My name is Nina (9-uh) Flores and I am proud to be a lifelong product of the California public education system, from K-12 in Long Beach Unified, to BA and MA degrees at CSULB, an MA at San Diego State, and my PhD in urban planning from UCLA. The CSU is truly the People’s University and I’m thrilled to be at my alma mater as an Associate Professor with the Equity, Education & Social Justice program at California State University Long Beach.

In my classes we use critical pedagogies to engage in deep analyses of wide-ranging issues while exploring broader themes of justice, power, and resistance. I teach from an interdisciplinary perspective, meaning that my courses are informed by my graduate-level training in political science, education, and urban planning. For me, teaching and mentoring are the best parts of being a professor. I welcome opportunities to apply what we do in the EESJ program to different fields. In 2023 the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) honored me with the Curriculum Innovation Award for my work designing and teaching an urban planning and public affairs course on Critical Race Studies.

I’m currently the Senior Fellow with the UC National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement in support of my research about the targeted harassment of faculty. My research in this area also examines online and on-the-ground harassment examines issues of gendered public space, harassment at conferences, and looks to how people use twitter to share, document, and organize against street harassment. In a second research area I focus on sex education, and I recently completed the Sexual Wellness Education & Enlightenment Training certification program. I’m engaged in new research that looks at sex education in higher ed as an urgent issue of equity and justice, especially given new or ongoing legislative efforts across the country to severely limit conversations about gender and sexuality, and reduce access to comprehensive sex education programming during K-12.

Prior to returning to academia, I had a previous career as a political messaging strategist and jury consultant. In these roles, I worked as a senior analyst on legal trials and political campaigns in more than 30 states. I’m also a past fellow with The OpEd Project, and my public writing has been featured in national outlets such as the Washington Post, Huffington Post, Ms. Magazine Blog, YES! Magazine, Progressive Planning Magazine, and locally with the beloved, but now shuttered, OC Weekly.

Contact: nina.flores@csulb.edu.

Reach out on Twitter: @bellhookedme.