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About Elsa Chen

Elsa Chen is a Professor of Political Science at Santa Clara University.
 
Dr. Chen’s published work focuses on analyses of the implementation and effects of sentencing policies and reforms, including mandatory minimums like “Three Strikes and You’re Out,” and racial and ethnic disparities in sentencing outcomes, and criminal record expungement. Her research studies policies associated with the de-escalation of mass incarceration and prisoner reintegration into society. She is currently leading a research team working on a large-scale qualitative study of automated criminal record expungement in four states. Her work has appeared in journals including Justice Quarterly, Law & Policy, Punishment and Society, Social Science Quarterly, Feminist Criminology, the Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, the Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, and the California Journal of Politics and Policy. She co-edited a book, Beyond Recidivism: New Approaches to Research on Prisoner Reentry and Reintegration. NYU Press (2020), with Andrea Leverentz and Johnna Christian.
 
Elsa has served on the American Society of Criminology’s Executive Board, and has served on the ASC Division on People of Color and Crime Executive Council (co-chair), a National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine consensus committee on measuring success after incarceration, the US Dept. of Justice, Office of Justice Programs’ Science Advisory Board, and the ASC National Policy Committee.
 
Dr. Chen received the College’s 2015 David E. Logothetti Award for teaching excellence. She has taught public policy, criminal justice policy, housing and homeless policy, research methods, and American politics. She served as Vice Provost for Academic Affairs at Santa Clara University (2016-2020).
 

Positions

September 2017 - Present Professor, Santa Clara University ‐ Department of Political Science
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2016 - Present Vice Provost for Academic Affairs, Santa Clara University
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September 2009 - September 2017 Associate Professor, Santa Clara University ‐ Department of Political Science
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2015 - 2016 Interim Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Development, Santa Clara University
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2000 - 2016 Director of Public Sector Studies Program., Santa Clara University
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2000 - 2009 Assistant Professor, Santa Clara University ‐ Department of Political Science
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Curriculum Vitae

Disciplines

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Courses

Education

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2000 Ph.D. in Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles
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1996 M.A. in Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles
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1993 M.P.P in Public Policy, Harvard University ‐ John F. Kennedy School of Government
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1991 A.B., Princeton University ‐ Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs
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Contact Information

Phone: 408-551-7055
Office: Political Science Department, Arts and Sciences Building, 239

Email:

Research Works (23)