Governing Board and Staff
CDJR Governing Board Members and Staff
Governing Board Members
The Center for Disability Justice Research: Health Equity, Education, and Creativity is led by a multidisciplinary team. About 75% of our Governing Board members are disabled and/or neurodivergent and 25% are parents/caregivers of people with disabilities. Read more about our Governing Board members below.
Members are listed in alphabetical order by last name
Christina Chin-Newman, Professor, Human DevelopmentDr. Christina Chin-Newman is a Professor in the Department of Human Development and Women’s Studies at California State University, East Bay. She is a faculty diversity and equity leader on campus who co-leads the Disability Justice Working Group, an outgrowth of her research on college students with disabilities or learning differences. She also studies inclusive performance, creativity and the arts.
Alina Engelman, Associate Professor, Public HealthDr. Alina Engelman, DrPH, MPH is a deaf Associate Professor of Public Health at California State University, East Bay. Dr. Engelman’s research focuses on health disparities for the deaf and disabled. For example, one article explores the emergency preparedness and response role of community-based organizations serving older adults and people with disabilities in Puerto Rico. Other research in conjunction with the Gallaudet Center on Deaf Health Equity on COVID-19 and food insecurity in the deaf community was tweeted by the CDC. Her teaching includes courses in global disability health, epidemiology and program evaluation. She received her DrPH at UC Berkeley, and her MPH in Global Health at Yale.
Christine Gottlieb, Assistant Professor, EnglishDr. Christine Gottlieb specializes in early modern literature, disability studies, health humanities, and gender and sexuality studies. She received her Ph.D. in English from UCLA in 2016. Her work has been published in Disability Studies Quarterly and Journal of Medical Humanities. Her current research explores disability studies approaches to Shakespeare, including adaptations, digital projects, and pedagogy. Prof. Gottlieb is interested in how mindfulness can complement inclusive teaching, support social justice work, deepen learning, and enhance community well-being. She completed Training in Mindfulness Facilitation through UCLA’s Mindful Awareness Research Center in 2018 and completed recertification training in 2021.
Scott Hopkins, Professor, Art
Professor Scott Hopkins joined CSU East Bay in 2001, where he heads the photography option. His art practice bridges both film, digital, and video. His photographs have been exhibited nationally and internationally and he is currently making video documentaries along with still photographs for publication and exhibition. In his time at CSU East Bay, he has helped 17 students go on to graduate school. Many of his former students have gone on to professional success including one who did a magazine cover for Sports Illustrated in 2015 and another who is now the staff photographer for CSU East Bay, and his images are on billboards, busses and can be seen in the CSU East Bay magazine. Professor Hopkins earned a BFA in photography and painting from the San Francisco Art Institute and an MFA at Arizona State University.
Shubha Kashinath, CDJR Co-Director, Professor, Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences
Dr. Shubha Kashinath is a Co-Director of CDJR and Professor in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, and the Department’s Continuing Education Administrator. She is a Research Development Faculty Fellow at the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs and is Co-Director for the Center for Disability Justice Research: Health Equity, Education, and Creativity. She received an M.S. in Speech and Hearing Sciences from the University of Arizona and a Ph.D. in Communicative Sciences and Disorders from Florida State University. Dr. Kashinath's research is focused on individuals with autism across the lifespan, family centered early interventions, personnel preparation in speech language pathology and issues related to disability justice. She has over 24 years of clinical experience serving families of young children with disabilities.
Eric Kupers, Professor and Department Chair, Theatre and Dance
Professor Eric Kupers is a Professor and Department Chair for Theatre and Dance at CSU East Bay, a co-founder and co-director of They are an interdisciplinary teaching artist, focusing primarily on the intersections of inclusive dance, music, storytelling, community ritual, and spiritual practice. He creates art with Dandelion, Bandelion, Mandolion, the CSUEB Inclusive Interdisciplinary Ensemble, Ultrasonic Current, the Wandering Ensemble, and a diverse, intersecting web of artists He is a grateful visitor on the territories of the Yrgin/Chochenyo/Ohlone & Southern Pomo peoples in Northern California. Their people are Ashkenazi Jews that came to Turtle Island from Russia, Ukraine, and Eastern Europe in the early 1900’s. He is also of the Walks-Between people, including Queer folks, Artists, Activists, Outsiders, Rebels, Mystics, Wizards, Witches, Healers, Visionaries, Weirdos, Queerdos, and Divergent people from throughout human history.
Sara McDaniel, Assistant Professor, Special Education
Dr. Sara L. McDaniel is an Assistant Professor of Special Education at California State University, East Bay who works to prepare highly qualified special educators. A former high school special education teacher, Dr. McDaniel has contributed to numerous projects in the area of secondary transition. Her other research interests include disability justice, interventions to support TK-22 students with high-incidence disabilities in inclusive settings, autism spectrum disorder, college and career readiness, and effective collaboration amongst school-based practitioners.
Christopher Palmore, Assistant Professor, Criminal Justice
Dr. Christopher Palmore is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice. Dr. Palmore joined CSUEB in Fall 2020 afterr conducting research and teaching at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL). At UL, he taught numerous criminal justice courses including Introduction to Research Methods, Introduction to Criminal Justice, Criminal Behavior, Victimology (undergraduate and graduate seminar), and Crime & Public Policy. His current research interests include fear of crime, attitudes towards crime, risk and protective factors of victimization, testing criminological theory, and life-course criminology. Dr. Palmore completed his M.A and Ph.D. in Criminology at Pennsylvania State University, where his research focused on situational aspects (alcohol use, opportunity for crime, routine activities) of crime and their relationship to individual personality characteristics (e.g., self-control). Dr. Palmore is a CSU alum with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from California State University, Long Beach, where he focused on cognition and psychological research.
Asha Rao, Professor and Associate Department Chair, ManagementDr. Asha Rao is a Professor of Management at CBE and heads the Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior area. She is also the Director of the Women in Leadership Program (WIL). She conducts research and consults on leadership, negotiations, and diversity and inclusion in a global environment. Managing disability at work is one of her key DEI interests. She has published her research on these topics and presented at academic and practitioner conferences. Dr. Rao has developed, and taught courses based on her areas of expertise at CSUEB, Rutgers, and McGill Universities and received the Outstanding Faculty Awards for Teaching and Service. She is a Senior Fulbright Fellow.
Sarah Taylor, CDJR Co-Director, Professor, and Department Chair, Social Work
Dr. Sarah Taylor is a Co-Director of CDJR and Professor and Department Chair in Social Work. Dr. Taylor’s research interests include basic needs in higher education, disability, mental health, and LGBTQ+ communities. Their work involves collaboration with community partners on projects of interest to stakeholders, with a focus on applied, qualitative, participatory action research. She is an active researcher with over 25 co-authored peer-reviewed papers as well as several book chapters and technical reports and presentations at many regional, national, and international peer-reviewed conferences. They have served as the principal/co-investigator of major grants related to student success and basic needs, social work workforce development, and interprofessional education. In 2016, she was awarded a competitive Endeavour Fellowship to serve as a visiting scholar at the University of Wollongong in Australia, where she collaborated with colleagues in conducting research on advocacy by parents of children with disabilities in the context of shifts in disability policy in both the United States and Australia. Dr. Taylor has served on the boards of two non-profit organizations for youth and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She earned her MSW and PhD in Social Welfare at UC Berkeley.
CDJR Staff
Diona Tran is a Community-Based Research Assistant working on the Inclusive Post-Secondary Education Project. She likes sports like bowling, baseball, soccer, ice skating, skiing, basketball, and football. She likes the San Francisco Giants, Oakland A’s, Golden State Warriors, and San Francisco 49ers. She likes hanging out with her family and friends. She likes dogs and vacations. She likes to dress up and put on nail polish and makeup sometimes. She graduated from Oakland young adult program in May 2022.
Anahita Mehrabi is a Graduate Student Assistant and a Master in Social Work student with a concentration in Community Mental Health. They have a background in behavioral health and assist with research centered around accessibility and community and student needs, including the Inclusive Post-Secondary Education Project.
CDJR Alum Staff
is a former Graduate Student Assistant and a 2023 graduate of the MS in Speech-Language Pathology. Many thanks to Haley for her excellent contributions in developing the CDJR website and supporting the Launch Party!