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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

2012               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

2023               Dartmouth Center for Advancement of Learning (DCAL) Experiential Learning Initiative

                       (ELI) Course Grant.

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

Peer-reviewed Book Chapters

2025                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).

2024                Emily Greenfield, Jarmin Yeh and Melanie Z. Plasencia, “Chapter 11. Dismantling 

                        and Rebuilding Praxis for Age-Friendly Cities and Communities: Toward an Emancipatory

                        Approach,” in Reimagining Age-Friendly Cities: Urban ageing and spatial justice, edited by                         Tina Buffel Patty, Doran and Sophie Yarker (Manchester, UK: Bristol University Press).

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

2024                Melanie Plasencia, Review of Michael V. Singh, Good Boys, Bad Hombres: The Racial Politics

                        of Mentoring Latino Boys in Schools, in Gender & Society (August): 272.

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 i

                       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, “Uncertain Futures: Undocumented Immigrant Lives & The Bioprecarity of Aging,” in Bioprecarity: Latinx Migrants, Captivity, and Resistance, edited by Catherine S. Ramirez, Jonathan X. Inda, and Rebecca Schreiber.

 

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).

 

Melanie Z. Plasencia, “Reimagining Care for Latinx Senior Survival” (article draft available upon request)

 

Other Writing

2011                Melanie Plasencia, “Why Latinas Do IT: A Qualitative Exploration of 

                        Women in Information Technology,” NCUR Conference Research Proceedings for 

                        University of North Carolina. 

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