Stephanie Jones, UCI sociology Ph.D. ’22, has been awarded a UC President's Postdoctoral Fellowship. Beginning July, she’ll be working on her book manuscript alongside João Costa Vargas in the Department of Anthropology at UC Riverside. Findings will pull from her graduate research on the dismantling of Black neighborhoods in Oakland following the economic crisis in 2008. 

“I interviewed second and third generation migrants and immigrants to California. My hope is my work helps us bring a new vernacular to the way we describe and understand urban change,” she says. 
 
UC Riverside will mark the third UC stop on Jones’ academic journey; she earned her undergraduate degree in sociology at UC Merced. 

“I worked in non-profits for three years until I decided I wanted to get my master’s degree at Northern Illinois University in sociology. Originally, I thought I would pursue a career in policy, however, when I discovered that I loved teaching as well as research I decided to pursue my Ph.D.,” she says. 

She’s amassed many mentors along her pathway, including UCI sociology professors Ann Hironaka, Yang Su and Stan Bailey; Damien Sojoyner, anthropology; Tiffany Willoughby-Herard, African American studies; and Claire Kim, political science, as well as Dylan Rodriguez, UC Riverside media and cultural studies professor. 

“Without the support and collective encouragement of my family, friends and mentors I would never have been able to get as far as I have in my career,” she says. “I am forever grateful for the people who have carried me through this point. I see all my victories as a result of the love and compassion I have been shown. I am proud to say that I am only a product of my community.”

Congrats, Stephanie!