Graduate Students
CLAUDIA LILIANA RANGEL
- B.A. in Education from San Buenaventura University, Colombia (2004)
- M.S. in Human and Community Development from University of Illinois (2006)
- Currently working on my Ph.D. in Human & Community Development
Advisor: Christy Lleras
Professional/Research Interests:
Spatial analysis of social inequalities, impact of social networks on access to opportunity, community capacity and social capital, opportunity structure and family dynamics, educational trajectories and occupational attainment, socio-economic mobility of Hispanics in the U.S., inequality in Latin America, applied research methods as they pertain to social inquiry.
Assistantships Held as a Graduate Student at Illinois:
2009
Research Assistant CERL – Construction Engineering Research Laboratory-
2008-present
Graduate Assistant Library and Information Sciences, Nuevos Horizontes Radio, Outreach Initiative
2007-2008
Research Assistant to Dr. Stephen Gasteyer, HCD Department, University of Illinois.
Fall 2007
Graduate Assistant. Project EXPORT -Centers of Excellence in Partnerships for
Community Outreach, IL. 2007
2004-2006.
Research Assistant to Dr. Christy Lleras, HCD Department , University of Illinois
Honors and Awards:
University of Illinois Graduate College Fellowship, 2004-2005
Emily Schroeder Graduate Fellowship, 2005-2006
University of Illinois, conference travel grant, spring 2005
Susan Kahl Funkhouser Leadership Development Award, Summer 2006
Rural Health Professions Student/Fellow Award. Ilinois Critical Access Hospital Network -ICAHN- and National Center for Rural Health Professions (NCRHP), UIC, 2007.
Young Verdell Frazer Award, March 2007
Susan Kahl Funkhouser Leadership Development Award, 2007
I have co-athored the following works:
Lleras, Christy and Claudia Rangel. (in press). Ability Grouping Practices in Elementary School and African American/Hispanic Achievement. American Journal of Education.
Gasteyer, S, & Rangel, C. (under review) Beyond Bridges to Nowhere: Earmarks, Water Infrastructure and the Decline of Meritocracy in the U.S. Under review at American Sociological Review.
Presentations
“Pathways to College: An Empirical Assessment of Major Choice in Cartagena-Colombia”. Coauthored with Luis Galvis, MS. Presented at the REAL seminar series. University of Illinois, at Urbana Champaign, February, 2006.
The Geography of Opportunity: Educational Inequality in Colombia. Coauthored with Christy Lleras, Phd. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Eastern Sociological Association, Boston, MS, February 2006
“Stratification in Place: Educational Inequalities in Cartagena, Colombia” Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, Montreal, Quebec, August 2006.
"Beyond Bridges to Nowhere: Earmarks, Water Infrastructure and the Decline of Meritocracy in the U.S." Coauthored with Stephen Gasteyer, Phd. Rural Sociology Annual Meeting, Manchester, July, 2008.
What I like best about Illinois
I have had the opportunity to live in Florida, Arizona and Illinois, and from all three places, from an international student perspective, I found that Urbana-Champaign has a nice mix between the closeness that is developed between people living in a small town and the rich interactions of a very diverse, multicultural setting. I am also a mother, so I am positively biased toward the safe, familial environment that I have enjoyed while being here.
As an HCD graduate student
I am grateful for the department’s support during my graduate experience. Particularly, I have benefit from the welcoming attitude toward my international research interest that was the center of my master’s thesis, and the flexibility that allowed me to build a very rich, interdisciplinary and deeply interesting curriculum that is key during my dissertation stage. I also got the chance to make long-lasting friendships and meet students with amazing life stories that inspire me every day.
Hometown:
Cali, Colombia
Hobbies:
Playing legos with Gabriel, cooking, going to the movies, my guitar, writing, traveling
Fun Fact:
I drove three days from Arizona to Urbana, and went from the 110F to -25F in less than 4 months!