Elena Losada
College affiliation: Rachel Carson
Department: Sociology
What Award/ Scholarship did you receive? Jessica Roy Memorial Award
When do you expect to graduate? 2027
Where do you call home? California is my birthplace and after over a decade away, I am back for graduate school. Many of my friends and family are here, so being back here feels like a ‘home coming’.
With all of the choices for college, what made UC Santa Cruz stand out? I was drawn to UC Santa Cruz because of its progressive culture and the strong inclination towards social justice. I also valued the spaciousness for Sociology students and faculty to engage outside of the traditional sociology discipline. Interdisciplinarity has really enriched my time at UCSC thus far, especially working with the Latin American and Latino Studies Department, and the Center for Integrated Spatial Research.
What is your field of focus? I study processes of socio-spatial change, like urbanization and migration, and social futures in Latin America. In particular, I am interested in indigenous and agrarian lifeways in the context of majority urbanized Mexico, as well as the role of ‘informality’ in megacities.
What do you hope to do once you graduate from UC Santa Cruz? I hope to obtain a professorship or teaching position, in the United States or in a university in Mexico. I believe that the most inspiring and impactful professors and researchers are simultaneously involved in community action. I hope to maintain community organizing and policy change at the center of my life work.
What is one memorable moment that stands out for you as a student here? In my first years of the program, I was exposed to so many new ways of thinking about research and theoretical perspectives through discussions with peers, graduate seminars, teaching undergraduate students, working groups, and more. There was one week during winter break when I truly paused to take it all in. In this process of integration (including writing and discussing with those around me), I came up with my current research project. I will always remember when I knew I had come up with a project that brought together what I had learned in graduate school as well as my past experiences, but also genuinely represented what I stand for and political goals, and my hopes about the future. This feeling was a first for me.
What is your one piece of advice for incoming students about life at UC Santa Cruz? My advice is to learn actively through participating in section discussions with an open mind and going to office hours to talk with your professors and TAs. These are both things I wished I had done more of as an undergraduate student, and I think can go a long way in deepening learning at a large university like UCSC.
How will this scholarship impact your academic life /research? This scholarship allows me to carry forward preliminary research in Mexico City and in Chiapas this summer, which will be indispensable towards research design of my dissertation project for the coming years.
