Executive Committee

Angela Booker

Professor, Department of Communication

a1booker@ucsd.edu

Angela Booker is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication and the inaugural Provost of Eighth College. Her scholarly work explores the intersections of communication, learning, community engagement, social justice, and undoing structural racism. She is co-editor of Power and Privilege in the Learning Sciences: Critical and Sociocultural Theories of Learning and has published extensively on learning theory and technology, civic practice and engagement, and social change.

Boatema Boateng

Professor, Department of Communication

bboateng@ucsd.edu

I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication, UCSD, and most of my scholarship is on the ways in which intellectual property laws regulate knowledge and culture along the lines of indigeneity, race, gender and nationality. I have recently expanded my research focus to include the study of Black Indigeneities. I experienced the creation of the Black Studies Project in 2013 as a lifeline during a challenging period and have been a committed and active affiliate ever since. In 2017 I joined the Executive Committee. In addition to participating in several BSP events, I have collaborated in organizing some of those events including the systemwide symposium on the theme, “Trajectories in Black Studies: Interdisciplinary Foundations and New Formations” in January 2015, and the panel discussion, “In Celebration of Toni Morrison: Reflecting on a Legend with San Diego Scholars” in October 2019.

Adam Burgasser

Professor, Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics

aburgassar@ucsd.edu

Adam Burgasser is a Professor in the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics whose primary research is the observational investigation of the lowest mass stars and extrasolar planets, and second research is in physics and astronomy education. Adam conducts research, educational initiatives, and mentorship programs that aim to advance equity and inclusion in the physical sciences at all levels, and has been on the BSP Executive Committee since its founding. 

Nancy Kwak

Professor, Department of History and Urban Studies and Planning

nhkwak@ucsd.edu

Nancy Kwak is an Associate Professor in the Departments of History and Urban Studies and Planning. Her research focuses on the history of cities, planning, architecture, design, and housing policy, with particular attention to housing affordability, racial and income segregation, gentrification, and the relationship between cities and climate change. She is also interested in the history of food in Southern California and the long, complex relationships between labor, empire, land use, and urban-rural spaces. Kwak’s work compares urban development across cities such as New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Singapore, London, Seoul, and Manila, drawing from an interdisciplinary approach to understand how people shape where they live.

Danielle Raudenbush

Professor, Department of Sociology

draudenbush@ucsd.edu

Danielle Raudenbush received her B.A. from Vassar College and her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Her research centers on questions that are fundamental for understanding the health and well-being of minorities and low-income people in the United States. Her recent work includes a book titled, Health Care Off the Books: Poverty, Illness, and Strategies for Survival in Urban America (University of California Press, February 2020). In it, she uses qualitative methods to examine the health care practices of the urban poor, and specifically the informal network strategies that low-income African Americans develop in attempts to treat health problems when they face barriers to accessing formal health services. This book was winner of the 2020 C. Wright Mills Award and received Honorable Mention by the 2022 Eliot Friedson Outstanding Publication Award. Currently, she is working on a project in which she investigates how living in the San Diego, California border region shapes health care experiences of Mexican immigrants, including how members of this group strategically use health services in Mexico to meet their health care needs and goals. In addition to research on health, Dr. Raudenbush is interested more broadly in questions related to social cohesion among low-income minorities and the role that people's social relationships play as they cope with material deprivation.

See a full list of Dr. Raudenbush's publications at UCSD's Department of Sociology website.     

Christopher Stout

Professor, Department of Political Science

cstout@ucsd.edu

Christopher Stout’s research focuses on the politics of underrepresented groups in the United States. Much of this research seeks to explore how political elites of color use messaging strategies to boost electoral support and investigates how political and social factors shape group identity. To answer these questions, he uses a wide variety of data sources including public statements from politicians, outreach on social media, and public opinion polling. This research has appeared in dozens of peer-reviewed journal articles and in the award-winning book Bringing Race Back In: Black Politicians, Deracialization, and Voting Behavior in the Age of Obama and The Case for Identity Politics: Polarization, Realignment, Demographic Change, and the Efficacy of Racial Appeals.

Cecilia A. Ozkan

Chief Administrative Officer, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

BSP Ex Officio Board Member

cozkan@ucsd.edu

Cecilia served as CAO to BSP during her tenure as manager and principal advisor to the Chair of the Department of Ethnic Studies, Andrew Jolivétte, service for which she was recognized as one among the Exemplary Staff Employees of the Year 2022-23. As CAO, Cecilia managed departmental administrative functions including finance and budget, faculty recruitment, human resources, facilities, and staff supervision. Cecilia was also the contact for all academic personnel tasks such as advancement, compensation, benefits, leaves of absence, and policies and procedures.

Cecilia has worked at UC San Diego for over 15 years, in various departments ranging from the Department of Psychiatry, Biological Sciences, Music, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering and Scripps Institute of Oceanography (SIO), in the Dean’s office. She is a UC San Diego alumni with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Minor in Spanish Literature and a Master of Business Administration, from National University.