Campus Directory

Pronouns she, her, her, hers, herself

Division Social Sciences Division

Department/College/Unit Psychology Department

Title Associate Professor

Affiliation Faculty

Other UCSC Campus Affiliation Education Department
Latin American & Latino Studies
Critical Race and Ethnic Studies
Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas
Oakes College

Faculty Type Regular Faculty

Areas of Expertise Psychology
Education
Social Psychology
Immigration
Personal and Social Identities
Latin American and Latino Studies
Youth Studies
Discrimination and Inequality
Critical Race and Ethnic Studies
Child and Adolescent Development

Web Site

Primary Office Location Social Sciences 2
Room 381

Additional Location(s) Room 303/305 (Lab)

Office Hours for Students/ Office Hours (Winter 2025) on leave - mtgs by appointment (email to schedule)

Mail Stop Psychology Faculty Services

Biography, Education and Training

Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Applied Psychology, New York University

Ph.D., Education - Psychological Sciences, Stanford University

M.A., Psychology, Stanford University

B.A., Psychology & Comparative Studies in Race & Ethnicity w/ Honors, Stanford University

Summary of Expertise

Saskias Casanova uses an interdisciplinary, intersectional, and contextual approach to examine how Black, Latine, Indigenous, and immigrant-origin students’ educational experiences influence their psychological processes and learning. She examines 1) these students’ experiences with structural and interpersonal stigmatization and discrimination, 2) the influence multiple contexts (e.g., school, home, community, etc.) have on students’ learning and identity development, and 2) the community and familial strengths these students bring to educational contexts. As director of the Migration, Identity, and Education Lab (MIEL), she collaborates with graduate and undergraduate students in community-engaged research. She co-produces knowledge with community partners to inform curriculum and student programming. Saskias recently received a Spencer Foundation Small Grant as co-PI to conduct a mixed-method study examining how Black Muslim college students sustain joy, strength, and resistance in the face of interlocking systems of oppression. She is also co-PI for UCSC’s Hispanic Serving Institution Cultivamos Excelencia grant to create a transfer-receptive culture for Latine and other transfer students of color. Saskias is a UCSC Campus+Community Faculty Fellow. 

Research Interests

Social identities; intersectionality; stigmatization; resistance; belonging; educational equity; strengths-based learning for Indigenous Latinx, immigrant-origin, and minoritized students; familial and community contexts of learning; microaggressions and campus climate; institutional transfer receptivity; ethnographic, case study, and critical methodologies (e.g., testimonio); participatory action research; mixed methods research 

Teaching Interests

Latinx Psychology; Cultural Psychology; Psychology of Immigration; Intersectionality in Social Psychology; Qualitative Research Methods; Introduction to Psychological Statistics; Inequality and Diversity in Education; Transborder Culture; Identity Development and Learning; Group Dynamics

Awards, Honors and Grants

Recent Awards & Honors

2023-2026 Gary Licker Memorial Chairship, Cowell College, UC Santa Cruz

2022-2023 Recipient, Excellence in Teaching Award, Committee on Teaching, Academic Senate, UC Santa Cruz

2021-2022 Recipient, Golden Apple Outstanding Teaching Award, Division of Social Sciences, UC Santa Cruz 

Recent Grants

Herzon, C. (PI, UCSC), Casanova, S. (Co-PI). Cultivamos Excelencia Project. Title V, Part A: Hispanic Serving Institutions Grant, U.S. Department of Education, Washington, D.C. (2022-2027)

McGuire, K. (P.I., Arizona State University), Casanova, S. (Co-PI), Rahman, S. (Co-PI, CSU Long Beach). Black Muslim Worldmaking: Race, Religion, and Gender in the Lives of Black Muslim College Students, Spencer Small Research Grant, Spencer Foundation, Chicago, IL (2022-2024)

Casanova, S. (PI), Radoff, S. (Co-PI), Herzon, C. (Co-PI), & Alonso Blanco, V.J. (Co-PI). Cultivating the Transfer Landscape: Assessing Racial Equity for Community College Transfers. Office of Research Seed Funding for Early-Stage Initiatives, UC Santa Cruz (2022-2023)

Casanova, S. (PI), Radoff, S. (Co-PI), Herzon, C. (Co-PI), & Alonso Blanco, V.J. (Co-PI). Developing a Transfer Receptive Culture to Attain Transfer Racial Equity at a Hispanic Serving Research Institution. Sprout Grant, Santa Cruz Institute for Social Transformation Program, UC Santa Cruz (2022-2023) 

Selected Publications

Publications

Advisees, Grad Students & Researchers Alonso Blanco, Valeria (valonsob)
Hernandez, Citlalli (chern173)
Lopez, Gloriana (gllopez)
Paredes Centeno, Betsy (baparede)

Courses PSYC 2: Introduction to Psychological Statistics
PSYC 144: Latinx Psychology
PSYC 159I: Psychology of Immigration
PSYC 182: Qualitative Methods
PSYC 213: Special Topics in Social Psychology
PSYC 231: Research in Social Psychology Seminar