Directors

Founder and Director: Dr. Robert A. Rhoads

Dr. Robert A. Rhoads is a professor of Higher Education and Organizational Change at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies and a Faculty Affiliate with the Center for Chinese Studies, the Latin American Center, and the Paulo Freire Institute at UCLA.  His research interests focus on the role of universities in advancing democracy, social justice, and peace at a global level.  Professor Rhoads received his Ph.D. in Higher Education from Pennsylvania State University (PSU) in 1994 and holds masters degrees in sociology and education psychology from PSU and Slippery Rock University respectively.  Some of his published books include The University, State, and Market: The Political Economy of Globalization in the Americas (Stanford University Press, 2006), Freedom’s Web: Student Activism in an Age of Cultural Diversity (Johns Hopkins University, 1998), Community Service and Higher Learning: Explorations of the Caring Self (SUNY Press, 1997), and Democracy, Multiculturalism, and the Community College (Garland, 1996).  Click here for CV.

Associate Director: Dr. Christopher S. Collins

Dr. Christopher S. Collins is a recent graduate from the Higher Education and Organizational Change program at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA. His dissertation, “Higher Education and Knowledge for Nation-State Development: The Role of the World Bank and U.S. Universities in Poverty Reduction in the Developing World” focused on the role of international policies in shaping higher education as it affects developing countries. He earned a B.A. in Sociology from Pepperdine University, an M.A. in Ministry at Oklahoma Christian University, and an M.A. in Education at UCLA. Before coming to UCLA, he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Vanuatu, an island nation in the South Pacific. There he developed the desire to study the function of education in developing countries. His research interests also include the role of land-grant extension as it relates to disseminating knowledge and reducing poverty.

Affiliate Researchers

Affiliate Researcher: Amy Liu

Amy Liu is a doctoral student in the Higher Education and Organizational Change program at UCLA. Her research interests include changes to university culture in a global knowledge & consumer society and international comparative research on universities and their role in reproducing social and cultural inequality. Her recent publications include “Globalization, Social Movements, and the American University: Implications for Research and Practice” with Dr. Robert Rhoads for the Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research and “Critical Race Theory, Asian Americans, and Higher Education: A Review of Research” for InterActions: UCLA Journal of Education and Information Studies.

Affiliate Researcher: Jenee Slocum

Jenee Slocum is a third year doctoral student in the Higher Education and Organizational Change program in the Graduate School or Education and Information Studies at UCLA. Jenee is currently studying university access and Brazilian university students, following the implementation of affirmative action policies since 2003. Much of Jenee’s previous research has focused on university access issues in the United States as well as globalization and the university. Her research interests include: Social movements and the university; Implications of globalization on university economic structuring, research, and perceptions of university purpose; University access and equity issues; Higher education in Latin America; as well as International comparative research on educational access and equity issues.