Marta Cristina Lopez-Garza, Professor of Gender & Women's Studies, holds a joint position in the Gender & Women's Studies and Chicana/o Studies Departments.
Dr. Lopez-Garza received her Ph.D. in 1985 from the Department of Sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her areas of specialization include Women's/Feminist Studies, Ethnographic Field Research, Immigration and Public Policy, Informal Economy, Race and Class Studies, and Urban Studies.
Dr. Lopez-Garza's two books are Asian and Latino Immigrants in a Restructuring Economy: The Metamorphosis of Los Angeles ( Palo Alto: Stanford University Press), Regions That Work: How Cities and Suburbs Can Grow Together (Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press).
Her publications include "Convergence of the 'Public' and 'Private' Spheres: Latina Immigrant Women in the Informal Economy," "Migration and Labor Force Participation among Undocumented Female Immigrants from Mexico and Central America," "Toward a Reconceptualization of Urban Mexico."
Professor Lopez-Garza is a board member of Community Coalition for Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment in South Los Angeles. She is presently the advisor to the Women's Studies Student Association (WSSA) and Violent Acts Grounded (VAG).