Dr. Araceli Esparza

Araceli Esparza is Associate Professor in the Department of English at California State University, Long Beach, where she joined the faculty in Fall 2011. She holds a doctoral degree in American Studies and Ethnicity from the University of Southern California, a master’s degree in Chicana/o Studies from California State University, Northridge, and a bachelor’s degree in Public Policy and Management from the University of Southern California. As an undergraduate she was a McNair Scholar and has always been a supporter of programs that work to increase academic success among scholars and students of color, first-generation college students, those from working-class backgrounds, and other marginalized groups. Her teaching areas and scholarly expertise include Chicana/o/x and Latina/o/x studies, women of color feminism, theories of race and ethnicity, gender theory, and U.S. literary and cultural production. Professor Esparza’s research has been published in various anthologies and the journals Feminist Formations and Chicana/Latina Studies. Currently she is working on a book project focused on how the hierarchies that exist within Latinidad and identity formation processes are represented in works by U.S. Central American and Chicana/o/x cultural producers.  

Born out of her lived experience and academic training, Professor Esparza is committed to building equity and racial justice in academic spaces throughout the University and serves on various committees engaged in that work, including the President’s Commission on the Status of Women, the President’s Equity and Change Network, Parents and Caregivers at CSULB, and the Latinx Faculty and Staff Association. She looks forward to continuing the work of creating a more racially and socially just and equitable College of Liberal Arts for students, staff, and faculty at CSULB.