Ethnic Studies Department Faculty and Staff

Dr. Jeremiah Sataraka is Assistant Professor and Department Chair of Ethnic Studies at California State University, Bakersfield. He earned his Ph.D. in Cultural Studies & Social thought in Education from Washington State University. He teaches Ethnic Studies, Critical Pacific Islands & Oceania Studies, and Asian American Studies. His primary research interests include developing Ocean Critical Race Theory by grounding it in the lived experiences of QTPI (Queer and/or Transgender Pacific Islander, pronounced "cutie-pie") activists and grassroots organizations like U.T.O.P.I.A. (United Territories of Pacific Islander Alliance), a network of queer and trans people of color advocates. He is an advisory board member of the Central Valley Pacific Islander Alliance. 

Dr. Sataraka is a first-generation college student, born and raised on the homelands of the Puyallup and Nisqually Tribes (Tacoma, WA, USA), born to parents from South Korea and Amerika Samoa. He currently lives with the love of his life, Pedro Navejas Rodriguez, and their emotionally dependent dog Katara (#ATLAB). 


Dr. Sataraka was honored with the 2025 Campus Champion Award for his leadership and contributions to the LGBTQ+Pride community here at CSUB.

https://www.csub.edu/people-and-culture/culture-and-belonging/lgbtq-pride.shtml

Dr. Nora Cisneros is an Assistant Professor of Chicana/o/x Latina/o/x studies as CSU Bakersfield. Born in Durango, Mexico, and raised in Inglewood, CA. Dr. Cisneros is a proud immigrant and former first-generation college student. She earned her B.A. in Psychology, and M.A. and Ph.D. in Social Sciences and Education, with a specialization in Ethnic Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Her scholarshp draws from Chicana feminist studies to investigate educational (in) equities, Latinx educational pathways, and anti-carceral activisim. Her professional experiences include working as a writing and research consultant for anti-incarceration non-profits and college-readiness programs in Los Angeles. Her scholarship has been featured in various peer-reviewed journals, such as The Journal of Educational Foundations and Feminist Formations, among others. She is the so-editor of the recently published book Like a Path in Tall Grasses: Race and Refusal in higher Education (2024). Her poetry has been published in various online feminist magazines such a Ginger Zine. She lives with her husband, chidlren and dog-daughter in Bakersfield, Califas. Drinking cafecito, hiking, protesting, and collecting plantitas are how she rages against the machine.

Biography

Dr. Maria Gutierrez de Jesus received her Ph.D. in Native American Studies from the University of California at Davis. She is an Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies at California State University, Bakersfield. Her teaching and research interests include Indigenous-based pedagogies and community-based education, Indigenous media with a focus on community-owned media, Indigenous women, and Indigenous cultural and language revitalization and reclamation practices. She is currently working on her first book manuscript, tentatively titled “Juchari Anapu Jimpo! Reclamation of the Heritage Language and Identity: Social Processes, Oral Memory, and Innovations in the Non-P’urhépecha Speaking Communities of Lake Pátzcuaro,” which traces Indigenous language reclamation practices in her home community, Huecorio, Michoacán, Mexico.