Claudia Hernández Romero

• Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), University of California, Los Angeles, June 2019

  • World Arts & Cultures (Culture & Performance/Folklore Specialization) 

  • Dissertation: Proyecto Jardín Community Garden: Traditional Medicine and Health Among Latinxs in Boyle Heights 
    Chairs: Allen F. Roberts & Vickie Mays

• Master of Arts (M.A), University of California, Los Angeles, June 2003  

  • World Arts & Cultures (Culture & Performance/Folklore Specialization)

• Bachelor of Arts (B.A), cum laude, University of California, Los Angeles, June 2000  

  • World Arts and Cultures (Dance & Cultural Studies)

Claudia J. Hernández Romero is an Associate Professor of Sustainability & Sustainability Minor Area Head at Otis College of Art & Design. She holds a Ph.D. from UCLA's Culture and Performance Program in the World Arts & Cultures Department, specializing in Folklore Studies—her dissertation Proyecto Jardín Community Garden: Traditional Medicine and Health Among Latinx in Boyle Heights, explores the intersections between place, identity, and health. Hernández Romero’s courses center on food justice, decolonizing ethnographic methodologies, and applying a critical environmental justice lens to sustainability studies in the classroom and in community settings. Hernández Romero consults on best practices for community building, collaboration in the workplace, and starting community gardens. In addition to her academic pursuits, Hernández Romero dances Afro-Cuban social and folkloric dances and is a performance artist whose work emphasizes storytelling through improvisational movement and visual installations that explore belonging, indigeneity, immigration, and Latinidad. Notable publications include Applied Folklore, Account-Ability, and Social Responsibility; Salvie Mom’s Beans; and Botánicas: Sites of Healing and Community Support. Projects in the works include The Little Green Corner: Decolonizing Land Access and Pedagogy at Otis College of Art & Design.