Alexis McCurn remembers the exchange she had one day with her neighbor, Ruth: She was sitting on the front steps of her former East Oakland apartment when the 19-year-old mother walked by pushing a stroller. McCurn asked, “Where you going, Ruth?” “You know where I’m going, taking him to the babysitter, then to King’s (the local fast-food restaurant where she worked),” said Ruth. “I’ve gotta stay on my grind because the bills don’t stop.” McCurn, an associate professor of sociology at California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), met Ruth while conducting nearly two years of ethnographic research on the lived experiences of poor African American women and the creative approaches ... Read More
Sociology
Hawk McFadzen Honored with CSU Trustees’ Award for Outstanding Achievement
During a break at a Hollywood restaurant where they prepared sumptuous cuts of meat, lobster, pâté, and colorful cheese and fruit platters, California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) graduate student Hawk McFadzen recalls spending their time filling out paperwork to apply for food stamps for their children. “We [restaurant employees] could never afford to eat where we worked, or even eat well after work because we were also dealing with what’s called time poverty. Whether we were buying fresh fruits and vegetables or not, we wouldn’t have time to prepare them,” said McFadzen, who identifies as a gender non-binary person. McFadzen had worked in the food service industry for ... Read More
Dominguez Poll Finds Positive Views on Immigration
(Carson, CA) – The Dominguez Poll, a survey undertaken by California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH) and its Urban Community Research Center to gauge the opinions of residents within the university’s service area on a variety of national topics, found that approximately 7 out of 10 respondents believe immigration has a positive effect on the United States. A total of 384 survey responses were collected, a statistically valid sampling to a 95 percent confidence level with a +/- 2.5 percent margin of error. The survey, which was conducted in both English and Spanish in November and December 2017, sought responses to questions related to the current level of immigration in the ... Read More
Alumnus Victor McKamie Helps MAP a Better Life for Those with HIV/AIDS
“For a lot of our clients, they felt they had zero, then they became infected with HIV, and felt they had less.” For the past 28 years, Victor McKamie (’98, B.A., sociology; ’01, M.S., public administration), executive director and CEO of Minority AIDS Project (MAP) in Los Angeles, and his colleagues have been successfully showing their clients with that feeling of having “less” that they have so much "more;" more to accomplish, more to give, and more reason to live. The not-for-profit organization was founded in 1985 by Archbishop Carl Bean and members of Unity Fellowship of Christ Church in Los Angeles California. It is the first community-based HIV/AIDS organization established and ... Read More
Matt G. Mutchler Examines HIV Prevention Communication among Black Gay and Bisexual Men
Professor of sociology Matt G. Mutchler’s research over the past 20 years into HIV prevention and treatment issues, especially within the African American community, has garnered him more than 15 external research awards and respect as an expert in the field. In addition to serving as a faculty member at California State University, Dominguez Hills, he is currently a visiting professor with the Center for AIDS Prevention and Study at University of California, San Francisco, and director of community-based research with AIDS Project Los Angeles. Mutchler’s more recent work addresses sexual communication among African-American gay and bisexual males and their close friends, and other sexual ... Read More
