Shahrazad Encinias recently joined the Central American Studies Department as part-time faculty.

The San Diego native joins the department from the Sonoran Desert where she spent the past few years teaching and reporting.  Her passion for truth and justice have allowed her to report and explore all over Southern California, the U.S.-Mexico region, Delaware, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Guatemala.  She's a freelance journalist and wanderlust.

Education is another passion.  Her style of reporting falls into the category of social journalism.  Social consciousness runs through her veins and is inculcated into her reporting and academia.  Her thesis, "La Lucha Por Un Espacio:  Guatemalan Journalists Fighting Against Censorship and Violence," is a clear example of her dedication to make a difference.  This was a pioneer study where she traveled to the country and conducted interviews with journalists, faced hardships such as mistrust that she was C.I.A. (because she's from the U.S.), intimidation, and a little bit of fear, yet managed to succeed.  It was journalism applied to academia at its finest.

She holds a dual M.A. in Journalism and Latin American Studies from the University of Arizona.  In addition, she holds a B.A. in Central American Studies with a minor in Spanish Language Journalism from California State University, Northridge.