Anthropology in action: Professor brings ethnographic research to the heart of campus life

Professor Claire Cesareo in her faculty office. Brianna Islas | Lariat

Long before she was leading groundbreaking research projects at Saddleback College, Professor Claire Cesareo was a restless undergraduate at UC Berkeley, bouncing between philosophy, religious studies and film. It wasn’t until she found herself knee-deep in sociology courses that she finally chose a major, but even then, something didn’t quite fit.

“I felt like sociology, at least in the department at Berkeley, was focused mostly on the United States,” Cesareo recalled. “After a while, all the courses started to feel the same. I wanted something broader, something that looked at people’s lives across the globe.”

That “something” turned out to be anthropology. She discovered the discipline after graduating and started taking courses in anthropology in Long Beach while working full-time. The global perspective, the emphasis on culture and the field’s deep theoretical roots drew her in. Before long, she was off to graduate school, first to Columbia University and then to Brazil, where she would spend several years researching cacao farmers in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia.

Her dissertation, originally intended to focus on rubber tappers in the Amazon, shifted to Bahia after she became captivated by the region’s culture and history. There, she found herself documenting the rise of the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, the Landless Workers’ Movement, an agrarian reform movement aimed at regaining land for displaced cacao farmers. Many of the people she worked with had once labored on cacao farms, but were displaced when the industry collapsed in the 1980s.

“I was there when a group of 30 families went from living on the side of the road in shacks to petitioning the government for land,” she said. “I watched them receive that land and begin to build a new life. It felt like I was witnessing history.”

Though an outsider, Cesareo said she was welcomed by the community with warmth and generosity. “People wanted their stories told,” she said. “They saw me as someone who would listen to them and hear what they had to say.”

After returning to the U.S., she eventually made her way back to California. That’s when she discovered teaching at a community college, a path that allowed her to stay close to home while continuing her passion for research and education. She joined Saddleback College in 2000 and has been here ever since.

Today, Cesareo is still telling stories, but now they’re the stories of Saddleback students. 

Over the past few years, Cesareo and fellow anthropology professor Erica Vogel have launched a multi-year ethnographic research project focused on the student experience. Instead of relying only on institutional statistics, their project prioritizes how students experience college, through interviews, focus groups and even mapping exercises that uncover how students move through and feel about campus spaces.

“We know from the data who’s succeeding and who isn’t,” Cesareo explained, “but numbers don’t tell us why. That’s what we’re trying to understand.”

The research has spanned a range of student groups: Latinx honors students, undocumented students, foster youth and formerly incarcerated students in the Rising Scholars Program. Each year, the project takes a deep dive into one population’s experiences, exploring their challenges, successes and unmet needs.

One of the most innovative aspects of the project is the role of student researchers, especially those from the very communities being studied. For example, all interviews in the undocumented student project were conducted by undocumented student researchers.

“There’s a fear that comes with being undocumented,” Cesareo shared. “We realized early on that participants were more comfortable opening up to someone who shared their experiences. So having undocumented students lead the research made a huge difference, not only in the quality of the data we got but in the empowerment it gave those student researchers.”

The results were eye-opening. The need for a sense of belonging, safe spaces and better access to resources were all central themes, but the project also uncovered specific recommendations about which campus spaces and services were working and which were not.

This work didn’t stay hidden in a report. Cesareo and her students took their findings all the way to the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity (NCORE) in Hawaii, where they presented together. 

The research has already helped spark tangible changes on campus. One major development is the upcoming Multicultural Center, which was in discussion before, but got a major push from Cesareo’s ethnographic findings.

“We helped facilitate focus groups where students shared what they’d want in that kind of space,” Cesareo said. “The need for it became really clear through our research.”

Cesareo emphasized that the college has been open and receptive to feedback. “We’ve worked closely with the Director of Equity, Christina Hinkle, to help turn what we’ve learned into action. That’s not something every campus does, and it’s something we’re really proud of.”

While research is common at four-year universities, it’s rare to see this level of qualitative work happening at a community college, especially research that centers student voices.

“Our focus here is usually on teaching,” Cesareo said. “But this project is a bit different. We’re using our skills as ethnographers to help the college and help students.”

The team has been able to use state equity and diversity funds to support their work, but Cesareo hopes the effort will evolve into a more permanent program: an Office of Student Research, where students across campus can learn how to conduct fieldwork, analyze data  and present their findings. The goal? A student-driven, research rich culture that values lived experience just as much as GPA.

That philosophy is already being woven into more classes. Cesareo is part of a team of faculty, from political science to English, who are each embedding student-led research into their coursework. The hope is to build a campus-wide network where students learn by doing and studying their own communities.

“You’re the pilots,” Cesareo told her current students. “We’re just getting started.”

Though the project’s focus shifts each year to new student populations, the larger aim remains the same: to reflect and respond to the realities of Saddleback students’ lives. And that, according to Cesaro, is something that’s always changing.

“What we learned in 2020 is different from what we’ll learn in 2030,” she said. “Our student body is always evolving, so our understanding of it needs to evolve too.”

This year’s focus is on foster youth, and the team is deep into the data collection phase. After that, they plan to return to the Rising Scholars group for more in-depth study.

And while the current political climate has sparked concerns about future funding for equity-related work, Cesareo believes California and Saddleback will continue to prioritize these efforts.

“Community colleges are funded at the state level,” she said. “So while there’s national uncertainty, California has remained committed to equity and diversity. But we’re watching closely.”

Cesareo’s research doesn’t just inform policy, it shapes her teaching too. While most of her ethnographic work happens outside her classes, she brings the insights she gains back into the classroom in subtle and meaningful ways.

“What I did 10 or 20 years ago doesn’t always work for today’s students,” she reflected. “Our students are always changing. As faculty, we are committed to continually evolving in our practice.”

By using what she’s learned through her research, about how students manage work, school, family and stress Cesareo adapts her teaching to be more responsive and empathetic.

So, What’s Next?

While the next student population hasn’t been officially chosen, Cesareo sees endless potential. From LGBTQ+ students to veterans to commuter students, each group brings its own set of challenges and strengths. As she put it, “There’s a lot here.”

And as for the students wondering how to get involved?

“Come talk to us,” she said. “We love to talk about our discipline. Anthropology has a way to help you see the human side of things and it’s a great discipline that works as a jumping point for all kinds of careers.” 

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