Naomi Ramirez, MA

PhD student, Department of Education (in progress)
San Diego State University and Claremont Graduate University 

A student in the joint doctoral program in education at Claremont Graduate University and San Diego State University, Naomi Ramirez teaches at multiple colleges guided by a critical multimodal lens and interrogates Eurocentric ways of knowing, producing, and legitimizing knowledge, in the classroom. She received an MA in anthropology at Cal State Los Angeles and an MA in Latin American Studies from San Diego State University and began her higher education journey as a community college student.  

Raised in the borderlands of California and Baja California, and stemming from a multiethnic family with Indigenous, Jamaican, Mexican and Costa Rican roots, she directs her work in service of underrepresented and migrant populations. In particular, she centers undocumented migrant experiences and uplifts their experiences through a creative and inclusive teaching praxis guided by authentic care and celebration of all identities. 

Ramirez is the recipient of the 2013-2014 Fulbright Research Grant and the 2021 Tinker Field Research Grant both which supported her research in Latin America.  Her aim is to create spaces in which Indigenous, Black and Brown people can engage in reflexivity and their story-telling, and incorporate a variety of creative modes of expression aimed toward healing and self-empowerment.