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Claudia Sandoval


Issues Demography & Population Studies, Immigrant Rights

Assistant Professor, Political Science and International Relations
Loyola Marymount University

Dr. Claudia Sandoval earned her B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Chicago with concentrations in American politics and race and politics. Her dissertation, “Conjuring Immigrant Racial Threat Narratives: Using Citizenship Status to Shape Black-Latino Relations in US Politics,” examines the plight of Blacks and Latinos for inclusion in the U.S. and analyzes how the contentious discourse around citizenship – particularly the anti-immigration narrative – has been used to strategically divide these two groups. 

During the 2014-2015 school year, Dr. Sandoval was a Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Since her time at LMU, Professor Sandoval has dedicated her time to advocating for and working alongside undocumented students to create a more equitable community on campus. In the summer of 2020, Dr. Sandoval began working with students to create BoundlessLMU and is excited about the many opportunities this program will provide to our undocumented student population. She serves as an Assistant Professor in the Political Science and International Relations Department at Loyola Marymount University.