Daniel Castaneda, PhD Candidate

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 sixth-year student in the History PhD program. My dissertation, "A Different Shade of Blue: Latinos and the Reshaping of California Politics, 1970-1996," examines how Latinx political leaders and activists in California sought to increase community representation in formal politics, especially at the statewide level, from the 1970s to the 1990s. While they did not achieve everything they wanted, I argue that these efforts laid the groundwork for Latino electoral strength following California's Proposition 187 (also known as the "Save our State" initiative) and in our current moment. 

I strive to produce publically engaged scholarship, best exemplified by a series of projects I completed 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 at UC Davis. This exhibit celebrated Justice Reynoso's life and legacy while providing insight into Mexican-American people's lives 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 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

Latino/a/x Politics, California History, California Politics, Democratic Party Politics, 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 Dissertation Year Fellowship - 2024-2025

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