Yanira Rivas Pineda de Melendez
I am a Doctoral candidate at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where I am finishing my dissertation titled, “Crime-Ridden and Heavily Policed: Political Involvement in two Los Angeles Public Housing Facilities.” My research along with my activism seeks to contribute to a better understanding of political participation in marginalized communities, the role of crime and the criminal justice system in explaining this political phenomenon and working to actively address the issue.
My areas of specialization are Latino Politics, Criminal Justice, Race and Ethnic Politics, American Politics, the Politics of the Poor, Comparative Politics, and Central American Politics (in the U.S. and comparatively). I have conducted research in Los Angeles and El Salvador and have taught at UCSB and Santa Monica College. I also worked at UCLA's Center for Oral History as an Oral History Interviewer for the Central American History in Los Angeles project. The project focused on individuals who founded Central American institutions in Los Angeles in the 1980s.
I am the recipient of numerous research awards, including the UCSB Chicano Studies Institute Research Grant, UCSB Humanities and Social Sciences Research Grant, UCSB Department of Political Science Graduate Research and Training Grant, and the APSA Fund for Latino Scholarship Grant. I have been a Graduate Division Dissertation Fellow, Graduate Opportunity Fellow, SAGE Fellow, and a Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Fellow.
Prior to beginning my doctoral studies I worked for School on Wheels, Inc., a Southern California non-profit organization that provides tutoring services to homeless students in K-12th. Before joining School on Wheels, I was a community organizer for LA Voice-PICO, a multi-racial, multi-faith community organization that trains community members "to speak, act, and work together to transform their communities into one that reflects the dignity of all people." I was also an AmeriCorps Citizenship Volunteer with the San Luis Valley Immigrant Resource Center in Alamosa, CO.
I hold an A.A. from Santa Monica College, a B.A. from University of Miami, and M.A.s from the University of Granada (Spain), CSUN, and UCSB. I was born in El Salvador and grew up in South-central Los Angeles. I am also a first-generation college graduate.
I am a Doctoral candidate at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where I am finishing my dissertation titled, “Crime-Ridden and Heavily Policed: Political Involvement in two Los Angeles Public Housing Facilities.” My research along with my activism seeks to contribute to a better understanding of political participation in marginalized communities, the role of crime and the criminal justice system in explaining this political phenomenon and working to actively address the issue.
My areas of specialization are Latino Politics, Criminal Justice, Race and Ethnic Politics, American Politics, the Politics of the Poor, Comparative Politics, and Central American Politics (in the U.S. and comparatively). I have conducted research in Los Angeles and El Salvador and have taught at UCSB and Santa Monica College. I also worked at UCLA's Center for Oral History as an Oral History Interviewer for the Central American History in Los Angeles project. The project focused on individuals who founded Central American institutions in Los Angeles in the 1980s.
I am the recipient of numerous research awards, including the UCSB Chicano Studies Institute Research Grant, UCSB Humanities and Social Sciences Research Grant, UCSB Department of Political Science Graduate Research and Training Grant, and the APSA Fund for Latino Scholarship Grant. I have been a Graduate Division Dissertation Fellow, Graduate Opportunity Fellow, SAGE Fellow, and a Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Fellow.
Prior to beginning my doctoral studies I worked for School on Wheels, Inc., a Southern California non-profit organization that provides tutoring services to homeless students in K-12th. Before joining School on Wheels, I was a community organizer for LA Voice-PICO, a multi-racial, multi-faith community organization that trains community members "to speak, act, and work together to transform their communities into one that reflects the dignity of all people." I was also an AmeriCorps Citizenship Volunteer with the San Luis Valley Immigrant Resource Center in Alamosa, CO.
I hold an A.A. from Santa Monica College, a B.A. from University of Miami, and M.A.s from the University of Granada (Spain), CSUN, and UCSB. I was born in El Salvador and grew up in South-central Los Angeles. I am also a first-generation college graduate.
