About the Book and the Authors/Contributors

Jennifer Ounjian, Creator/Remixer/Contributor

Jennifer is a tenured professor at Contra Costa College and department chair for the Psychology Department. She also teaches at Madera Community College in Ethnic Studies and Psychology. Jennifer earned her BA in African American Studies with a minor in Armenian Studies at CSU Fresno, MA in Afro-American Studies (Sociology concentration) at UCLA, and MA and EdD (ABD) in Counseling Psychology at Argosy University. She has worked in higher education for over 20 years in a variety of positions starting with TRiO programs in East Los Angeles and Pasadena, a decade in academic management, and now 12 years in the faculty ranks. Jennifer has foundhas a cherished creative and intellectual outlet in OER and ancillary development in addition to online course instructional design and curriculum development. You will find several contributions from her to this book listed as "Our Local Stories" documenting the history of minoritized populations in the Central Valley of California.

Erika Gutierrez, Author/Contributor

Erika is a tenured sociology/ethnic studies professor at Santiago Canyon College, and she occasionally teaches part time at Long Beach City College.

Dr. Janét Hund, Author/Contributor

Dr. Janét Hund is a tenured full-time professor in Sociology at Long Beach City College; she currently serves at the Social Sciences Department Chair. She began her full-time tenure at Long Beach City College in 1997. Janét recently earned her EdD in Community College Leadership from National American University. She earned her M.A. in Sociology at Arizona State University and her B.A. in Sociology/Minority Studies at Wichita State University. After incorporating OER texts for years in her Introduction to Sociology and Modern Social Problems courses, she desired to adopt OER material for her Race & Ethnic Relations in the U.S. course. She is appreciative of a former student trustee who called her attention to the OER movement nearly a decade ago. She is committed to her personal and professional growth to better serve our diverse student body. Her children, Jonas and Jakobi Oware, created images, charts and tables found throughout this book.

Shaheen Johnson, Author/Contributor

Shaheen Johnson is a tenure-track full-time professor in Sociology at Long Beach City College. She received her M.A. and B.A. in Sociology from California State University, Dominguez Hills. She is passionate when it comes to serving low-income, first-generation college students. Through her personal experience as a low-income, first-generation college student, she is able to empathize with students and relate to many of their struggles. By offering OER material in her courses, it’s one barrier that she is happy to remove in an effort to ease the financial burden many students carry.

Carlos Ramos, Author/Contributor

Carlos Ramos is a tenured full-time professor of Sociology at Long Beach City College who began teaching sociology at the college level in 2001. Carlos earned a B.A. in Sociology/Psychology from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He recently completed the OER transition of his Introduction to Sociology and Modern Social Problems courses, and they are now zero-cost textbook courses, without having to sacrifice academic rigor. He recently worked closely with Long Beach City College colleagues to create a zero-cost textbook and course materials for the course, Race and Ethnic Relations in the United States, and plans to create and adopt OER materials the course, Sociology of Latinos, in Summer 2021.

Lisette Rodriguez, Author/Contributor