About the Speaker

Dr. Randol Contreras is an assistant professor with research interests in criminology, qualitative research, and ethno-racial conflicts. As a student of New York’s public university system, he attained a community college degree in Social Science, then a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, and then a Ph.D. in Sociology from The Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

Dr. Contreras has conducted ethnographic research in South Central and Compton, where he studied the ethno-racial tensions among its residents. To date, he has published the project’s findings in the journals Environment and Planning Dand Qualitative Sociology.

Currently, he is doing field research on the Mexican Maravilla gangs of East Los Angeles, a book project that is currently under contract with the University of California Press. His larger goal is to use ethnography to make empirical links between macro social forces and the everyday meanings and behavior of people who live on the margins and participate in crime.

For more information on ANSO Seminars for Fall 2019, click here.