Español es mi primer idioma. Spanish is my first language.

Race & Ethnicity, Gender, Class, Intersectionality, Inequality, Latino/a/x Studies, African Studies, Public Sociology 

Dr. Nancy López (she/her/ella) is professor of sociology at the University of New Mexico. Dr. López co-founded and directed the Institute for the Study of "Race" & Social Justice (race.unm.edu) from 2009 to 2024. Dr. López's scholarship, teaching and service is guided by the insights of intersectionality --the importance of examining race, gender, class, ethnicity together--for interrogating inequalities across a variety of social outcomes, including education, health, employment, housing, and developing contextualized solutions that advance social justice. Her book, Hopeful Girls, Troubled Boys: Race and Gender Disparity in Urban Education (2003) focuses on the race-gender experiences of Dominicans, West Indians, and Haitians to explain why girls are succeeding at higher rates than boys. Her other co-edited books include Creating Alternative Discourses in the Education of Latinos and Latinas (2003) and Mapping "Race": Critical Approaches to Health Disparities Research (2013), a multidisciplinary volume that was the byproduct of National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded workshop. The book departs from the premise that “race” is a multi-dimensional and multi-level social construction that has profound methodological implications for research and policy.  Dr. López places "race" in quotes to underscore its nature as a socially constructed category of social status in particular historical contexts, rather than as a reified category that is essential or fixed. Dr. López work on "street race" (published in Sociology of Race & Ethnicity, Critical Public Health and Urban Institute) departs from the premise that illuminating the difference between race (visual social status/street race) and ethnicity (cultural heritage) require different questions; this is paramount for interrogating complex inequalities that only become visible through intersectionality as inquiry and praxis. Her most recent co-edited book, QuantCrit: An Antiracist Quantitative Approach to Educational Inquiry (2023) was previously published as a co-edited special issue of Race, Ethnicity and Education (2018). Dr. López’s current research, funded by the WT Grant Foundation and Hewlett Foundation, includes a mixed method study in three research practice partnerships that examine the role of ethnic studies curriculum and culturally relevant pedagogy in reducing complex intersectional inequalities in high school. Dr. López was awarded funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for a project entitled, “Employing and Intersectionality Framework in Revising Office of Management and Budget Standards for Collecting Administrative Race and Ethnicity Data." She was also awarded funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for cultivating a community of practice on Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) and for establishing a NSF HSI Hub “Intersectionality as Inquiry and Praxis: Race-Gender-Class-Ethnicity for Student Success in STEM.” Dr. López’s other current research projects are funded by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for a study on “Climate for Latino Students: Employing Intersectionality for Understanding Latino Student Success in Higher Education.” 

For some examples of Dr. López's public sociology see:

• English: https://english.elpais.com/usa/2024-06-14/afro-latinos-fear-being-erased-from-next-united-states-census.html
   
  Spanish: https://elpais.com/us/2024-06-14/los-afrolatinos-temen-ser-borrados-del-proximo-censo-de-estados-unidos.html
• https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/30/opinions/census-race-ethnicity-omb-standards-arroyo-santiago?cid=external-feeds_iluminar_msn

  
  https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/30/opinions/census-race-ethnicity-omb-standards-arroyo-santiago/index.html

  
  
• We are holding virtual drop-in office hours for anyone interested in advancing student success in stem through intersectionality as inquiry and praxis funded by the NSF HSI Program. Everyone is welcome! Stem department instructors, chairs, program directors, advisors, etc. For more information and to join listserv visit:
  https://hsistemintersectionality.com\
• Dr. Nancy López's post (2/8/23) in AfroLatin@ Forum Pensamiento: How will we know if we have eliminated discrimination based on race/street race if we combine Hispanic ethnicity and race into one question? This proposed change will lead to reductions in the AfroLatin@ count and distribution of resources to our communities. https://www.afrolatinoforum.org/pensamientos/latinshispanics-are-comprised-of-many-races-stop-anti-blackness
• López, Nancy.  The US Census Bureau Keeps Confusing Race and Ethnicity, The Conversation, February 28, 2018. (Republished in Salon, Associated Press, Newsela for teachers in K-12 Instructional Online Platform)