Ethnic Studies Department Faculty and Staff
Department ChairAssociate Professor of Black Studies Assistant Professor of Latinx Studies Assistant Professor of Latinx Studies Assistant Professor of Indigenousand Native American Studies Administrative Support Coordinator Assistant Professor of Critical Pacific Islands& Oceania Studies & Asian American StudiesFaculty and Staff Directory
Dr. José G. Villagrán was born and raised on the migrant farmworker circuits between
Northern California, South Texas, and Wisconsin. He earned an M.A. in Mexican-American
Studies and a Ph.D. in Sociocultural Anthropology from the University of Texas at
Austin and has an extensive teaching background in Chicana/o/x and Latina/o/x Studies.
He researches Latinx labor with a particular focus on migrant and seasonal farmworkers
of the “Midwest stream” between South Texas and the U.S. Midwest.
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.
Jeremiah Sataraka, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Ethnic Studies Department
at CSUB. He teaches Critical Pacific Islands & Oceania Studies, Asian American Studies
and Ethnic Studies courses and is the co-chair of the LGBTQ+ PRIDE Faculty & Staff
Affinity group. His primary research interests include developing Ocean Critical Race
Theory, and increasing the visibility of QTPI (Queer and/or Transgender Pacific Islander)
activists and communities like U.T.O.P.I.A. (United Territories of Pacific Islander
Alliance). He is also an advisory board member of the Central Valley Pacific Islander
Alliance.
Dr. Sataraka received his Ph.D. in Cultural Studies & Social Thought in Education
from Washington State University and his B.A. in Sociology from Whitworth University.
He is a first generation college graduate, born and raised on the homelands of the
Puyallup and Nisqually Tribes (Tacoma, WA), born to parents from Korea and Amerika
Samoa. He currently lives with the love of his life, Pedro Navejas Rodriguez and their
emotionally dependent dog Katara (#ATLAB).
