Mar 24, 2023
Founding the CRS Program
A brief history of the founding of UCLA Law's Critical Race Studies.
The first law school program in the United States dedicated to critical race theory in legal scholarship and related disciplines, the Critical Race Studies program is unequaled in American legal education. The cornerstone of the program is the CRS specialization, a competitive academic course of study engaging top students who are committed to racial justice scholarship and legal practice. The CRS specialization enhances coursework with a variety of collaborative and interdisciplinary experiences to integrate theory and practice. The Critical Race Studies program hosts an annual symposium that draws top scholars from around the country for discussion of cutting-edge topics and works with student-led clinics to provide students with on-the-ground training and opportunities for representation and advocacy.
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More information about the CRS Symposium and our multimedia archives of past programming.
Projects
Intersecting Race and Law
A dynamic element of CRS are our initiatives that engage students with their education about racial justice and legal practice.
CRT Forward Tracking Project
An initiative that addresses attacks on Critical Race Theory.
Critical Race Studies Symposium
The signature event of the CRS program, highlighting strategies to end racial injustice and promoting collaboration across disciplines.
CRS Multimedia Archives
Presenting recordings of past CRS events and symposia.
Race and Reentry Initiative
Combating the effects of mass incarceration on Los Angeles communities
Race, Work and Economic Justice Clinic
Collaborating with Legal Aid at Work and the Black Worker Center on this employment law clinic serving low-wage workers and members of the center.
Glazer Scholars
Supporting students dedicated to achieving equity for Los Angeles' African American communities.
CRS Law Teaching Fellowship
Sustaining the research and professional development of students pursuing a career in teaching the law.
Who We Are
- Executive Director
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CRS Staff
Taifha Alexander, CRT Forward Project Director
Taifha Natalee Alexander was born and raised in southside Jamaica Queens where she attended college at St. John’s University. In 2017, Taifha earned her J.D. from Georgetown Law and later earned her LLM from UCLA School of Law in 2021, where she specialized in Critical Race Studies and graduated at the top of her class. Taifha’s legal studies, research, and career have focused on the advancement of equity, justice, and anti-racism within higher education, and she has been recognized by both national and state higher education organizations for her ability to create more equitable campus climates across the country. Taifha has published several articles including We Can’t Breathe: How Top Law Schools Can Resuscitate an Inclusive Climate for Minority and Low-Income Law Students in the Georgetown Journal of Modern Critical Race Perspectives (2017) and Chopped & Screwed: Hip Hop from Cultural Expression to a Means of Criminal Enforcement in Harvard Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law (2021). She is currently working on a chapter in to be included in the forthcoming book, Revising the Curriculum and the Co-Curriculum to Engage Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, to assist colleges and universities in their efforts to incorporate Critical Race Theory and anti-racist pedagogy into multidisciplinary curricula.Ayda Haghighatgoo, CRS Program Coordinator
Ayda has been a longtime CRS and Promise Institute community member and volunteer. She is a UCLA alum with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science, and she also completed UC Berkeley Extension’s Paralegal Studies program. She comes to the UCLA School of Law with extensive experience in project and events management with the J. Paul Getty Trust, having organized international colloquia and supported the management of graduate interns. She has worked in the Getty Foundation and the Getty Conservation Institute, with an integral role in coordinating the logistics of some of the Getty’s largest exhibitions, namely Cave Temples of Dunhuang: Buddhist Art on China’s Silk Road. Ayda is a “1.75-generation” immigrant of Armenian and Iranian heritage. She has been a part of LA’s Southwest Asian North African (SWANA) community, along with cross-community activism, and a passion for social justice, Critical Race Theory, and civil rights advocacy for marginalized communities.Alicia Hawkins, Critical Race Studies Communications Specialist
Alicia Solstice Hawkins is a communications specialist, writer, and filmmaker originally from Buffalo, NY. She studied documentary film at the University of Washington and has also worked as an educator and media producer for nonprofits and educational institutions that support a wide variety of social justice initiatives. She was both an instructor and adult education specialist at the Muckleshoot Tribal College where she taught communications, writing, and digital storytelling. In 2016, she was awarded the Future Faculty Fellowship from Temple University and continued her film studies with an emphasis on producing media that promotes diverse representation. In 2021, her screenwriting work was recognized by the Hollywood International Diversity Film Festival, Filmmakers First Fund, and Reel Sisters of the Diaspara Film Festival.Kyle Reinhard, CRT Forward Post-Graduate Fellow
Kyle is a 2021 CRS alum. During law school, he was an RA for CRS Professor Sunita Patel, a summer associate at the union-side labor law firm Bush Gottlieb, and a member of the UCLA Law Review. Kyle’s student comment “Sociological Gobbledygook” was published in Volume 67 of the Law Review in June 2020. Prior to joining CRT Forward, Kyle was a post-bar fellow at the Eviction Defense Network in Los Angeles. Before law school, Kyle was an active member of Chicago’s independent comedy and theater scene from 2011–16. His sketch trio Two Bunnies Eating Flowers was a regular “critic’s pick” at festivals and toured revues to New York City and Los Angeles. His group HIJINKS once wrote and performed a 12-hour long narrative show made up of a dozen smaller shows — including one which took place on a moving party trolley — to some local acclaim. Discovering CRT and joining the CRS program changed Kyle’s life, and he hopes to continue studying and writing in the law critically in the years to come. -
Core Faculty
E. Tendayi Achiume
Professor of Law
Alicia Miñana Chair in LawAhilan Arulanantham
Professor from Practice
Faculty Co-Director, Center for Immigration Law & PolicyLaToya Baldwin Clark
Assistant Professor of LawDevon W. Carbado
The Honorable Harry Pregerson Professor of LawKimberlé W. Crenshaw
Distinguished Professor of Law
Promise Institute Chair in Human RightsFanna Gamal
Assistant Professor of LawLaura E. Gómez
Professor of Law
Rachel F. Moran Endowed Chair in LawCheryl I. Harris
Vice Dean for Community, Equality and Justice
Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Professor in Civil Rights and Civil LibertiesJerry Kang
Distinguished Professor of Law
Distinguished Professor of Asian American Studies (by courtesy)
Inaugural Korea Times – Hankook Ilbo Endowed Chair (2010-20)
Founding Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (2015-20)Jasleen Kohli
Executive Director, Critical Race Studies ProgramHiroshi Motomura
Susan Westerberg Prager Distinguished Professor of Law
Faculty Co-Director, Center for Immigration Law and PolicySunita Patel
Assistant Professor of Law
Faculty Director, UCLA Veterans Legal ClinicAngela R. Riley
Professor of Law
Director, MA/JD Joint Degree Program in Law and American Indian Studies
Director, Native Nations Law and Policy CenterSherod Thaxton
Professor of Law
Faculty Director, David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and PolicyNoah D. Zatz
Professor of Law - Law Teaching Fellows
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Affiliated Faculty and Staff
Khaled M. Abou El Fadl
Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Professor of LawJoseph Berra
Human Rights in the Americas Project DirectorBeth A. Colgan
Vice Dean of Faculty & Intellectual Life
Professor of LawScott L. Cummings
Robert Henigson Professor of Legal Ethics
Professor of LawIngrid Eagly
Professor of Law
Faculty Director, Criminal Justice ProgramS. Priya Morley
Racial Justice Policy Counsel
Co-Director, International Human Rights ClinicJoanna C. Schwartz
Professor of LawAndrew D. Selbst
Assistant Professor of LawAnna Spain Bradley
Professor of Law
Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and InclusionTony Tolbert
Assistant Director of Admissions
Adjunct FacultyLeo Trujillo-Cox
Executive Director of Academic Outreach & Development
Associate Director of Admissions & Recruitment
Instructor, Law Fellows ProgramLauren van Schilfgaarde
Assistant Professor of LawAlicia Virani
The Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Director, Criminal Justice ProgramKarin H. Wang
Executive Director, David J. Epstein Program in Public Interest Law and Policy
Professor from Practice - Emeriti
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UCLA Wide Affiliated Faculty
Leisy Abrego
Professor and Department Chair in Chicana/o StudiesBryonn Bain
Associate Professor, Department of African American Studies and Department of World Arts and Cultures/DanceMatt Barreto
Professor of Political Science and Chicana/o StudiesScot Brown
Associate Professor, Department of African American Studies and Department of HistoryKeith Camacho
Associate Professor, Asian American StudiesMishuana Goeman
Professor of Gender Studies, American Indian Studies; Special Advisor to the Chancellor on Native American and Indigenous AffairsSarah Haley
Associate Professor, Department of African American Studies and Department of Gender Studies; Director, UCLA Center for the Study of Women Black Feminism InitiativeKelly Lytle Hernandez
Professor, Thomas E. Lifka Chair of History; Director of the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American StudiesRobin D. G. Kelley
Distinguished Professor of History and African American Studies, and Gary B. Nash Endowed Chair in U.S. HistorySherene Razack
Distinguished Professor and the Penney Kanner Endowed Chair in Women’s StudiesAnanya Roy
Professor of Urban Planning, Social Welfare, and Geography and The Meyer and Renee Luskin Chair in Inequality; Director of the Institute on Inequality and Democracy at UCLAGary Segura
Dean of the Luskin School of Public AffairsMargaret Shih
Associate Vice Chancellor, BruinX, UCLA Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Neil Jacoby Chair in Management; Professor of Management and OrganizationsDaniel Solorzano
Professor of Education and of Chicano/a StudiesShannon Speed
Director of the American Indian Studies Center (AISC) and Professor of Gender Studies and AnthropologyAbel Valenzuela Jr.
Director of UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Luskin School of Public AffairsRichard Yarborough
Professor, Department of African American Studies and Department of English
Our Past Faculty Directors
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CRS Faculty Directors
2021-22: Noah Zatz
2020-21: Laura E. Gómez
2019-20: Laura E. Gómez
2018-19: Laura E. Gómez
2017-18: Cheryl I. Harris
2016-17: Cheryl I. Harris & Noah D. Zatz
2015-16: Chery I. Harris & Devon W. Carbado
2014-15: Cheryl I. Harris
2013-14: Devon W. Carbado
2012-13: Cheryl I. Harris & Jyoti Nanda
2011-12: Cheryl I. Harris & Kimberlé W. Crenshaw
2010-11: Kimberlé W. Crenshaw
2009-10: Kimberlé W. Crenshaw & Russell K. Robinson
2008-09: Jerry Kang
2007-09: Jerry Kang
2006-07: Cheryl I. Harris
2005-06: Cheryl I. Harris
2004-05: Cheryl I. Harris
2003-04: Devon W. Carbado
2002-03: Devon W. Carbado
2001-02: Jerry Kang & Laura E. Gómez
2000-01: Jerry Kang & Laura E. Gómez
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