Curriculum Vitae
Education
2022 Ph.D., Ethnic Studies, University of California-Berkeley
Dissertation: “Con Sueños Que Ya Son Viejos: How Older Latinx Immigrants Age in an
Urban Community”
Committee: Lok Siu, Cristina Mora, Ulla Berg, Christian Paiz
2014 M.A., Ethnic Studies, UC Berkeley
2012 B.A., Latino and Hispanic Caribbean Studies, Rutgers University
Recognition: Summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa
Minors: American Studies and Women’s & Gender Studies
Additional Education
2022 Certificate in Global Health, The John Sloan Dickey Center for International
Understanding, Dartmouth College and Geisel School of Medicine Center for
Health Equity
2016 Oral History Summer Institute, Center for Oral History, Columbia University
2016 Certificate in Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, UC Berkeley
2013 Certificate in Women’s Leadership, Institute for Women’s Leadership,
Rutgers University
Selected Honors & Awards
FELLOWSHIPS
2022-2024 César Chávez Postdoctoral Fellowship, Latin American, Latino & Caribbean Studies
Program, Dartmouth College
2021-2022 César Chávez Dissertation Fellowship, Latin American, Latino & Caribbean Studies
Program, Dartmouth College
2021-2022 New York University (NYU), Faculty First Look Program in the Arts and Sciences.
2021-2022 Global Health Fellow, The John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding,
Dartmouth College and Geisel School of Medicine Center for Health Equity
2021-2022 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship in Latino Studies, School for Advanced Research,
Santa Fe, NM (declined)
2021 Future Faculty Career Exploration Fellowship, Rochester Institute of Technology
2021 Michigan Center for Urban African American Aging Research (MCUAAAR) Summer
Mentoring Workshop for Advanced Doctoral Students in Latinx Studies
2020-2021 Dissertation Fellowship, Ford Foundation
2020-2021 Graduate Fellowship, Institute for the Study of Societal Issues, UC Berkeley
2018-2021 Fellowship, Center for Race and Gender, UC Berkeley
AWARDS AND GRANTS
2021 Behavioral and Social Sciences Section- Student Registration Award, Gerontological
Society of America (GSA)
2021 Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award, Ethnic Studies Department, UC Berkeley
2019 Travel Research Award, Graduate Assembly, UC Berkeley
2019 Research Grant, Center for Race and Gender, UC Berkeley
2018 Future Faculty Development Program Awardee, Sociology Department, Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University
2017 Second Place, Emerging Scholars Poster Competition, International Conference on Aging in the Americas
Publications
PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES
2022 Melanie Z. Plasencia, “Age-friendly as Tranquilo Ambiente: How Socio-Cultural Perspectives Shape the Lived Environment of Latinx Older Adults,”
The Gerontologist, https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnab137
2021 Melanie Z. Plasencia, “‘I don’t have much money, but I have a lot of friends’: How Poor
Older Latinxs Find Tangible Support in Peer Friendship Networks,” Social
Problems, https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spab081
BOOK CHAPTERS
Forthcoming Melanie Z. Plasencia, “‘La Iglesia Es Mi Comunidad’: A Union City Latinx Destination From
Arrival to Old Age,” in Latino New Jersey, edited by Ulla Dalum Berg and Aldo Lauria
Santiago (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press).
Forthcoming Melanie Z. Plasencia and Mateo P. Farina, “Older Latinxs, Social Inequality and
Diverse Aging Approaches,” in Older Latinas and Latinos, The Third Age, edited by Steven
R. Applewhite (Taylor and Francis/Routledge).
ENCYCLOPEDIA ENTRIES
2019 Melanie Plasencia, “Antonio Ibarria (1935-) and El Especialito (Union City, NJ)
(1985),” in Latinos in the American Political System: An Encyclopedia of Latinos as
Voters, Candidates, and Office Holders, edited by Jessica Lavariega Monforti (Santa
Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO), 172-173.
2019 Melanie Plasencia, “Robert ‘Bob’ Menendez (1954-),” in Latinos in the American
Political System: An Encyclopedia of Latinos as Voters, Candidates, and Office
Holders, edited by Jessica Lavariega Monforti (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO), 319-320.
BOOK REVIEWS
2017 Melanie Plasencia, Review of Theresa Delgadillo, Latina Lives in Milwaukee, in Latino
Studies 15, no. 3 (September): 386-388.
PUBLIC SCHOLARSHIP
2022 Melanie Z. Plasencia, “How to Write A Winning Grant Application,” Inside Higher Ed, March
29.
2022 Melanie Z. Plasencia, “Accounting for the Diverse Experiences of Older Immigrants in
Today’s America,” Generations Today, American Society on Aging (March-April).
2021 Julia Sizek, with Isabel G. Valdivia and Melanie Z. Plasencia, “Addressing Latinx Social
inequality in Later Life.” Written interview. Social Science Matrix, December 20.
MANUSCRIPTS IN PROGRESS
Melanie Z. Plasencia, “Reimagining Care for Latinx Senior Survival” (article draft available
upon request)
Emily Greenfield, Jarmin Yeh and Melanie Z. Plasencia, "Dismantling and Rebuilding Praxis
for Age-Friendly Cities and Communities: Toward an Emancipatory Approach,” in
Reimagining Age-Friendly Cities, edited by Tina Buffel, Patty Doran and Sophie Yarker
(Manchester, UK: Bristol University Press).