Researchers

 

Dr. Lois Ann Lorentzen

Principal Investigator & Team Leader
Mexico/El Salvador Team
lorentzen@usfca.edu
Curriculum Vitae

Lois Ann Lorentzen is Professor of Social Ethics in the Theology and Religious Studies Department at the University of San Francisco (USF) and Associate Director of the Center for Latino Studies in the Americas (CELASA). Her publications include Etica y el Medio Ambiente and the forthcoming co-authored Global Ethics: Theories and Cases; co-edited volumes, Religions/Globalization: Theories and Cases; The Women and War Reader; Liberation Theologies, Postmodernity and the Americas; The Gendered New World Order:  Militarism, Environment, Development; and the forthcoming Challenging Ecofeminism, and The Biotechnology Reader. She has worked in refugee resettlement with Catholic Charities and conducted research in both El Salvador and Mexico.

 

Rosalina M. Mira

Research Assistant
Mexico/El Salvador Team
miraro00@yahoo.com

Ms. Mira was born in El Salvador and raised in Los Angeles, California. She has a B.A in Developmental Psychology, a certificate in Ethnic Studies and is currently pursuing an M.A. in Counseling Psychology at the University of San Francisco. As an immigrant herself, Ms. Mira finds this to be groundbreaking work in the role of religion and religious institutions in the identity of new migrants.

 

Susan Zaraysky

Research Assistant
Mexico/El Salvador Team
szaraysky@yahoo.com

Ms. Zaraysky was born in St.Petersburg, Russia. Her family left the former USSR because of religious persecution and moved to the US in 1980. Her family's immigration sparked her interest in international issues and religion. Since then, Ms. Zaraysk yhas worked, studied and travelled in Latin America, the Middle East and in Europe. Recently, she was working on economic development projects in Bosnia-Hercegovina for religious minorities, returning to their reconstructed homes after the brutal "ethnic cleansing" of the Bosnian war. Ms. Zaraysky holds a BA in Political Economy from UC Berkeley.

 

Enrique Bazan

Research Assistant
Mexico/El Salvador Team
lebb74@hotmail.com

Mr Bazan was born and raised in Lima, Peru, and he earned his bachelor degree in Education from the Catholic University. While he was in Lima, he worked as a street educator defending the rights of street children. Currently he is pursuing an MA in Religious Studies and Theology at the University of San Francisco. Mr. Bazan is interested in understanding how spiritual convictions appear in people's lives.

 

Carlos E. Torres

Research Assistant
Mexico/El Salvador Team

Mr. Torres has earned the following degrees: B.A. in Psychology at Ricardo Palma University, Lima, Peru 1981; Master of Arts in Religious Studies, Austin Theological Seminary, Austin, Texas 1998; Master of Divinity, Pacific School of Religion at the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California 2000. Mr. Torres' research and writing focuses on the maintenance of ethnic values and beliefs of migrants, the religious practices of migrant communities, and issues of health and spirituality.

 

Theresa Mejia

Research Assistant
Mexico/El Salvador Team

Ms. Mejia has a Bachelor of Science degree from the National University of El Salvador, and from Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco. She is working towards a Master's Degree in Nursing at San Francisco State University. She previously worked as a Medical Technologist in El Salvador.  Ms. Mejia is the founder of the Celina Ramos Clinic of the Central American Refugee Center (CARECEN) in San Francisco and served as a Medical Coordinator for CARECEN.  She has worked on political asylum cases for Catholic Charities and the Lawyers Committee and Bar Association of San Francisco.  Ms. Mejia is interested in combining her experience in the medical-social field and as a migrant and active Catholic, to further understand the role of religion in the immigration process.

 

Liliana Harris

Research Assistant
Mexico/El Salvador Team

Ms. Harris was born and raised in central Mexico. She majored in Communications at the Universidad Iberoamericana and graduated with honors. Her thesis, entitled Family Cultural Heritage, was published in part by the university magazine. She participated in a national project called Urban Cartographies and Cultural Equipment in Leon, which was subsequently published by CONACULTA-FONCA. She worked in the first stage of TRIP’s project as a Research Associate. Of her research efforts, Ms. Harris states, "Working with TRIP was a very rich experience and being an immigrant myself made me more sensitive to the research."

 

Dr. Patricia Fortuny Loret de Mola

Research Consultant
Mexico/El Salvador Team

Patricia Fortuny Loret de Mola is a researcher in the Center of Research and Advanced Studies in Social Anthropology (CIESAS/Occidente) in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. She received her Ph.D. degree in Social Anthropology from the University College London in 1995. Since the 1980's , she has studied
religious minorities such as Evangelicals, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses in Mexico. She has published a book on religion change- Creyentes y Creencias en Guadalajara, 2000 and has done research among Mexican migrants in the US who belong to an important Mexican Pentecostal church. She has published numerous articles on diverse topics related to religion in Mexico and ,most recently, among Mexican migrants in the US and their churches.

 

 

 

Dr. Joaquin L. Gonzalez III

Team Leader
Filipino Research Team
jaygonzalez@hotmail.com

Dr. Gonzalez is the Director of the Executive Master of Public Administration Program at the School of Professional and Undergraduate Studies at Golden Gate University and is also associated with the Maria Elena Yuchengco Philippine Studies Program and the Center for the Pacific Rim, both at the University of San Francisco. Recently appointed as the Commissioner of Immigrant Rights for the city of San Francisco, he joins a 15-member commission which seeks to improve, enhance, and preserve the quality of life and civic participation of all San Francisco immigrants. The author of books on Philippine labor migration, political economy, public policy, government and development, Dr. Gonzalez wrote Philippine Labour Migration: Critical Dimensions of Public Policy (1998), which describes the historical events, economic benefits, social costs, and political dynamics of the modern-day Filipino diaspora. His scholarly articles have appeared in the International Migration Review, International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Humboldt Journal of Social Relations, Asian Journal of Public Administration, Pacific Focus, Policy Studies Journal, and the Asian Journal of Political Science.

 

Andrea Maison

Research Assistant
Filipino Research Team

Andrea Maison has significant experience working with Filipino American cultural projects and communities in Washington, D.C. and in San Francisco. She served as a Research Associate for TRIP's Filipino research team from 2000-2001, helping complete the first phase of research and documentation of church life among Filipino migrants in the San Francisco area. She now writes articles about her research from her new home in Florida.

 

Dennis Marzan

Research Assistant
Filipino Research Team

Born and raised in Manila, Philippines, Mr. Marzan is a first-generation immigrant to the United States arriving in 1990. After nearly six years of moving around California, he settled in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1996 to study Asian History and Sociology at the University of San Francisco. He graduated with honors and also won the David Herlihy Prize for best historical writing from the University. His interest in the project revolves around the history of the Filipino community in San Francisco and its linkages with the Philippines. Mr. Marzan is also interested in the connection and interaction between religious faith and cultural practice. Among his other many interests are music appreciation, sociopolitical theory, and martial arts films. He also claims to be on a quest for the perfect noodle soup.

 

Claudine M. del Rosario

Research Assistant
Filipino Research Team

Ms. del Rosario was born and raised in New Jersey and moved to California in 1990. She earned her Bachelor's degree in Psychology with a minor in Ethnic Studies from the University of California at Berkeley. She spent many summers in the Philippines, including this last summer when she participated in a Fulbright Program for intensive Tagalog. Currently, Ms. del Rosario is pursuing her Master's degree in Asian American Studies from San Francisco State University. She also devotes a lot of time to working with Pin@y Educational Partnerships at Balboa High School and Asian Youth Prevention Services at West Bay Pilipino Multi-Services.

 

 

Kevin Chun, Ph.D.

Team Leader
Chinese Research Team
Curriculum Vitae
chunk@usfca.edu

Dr. Chun, Assistant Professor of Psychology at USF, is primarily interested in studying acculturation and psychosocial adjustment among immigrants and refugees.  This includes examining how individuals' spiritual lives and religious organizations transform during migration, resettlement, and transnational contact.  Other research interests include examining how religious values and traditions facilitate coping with acculturative stress.  His publications include journal articles and professional book chapters in the areas of stress and coping, psychopathology, and mental health service utililzation for Asian American immigrant and refugee populations.  Also, he collaborated with USF Professors Gerardo Marin and Pamela Balls Organista, on Acculturation: Advances in Theory, Measurement, and Applied Research. Professor Chun also holds appointments as Senior Investigator at UCSF and Alumni Scholar at the National Research Center on Asian American Mental Health at UC Davis.

 

Selina Yan-yan Lui

Research Assistant
Chinese Research Team
selina_lui@yahoo.com

Ms. Lui is a graduate student at the University of San Francisco who is earning a degree in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT).  Her Bachelor degree is in Religious Studies which explains her great interest in this research project which focuses on the role of religion in the Chinese immigrants' acculturation experience.  As a MFT  and international student, she is particularly interested in reconciling the family conflicts which are produced by the stress of acculturation.

 

Maureen Lin

Research Assistant
Chinese Research Team
mlin25@hotmail.com

Ms. Lin was born in Taiwan and moved to Canada in 1989. She has her BA in Psychology, and MA inCcounseling Psychology from University of San Francisco. Ms. Lin is currently working at RAMS (Richmond Area Multi-Services), a community mental health agency as a Marriage and Family Intern. The agency is well known through serving the Asian Community in San Francisco which providing her opportunities to work with the Chinese community. Ms. Lin is interested in working with children and her goal is to gain more knowledge of combining spirituality in psychotherapy.

 

Hien Duc Do

Team Leader
Vietnamese Research Team
Curriculum Vitae
hienddo@email.sjsu.edu

Hien Duc Do is Associate Professor and Chair of the Social Science Department at San Jose State University and the current President of the Association of Asian American Studies. He is the author of The Vietnamese Americans (1999) published by Greenwood Press. In addition to journal articles and chapters in books, he was the Associate Producer of Viet Nam: At the Crossroads. (KTEH, 1994), a one hour documentary film shown on PBS stations nationally and winner of the 1994 CINE Golden Eagle Award. His research interests focus on the development of Asian American communities and the adaptation processes of new immigrant groups. Professor Do works with the Vietnamese American community and is a frequent contributor to the local and national media regarding Vietnamese and Vietnamese American issues.

 

Tommy Hoang Lu

Research Assistant
Vietnamese Research Team
tlu@ccsj.org

Mr. Lu is a Cantonese-Vietnamese refugee, who escaped from Vietnam by boat in 1980 with his families and settled in San Francisco in 1981. He lived in San Francisco for 14 years before he moved to San Jose to attend San Jose State University. He graduated with a Bachelor¹s degree in Sociology and is currently working on his Master¹s degree in Sociology. Mr. Lu was a national Americorps member for ten months and has been with working with Vietnamese youth and their families in the last four years. He is very delighted to have the opportunity to be involved in this project and to learn more about how different religions affect immigrants/refugees in the bay area.

 

Minh-Tuan H. Nguyen

Research Assistant
Vietnamese Research Team
ntuansj@yahoo.com

Mr. Nguyen was born and raised in Vietnam. In 1992, his immigration to the United States was sponsored by a Catholic priest. He holds a bachelor¹s degree in Psychology with a minor in Philosophy and is currently entering the MSW Program at San Jose State University. With a friendly relationship with many Catholic and Buddhist priests, monks, and nuns, Mr. Nguyen finds studying religions and Vietnamese culture very interesting. He is also interested in developing a further understanding of the role of religion in our society, particularly in young adults' beliefs.

 

 

Lorrie Ranck

Project Coordinator
ranck@usfca.edu

Ms. Ranck holds a BA in Education from the University of Wyoming and an MA in International & Multicultural Education from the University of San Francisco. Her commitment to the Project also stems from an interest in social justice and educational policy and practice, and lesbian and gay immigration issues. In addition to her work with TRIP, Ms. Ranck serves as the Project Coordinator for the Martín Baró Scholars Program at the University of San Francisco.

 

Shelley Tito

Project Assistant
ag3sl@aol.com

A native to the Bay Area, Ms. Tito is currently studying at the University of San Francisco, pursuing a BA in Theology, and has hopes to become an Osteopathic Physician. She loves learning about various religious traditions and greatly contributes to TRIP in many ways.