary Units for Whom? Assessing Interventions Into Informal Housing in San Francisco and Oakland

Graduate student: Meg Healy | Faculty advisor: Paavo Monkkonen (2019)

Education Beyond Incarceration

Graduate students: Shonte Johnson, Angela S. Garcia, Javier Rodriguez, Andres Garcia | Faculty advisor: Amy Ritterbusch (2019)

GRADUATE STUDENT WORKING GROUPS

The Institute supports graduate student working groups who undertake a year-long plan of collective work related to one of the Institute’s key research themes. Working groups are encouraged to speak to public issues and address audiences beyond the university. The aim is to question established academic wisdom and contribute to public debate with a commitment to social, racial, and research justice. Learn more about these opportunities.

Graduate Student Working Groups 2023-24

    • Lucy Briggs, Madalyn Bryant, Chandi Gordon, Alejandra Rios Gutierrez, Isis Haynes, Jessica Lopez, Ina Morton, Ariella Ventura – Urban Planning. Abolition Course Working Group 
    • Wesleigh Gates, Anna Robinson-Sweet, Matt Schneider – Anthropology, Information Studies, World Arts & Cultures/Dance. Academic Complicity with Policing
    • Nohely Guzmán Narváez, Andrew Malmuth, Benjamin Weinger – Geography, Sociology. Critical Climate Adaptation Working Group
    • Maxwell Hellman, Matthew Hing, Natalie Marshall – Anthropology. Health Through Mutual Aid: Creating a “Community Pharmacy” with Unhoused Residents
    • Samyuktha Comandur, Erin Mauffray, Bineh Ndefru – Materials Science & Engineering, Political Science, Spanish & Portuguese. Palms Unhoused Mutual Aid (PUMA-LA)
    • Mariam Khan, Chris Martinez, Adbullah Puckett, Rasheed Shabazz – Anthropology, History, Medicine and Public Health, Urban Planning. Planning for Reentry Working Group
    • Shaellen Franco, Nils Jepson, Ina Morton, Rebecca Swint – Urban Planning. PRAXIS
    • Claire Nelischer, Andrés F. Ramirez, Gus Wendel – Urban Planning. Reclaim the Music! Reclaim the Station!
  • Alejandra Rios Gutierrez, Lillian Liang, Kevin Liu, Lindsey Morris, Leslie Velasquez – Sociology, Urban Planning. Abolition and Planning Praxis Course Group 
  • Jeremy Abbott, Olivia Arena, Megan Riley, Doga Tekin, Emma Tran – Community Health Sciences, Information Studies, Urban Planning. Decarcerating Public Libraries: Pedagogy & Praxis
  • Katherine Hernandez, Sedonna Goeman-Shulsky, Juan Felipe Riano Landazabal, Sebastian Solarte – IoES, Geography. Environmental Justice Working Group
  • Emma French, Andrew Malmuth, Nick Tinoco – Sociology, Urban Planning. Housing Justice and Climate Adaptation
  • Abhilasha Bhola, Keenan Do, Alex Ferrer, Jhorna Islam – Public Policy, Social Welfare, Urban Planning. PRAXIS: A Socialist & Abolitionist Organization at UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
  • Olivia Arena, Christine Bustillos, Estefany Garcia, Audrey Jang, Lindsey Morris, Nathaniel Myman, Hannah Schwartz – Law, Urban Planning. Students for Community Land Ownership
  • Aziz Fellague Ariouat, Michael Criste, Andrew Jarnagin, Jessica Martin, Haley Roeser, Yassaman Sarvian, Sara Tohamy – Urban Planning. Black Reconstruction Summer Seminar
  • Sam Lutzker, Andrew Malmuth, Hilary Malson, Kate Smock, Victoria Tran – Sociology, Urban Planning. Housing Justice Public Scholarship
  • Tracey Beltran, Alexander Ferrer, Sam Lutzker, Jessica Melendez, Haley Roeser – Sociology, Urban Planning. Informal Tenancy Working Group
  • Rebecca Escoto, Marium Navid, Alexandra Prescott, Priscilla Vazquez – Public Policy, Social Welfare. Luskin Mutual Aid Fund
  • Aziz Fellague Ariouat, Michael Criste, Alexander Ferrer, Harper Lauren, Rachel Lu, Antara Murshed, Nataly Rios, Haley Roser – Urban Planning. Planning Abolitionist Futures: Theory and Praxis
  • Akua Agyen, Alex Bowen, Audrey Comber, Nour Elgezawi, Rebecca Escoto, Kristen Gast, Kevin Nguyen, Priscilla Vazquez – Social Welfare. Reimagining Social Welfare Collective
  • Ben Bressette, Alexander Ferrer, Tiffany Green, Kristin Gunther, Andrew Jarnagin, Nathan Keibler, Casey Leedom, Jessica Martin, Aurelia Mora, Sara Tohamy, Audrey Younsook – Urban Planning. Students for Community Land Ownership
  • Evan Bruetsch, Emmanuel Proussaloglou, Chris Rancourt, Gabe Saltzman – Architecture and Urban Design, Urban Planning. Wasted Space(s): Reimagining Unused Parking Structures as Decommodified Housing
  • Lupe Cazares-Meyers, Nathan Cheung, Paola Lopez – Latin American Studies. Hand in Hand LA
  • Ary Hansen, Sam Lutzker, Kartik Raj – Sociology, Law. Palms Unhoused Mutual Aid (PUMA-LA)
  • Thabisile Griffin, LeighAnna Hidalgo, Rosanna Simons – Chicana/o Studies, Central American Studies. People 4 People/Gente por Gente
  • Cynthia Bourjac, Irene Farr, Alejandro Gonzalez, Andres Gonzalez, Demetria Murphy – Urban Planning. Planners of Color for Social Equity
  • Bernice López, Jodi E. Scofield, Stephanie Ruiz – Social Welfare. Reimagining Social Welfare Collective: An Abolitionist Framework
  • Yamillet Brizuela, Sami Bhusal, Laura Daza Garcia, Spike Friedman, Olivia Miller, Breigh Montgomery, Alicia Morales Perez, Amy Young, Amy Zhou – Public Policy, Social Welfare, Urban Planning. UCLA Luskin Institute on Inequality and Democracy Student Advisory Board
  • Carlie Domingues, AnMarie Mendoza, Carolyn Rodriguez –American Indian Studies. California Indian Graduate Student Working Group
  • Maritza Geronimo, Lauren Ilano, Kimberly Miranda – Chicana/o Studies, Education and Information Studies, Geography. Contra Mapping: A Series on Decolonizing Cartography for Community Resistance
  • Dian Tri Irawaty, Fernanda Jahn-Verri, Jaehyeon Park – Geography, Urban Planning. Discussing Land Titling and Property Rights in the Global South
  • Jason Anthony Plummer, Marcel Roman, Tye Rush – Political Science, Social Welfare. Divesting in Communities of Color: The Long-Term Effects of Redlining on Political Capital and Community Development
  • Naveen Agrawal, Spike Friedman, Dickran Jebejian, Samantha Meyer, Andrew Miller – Geography, Urban Planning. (No) Vacancy: How Can A Vacancy Tax Mitigate Los Angeles’ Housing Crisis?
  • Clementine Bordeaux, Viki Eagle, Jessica Fremland, Renee White Eyes – Anthropology, Education, Gender Studies, World Arts and Cultures/Dance. Owášte Optáya
  • Dian Tri Irawaty, Fernanda Jahn-Verri, Jaehyeon Park – Geography, Urban Planning. Discussing Landscapes of Property
  • Travis Bott, Alexis Coopersmith, Joel Herrera, Nihal Kayali – Geography, Sociology. Political Sociology and the Global South
  • Lorraine Perales, Samantha Piedra – Social Welfare, Public Policy. Reanalyzing the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977
  • Christina Chica, Emma Colven, Matías Fernández, Joel Herrera – Sociology, Geography. Political Sociology and the Global South
  • Skye Allmang, Rebecca Crane, Feliz Quinones – Social Welfare, Urban Planning, Education and Information Studies. Resistance through Research: Graduate Student Working Group on Social Justice + Activism in the Trump Era
  • C. Aujean Lee, Rachel Wells, Silvia Gonzalez – Urban Planning, Social Welfare. Social Protections in the New Administration: Nonprofit Responses Amidst Political Changes
  • Eve Bachrach, Gina Charusombat, Amman Desai, Julia Heidelman, Lawrence Lan, Jacklyn Oh, Xochitl Ortiz, Carolyn Vera, Estefania Zavala – Urban Planning, Asian American Studies. Our Hoods, Our Stories: Documenting Displacement in Boyle Heights and Chinatown
  • Kenton Card, Matías Fernández, Andrew N. Le – Urban Planning, Sociology. Political Sociology and the Global South Working Group
  • Hannah Carlan, Nafis Hasan, Tanya Matthan, Nivedita Nath, Gabriel Locke Suchodolski – Anthropology, History, Sociology. Welfare Workings: Popular Politics and the Public in Contemporary India

DOCTORAL RESEARCH AWARDS

The Institute invites proposals from UCLA doctoral students across campus for grants up to $10,000. The funding associated with these awards is intended to support students whose work exemplifies social justice scholarship and research justice that is often overlooked in academia. Below are summaries from our most recent doctoral awardees. Learn more about these opportunities.

APPLY: Ideas and Organizing Doctoral Awards (Deadline: Nov. 8, 2024)

The Value of Lived Experience and “Illegal Spaces” in Life-Saving Services for the Unhoused

Nirel JonesMitchell, Social Welfare, UCLA
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Black Anti-settler Placemaking: Examining Cooperation Jackson’s Eco-villages in Mississippi and Vermont

Bethel S. Moges, Anthropology, UCLA
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The Urban Poor as a Political Actor: Urban Restructuring, Precarious Labor, and the Politics of Marginalized Neighborhoods in Colombia

César Bowley Castillo, Sociology, UCLA
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Learning Alongside Indigenous Urban Struggles

Andrés F. Ramirez, Urban Planning, UCLA
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Contesting Chinatown: Community Ownership in Urban Growth Politics

Victoria Tran, Sociology, UCLA
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The Poetics of Abolition Feminism: Grassroots Resistance of the Criminalization of Social Reproduction and Extreme Sentencing in California

Rosie Stockton, Gender Studies, UCLA
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Vehicle Residency Survey and Interview Project

Sam Lutzker, Sociology, UCLA
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Intimate Encounters: The Affective Infrastructures of China’s Geopolitical Frontier-making in Bolivia

Nohely Guzmán Narváez, Geography, UCLA
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INEQUALITY AND DEMOCRACY FELLOWSHIP (2020 – 2021)

From 2020 until 2021, the Institute supported research fellowships for UCLA Luskin graduate and doctoral students. The Inequality and Democracy Fellowship provided students with the opportunity to conduct research and gain invaluable experience in partnership with movement-based organizations with whom the Institute has longstanding relationships. The fellowship aimed to broaden and deepen student’s research skills, while also supporting the urgent, but severely underresourced research needs of our partner organizations who lead critical work on the front lines of our communities and cities.

Fellows & Research Projects