Dolores Ortiz is an antiracist educator who believes Black Lives Matter and Undocumented, Queer, Disabled, Non-Traditional, and Formerly Incarcerated Students are always welcome in her classrooms. She is a proud first-generation college student and has taught in various Sociology and Ethnic Studies departments at both public and private, two-year and four-year institutions for over 15 years. Professor Ortiz strives to create inclusive classrooms where all students are represented in the course curriculum. Her areas of specialization are race and class inequality and gender and sexuality, she teaches from an intersectional perspective. As a faculty member, she enjoys supporting student organized activities and events, the Dream Resource Center, and OC Live.
In addition to teaching she has consulted on a range of social justice-oriented projects which center around public health, including mental health prevention and early intervention, gun violence prevention, Native young women’s reproductive health, childhood obesity, and urban youth and risky sexual behaviors.
At OC she teaches Introduction to Sociology, Social Problems, Race and Ethnic Relations, Contemporary American Family, Introduction to Human Services & Social Work, Crime and Society, Fieldwork/Practicum: Social Work & Human Services and Introduction to Social Justice Studies. She enjoys living in Oxnard and is a mom to one amazing teenage daughter, two silly dogs, and one grumpy cat. In her spare time, you might see her riding her bike around town or nearly falling over at stop lights.