Announcements

Check back here regularly to learn about Luskin Center activities, new reports, and other noteworthy updates about our work.

LCHP Releases Report on the Use of Contingent Labor at the UC

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LCHP Releases Report on the Use of Contingent Labor at the UC

The Luskin Center is not only devoted to producing a new mode of research that brings historical depth to issues of policy relevance and urgency.  We are also deeply committed to marshaling the exceptional talents of student researchers, both undergraduate and graduate.  At the same time, we are intent on examining critically our own university environment, especially in the wake of the call for self-reckoning that followed the murder of George Floyd in May 2020.

In this spirit, we are pleased to launch a suite of three new LCHP research reports, all of which have been spearheaded by UCLA graduate and undergraduate students.  The first to be released here explores the stunning rise and longer-term consequences of contingent academic labor in the University of California system.  The second, to be released in late February is devoted to the history of race and racism at UCLA, focusing on forgotten personalities and chapters now brought to the light of day.  The third report, to be released in early March, took rise in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and investigates how UCLA responded to past crises of major scale.

As a whole, these reports offer a much-needed critical and constructive perspective on the institution that we call home. It is our hope that a thorough and honest exploration can show the path to a better and more just UCLA community.  As always, we welcome your feedback and input on this important body of research.

The Transformation of Academic Labor: Past as Prologue at the UC

The UCLA Luskin Center for History and Policy is pleased to release a new series of reports about the history of the UC and UCLA.

The first report in this series details the numerous factors that led to the University of California’s increased reliance on adjunct faculty and lecturers over the past 60 years, as well as the implications of this reliance.

This report was researched and written by UCLA Geography Ph.D. students Sammy Feldblum and John Schmidt, and UCLA undergraduate student Fariha Khan.

To read the paper, click [HERE].

To read an op-ed by the authors in the San Francisco Chronicle, click [HERE]. 

Listen to Sammy Feldblum and John Schmidt in conversation with Dr. Caroline Luce about their research in the podcast episode [HERE] or below.

LCHP Funded Research on Southern African Migration Governance Published

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LCHP Funded Research on Southern African Migration Governance Published

Professor E. Tendayi Achiume and Dr. Tamara Last recently published their peer-reviewed article “Decolonial Regionalism: Reorienting Southern African Migration Policy” in the journal Third World Approaches to International Law Review, based on research they conducted with an LCHP Research Grant. The authors analyze southern African migration governance – in the context of colonial history of migration – and its effects on the lived experiences of migrants in the region. Achiume and Last are on track to develop a full policy brief with a set of policy recommendations regarding southern African migration governance.

Their published article can be found here.

LCHP Releases Collection of Articles on US Foreign Policy in the Middle East

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UCLA Students Examine U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East throughout History


The Middle East Research Initiative (MERI) originated in a series of meetings in late 2019 and early 2020. A dedicated team of undergraduates worked under the guidance of three dedicated UCLA Ph.D. candidates to examine the long-term motives and effects (both domestically and internationally) of American foreign policy in the Middle East. In parallel, the three graduate students researched U.S. support of ethnic minorities in Iraq. The results of their important work are below.


U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East: Changes in the Neoliberal Age

The UCLA Luskin Center for History and Policy is pleased to release a new collection of articles about U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East, researched and written by an exceptional group of UCLA undergraduate students.

This volume features articles by Mariam Aref, Leila Achtoun, Jessica Brouard, and Karina Ourfalian. It includes an introduction edited by Firyal Bawab.

The project was edited and compiled by UCLA graduate students Philip Hoffman, Lily Hindy, and Monica Widmann.

To read the paper, click [HERE].

Listen to Mariam, Firyal, and Philip discuss the volume in the podcast episode below:



Skewed Recovery: Minority Assistance Programs to Iraq in Historical Perspective

The following report by graduate students Philip Hoffman, Lily Hindy, and Monica Widmann situates current trends in American humanitarian aid in Iraq within a broader history of Western intervention.

To read the paper, click [HERE].

Listen to Philip, Lily, and Monica discuss the paper in the podcast episode below:

From Student Politics to Capitol Insurrection: The Intensification of Extremism at UCLA and Beyond

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On January 6, 2021, hundreds of far-right protestors, many of them wearing white nationalist clothing and insignia, stormed the U.S. Capitol building. On February 16, UCLA student Christian Secor was arrested for his participation in the riot.

This report tracks the intensification of this extremist activity on national, state, and local levels, and tracks how white nationalism made its way to the UCLA student body. It was researched and written by a team of UCLA undergraduates and recent graduates – as a follow up to a report on white nationalism in Southern California that LCHP released last year. The authors are Grace Johnston-Glick and James Nee (National section); Lacy Green and Gavin Quan (State section); Brandon Broukhim and Talla Khelghati (UCLA section). It was edited by Erin Onarecker.

Read the report [HERE].

LCHP Releases Report on the History of Homelessness in LA County

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The Making of a Crisis: A History of Homelessness in Los Angeles County

A new report by the UCLA Luskin Center for History and Policy takes a historical view to understand the historic roots of the homelessness crisis in Los Angeles County.

This report was researched and written by Dr. Kirsten Moore-Sheeley, Alisa Belinkoff Katz, Andrew Klein, Jessica Richards, Fernanda Jahn-Verri, Marques Vestal, and Zev Yaroslavsky.

To read the paper, click [HERE]. The fact sheet can be found [HERE], and the executive summary can be found [HERE].

Find the UCLA Newsroom announcement [HERE].

Find Vestal and Klein’s LATimes Op-Ed, “What we should have learned from L.A.’s long history of homelessness,” [HERE].

LCHP is covering the report findings in a series of podcast episodes on homelessness in Los Angeles. Listen to Vestal, Klein, and Jahn-Verri discuss the report below:

Listen to Moore-Sheeley and Richards interview Dr. Jonathan Sherin, the director of the LA County Department of Mental Health, below: