Assistant Professor, American Ethnic Studies
Office
Learning Resource Center (LRC) 319 or Zoom; Come and say hello 👋
Wednesday: 8:30 am-12:30 pm, Friday: 9:00 am-12:00 pm
Education
Ph.D. Chicana/o Studies, UC Santa Barbara
M.A. Chicana/o Studies, UC Santa Barbara
B.A. Global Studies, UC Santa Barbara
Awards
"40 Under 40," Pacific Coast Business Times (2021).
"Most Innovative Schools in the World," Tech Insider (2015).
Photo of Dr. Fuentes
About

By investing in partnerships and collaborations, I aim to open doors and build bridges to promote the movement of cultures, resources, and possibilities for a truly integrative future where every person can thrive and experience safe spaces.  My career outside of academia is available on Linkedin and intersects technology, social entrepreneurship, and consumer studies.

My goal as a college professor is to practice an equity-minded pedagogy that fosters student identity development and class discussion that affirms everyone’s cultures, identities, and experiences without disparaging others or how they identify.  I practice a growth mindset where I can be critical of my own perspectives or judgments that restrain a student’s potential to thrive. By doing so, I believe the connections I make with students, and students make with each other, are genuine, appreciated, and make everyone feel like they belong.

I am open to conversations with any VC student about career paths and building a legacy.  It is my genuine interest to have every interaction with students to be an opportunity for the student to feel recognized, understood, and aware that their academic success in my class matters deeply to me.  I look forward to your participation in my class.

Publications
"Inclusion in Smart Cities" [White Paper]. Culture Shift Labs (2020).
"Bordering Faith: spiritual transformation, cultural change, and Chicana/o youth." UC Santa Barbara (2016).
(Director). “Leo Limon: Portrait of an Artist” [Documentary]. UC Regents: California Multicultural and Ethnic Archives (2011).
“Children and Immigration.” Anti-Immigration in the United States: A Historical Encyclopedia (Kathleen R. Arnold, ed.). Greenwood Publishing (2011).
“Estampilla conmemora latinos contra la segregación en California.” Conexión, 1(2), 37 (2007).
"Men and Masculinities in the Maquiladora Shop Floor: A Case Study of One of Central Mexico’s New Manufacturing Workforce.” UC Santa Barbara (2008).