Daniel Castaneda accepted into Professors for the Future Program

PhD Candidate and Graduate Student Advisor to the Dean & Chancellor

he/him/his
1 Shields Avenue, Davis CA 95616

Education

  • MA in United States History - University of California, Davis
  • BA in United States History - University of California, Riverside
  • BA in Public Policy - University of California, Riverside

About

I am a fifth-year student in the History PhD program. My research focuses on Democratic Party politics between the 1970s and 1990s in California. I seek to understand how party leaders and activists shifted the party's political priorities in response to the challenge of governing in the 1970s and the growing strength of conservative ideas. I am particularly interested in how Latino politicians sought to increase political representation for their community and how this shaped (and continues to shape) California politics today.

My most recent research was a series of projects centered on Cruz Reynoso, the first Latino Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court. First, I worked on Democracy by Participation: The Life and Legacy of Cruz Reynoso, an exhibit developed in collaboration with the Archives and Special Collections Department. This exhibit examined the life and legacy of Justice Reynoso, while simultaneously providing insight into the lives of Mexican-American people in the 20th Century. Second, I worked with the California History-Social Science Project to lead the development of a curriculum set about Justice Reynoso, for 2nd, 4th, and 11th grades, as well as for Ethnic Studies and 12th-grade civics. You can see an example of one of these inquiry sets here. 

In addition to my academic work, I am currently serving as the Graduate Student Advisor to the Dean of Graduate Studies and the Chancellor (GSADC) for the 2023-24 academic year. 

Research Focus

Democratic Party Politics, Latino/a/x Politics, California History, Western History

Publications

Castaneda, Daniel E. “Creating the Education Community: How the City of Fullerton Lost the University of California Southern Branch and its Lessons.” CORNERSTONE Undergraduate Journal 39 (2018): 1-18.

Castaneda, Daniel E. “From Floods to the Future: Imagining the Role of the Los Angeles River.” Pacific Council on International Policy (2018). https://www.pacificcouncil.org/sites/default/files/related_resources_files/LA River handout v4.pdf.

Teaching

UC Davis

Associate Instructor: HIS17B: The United States since Reconstruction, Summer 2023

Teaching Assistant: HIS17B: The United States since Reconstruction, Fall 2020; HIS17A: The United States to 1865, Spring 2021

Reader: HIS119: World War I, Winter 2021; HIS178: Water in the West, Fall 2020

UC Riverside

Reader: POSC183: Administrative Politics, Winter 2019

Awards

UCD Professors for the Future Fellow - 2022-2023

UCD Provost’s First Year Fellowships in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences - 2019

UCR Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research - 2019

UCR Peter Schneider Award in American History - 2018

UCD Envision Participant - 2018

Documents