MARIA NARAYANI LASALA-BLANCO
Contact Information
School of Politics and Global Studies
Arizona State University
Email: MN.Lasala.Blanco@asu.edu
Phone: (917) 780-0677
Academic Appointments
Assistant Professor, School of Politics and Global Studies & Center for Latino and American Politics Research
Arizona State University, Summer 2018 to the present
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science.
University of California, Santa Barbara, Summer 2015 to Spring 2018
Research Associate of the Broom Center for Demography. University of California, Santa Barbara. March 2017.
Research Associate, Harvard University, Fall 2014
Harvard Research Opinion Program, Harvard School of Public Health.
Assistant Adjunct Professor, Columbia University, Spring 2014
Department of Political Science.
Adjunct Instructor, New York University, Fall 2013
Steinhardt School of Education, Culture and Human Development.
Survey Director & Project Manager, New York City Poverty Tracker Columbia University School of Social Work.
June 2012-Februay 2013
Education
Ph.D., Political Science, Columbia University, 2014.
Dissertation Title: God Made the Country and Man Made the Town: The Impact of Local Institutions on the
Integration of Immigrants in the United States.
Examining Committee: Robert Y Shapiro (Main Advisor), Alfred Stepan, Ira Katznelson, Fredrick Harris and Rodolfo de la Garza.
Major Field: American Politics Minor Field: Quantitative Methods
M.Phil. , Political Science, Columbia University, 2012
M.A. , Political Science, Columbia University, 2008
B.A. , International Relations, El Colegio de Mexico, 2003
Fields
Latino Politics, Immigration, Urban Politics, Research Methods, Public Opinion, Political Behavior, Race and
Ethnicity American Politics.
Publications and Working Papers
(with Robert Y Shapiro and Viviana Burgos), Electoral Studies, February 2017.
Poor weather doesn’t dissuade voting in noncompetitive elections – not even Hurricane Sandy did in 2012. (with Robert Y
Shapiro and Viviana Burgos).USAPP Blog LSE US Centre. March 2017.
“Ebola in the United States — Public Reactions and Implications”(with Gillian SteelFisher and Robert Blendon) , New England
Journal of Medicine, August 2015
“Threats to Polio Eradication: A Polling Study of Caregivers in Higher Conflict Areas in Pakistan and Nigeria” (with Gillian
SteelFisher et.al.), The Lancet Infectious Diseases, July 2015.
“One Vote or Many Mexicos? Income, Heterogeneity, and the 2006–2012 Presidential Elections” (with Jeronimo Cortina), Social
Science Quarterly. November 2015.
Income, Hardship and Health in NYC (with Irwin Garfinkel, Jane Walfogel & Christopher Wimer), Columbia Poplulaton
Research Center and RobinHood Foundation Inaugural Report. Spring 2014.
Summary Report Policy Dialogue Task Force Meeting on Migration. With Mathew Winters. 2009.
“God Made the Country and Man Mades the Town. The Role of American Institutions and Local Political Contexts in Shaping Latino Immigrants Civic Engagement”. Under review.
“Any Way Out? Public Opinion, Partisan Conflict and Demographic Change” (with Robert Shapiro, Columbia University; Joy Wilke , UCLA; Shannon Schumacher, UCSB). Working Paper.
“Immigrant and Minority “Nones”: Politically Isolated or Engaged in Politics? (with David L. Leal, UT Austin). WorkingPaper.
“Does Political Socialization Explain Differences in Political Participation? Why Latinos and Asians Vote Less Than Blacks and Whites.” Working Paper.
"Who Are “They”? The Real Challenges Mexican Immigration poses for Democracy in America". Working Paper.
Research Projects & Surveys
American Cities Survey (Principal Investigator).
A mixed methods survey with representative samples of native and foreign born blacks, whites, Latinos and Asians in seven American cities (New York, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles) and two Native American Reservations (N=2,300) that explores how the local political and social institutions influence the political and social integration of minorities vis-à-vis non Hispanic whites living in the same city.
Syrian Refugee Panel Study and the European Cities and Neighborhoods Survey. (Principal Investigator).
Funded by NSF RAPID, UCSB Senate (with Heather Stoll) and ISBER Grants and Oxford University Skoll Centre (with Shahana Chattaraj and Laura Morales). 2016-2019.
Cuyama Groundwater Basin and the San Antonio Creek Groundwater Basin Water Use and Risk Perception Census (with Casey Walsh) Co-Investigator & Project Manager; funded by the California Department of Water Resources, Sustainable Groundwater Planning Grant Program. 2017.
UNICEF-Harvard Public Opinion Research Project Polling Collaboration (with Robert Blendon and Gillian SteelFisher), multi-year multi-country studies targeting hard-to-reach population in Afghanistan, Pakistan, DRC, Nigeria, India and Somalia. Field Supervisor, Sampling and Research Design support in DRC, India and Afganistan. June 2014-May 2015.
Robin Hood Foundation New York Poverty Tracker (with Irwin Garfinkel, Jane Waldfogel and Julien Teitler). Field Director and Project Manager 2012-2013.
The Mexican American Leadership Panel. Survey and structured interviews with randomly selected California Mexican American Community Leaders interviewed in 2006 and in the aftermath of the 2016 campaign. Principal Investigator.
Awards and Distinctions
NSF RAPID. (Awarded 124,000) to conduct a panel study of Syrian Refugees in Europe. July 2017.
Research Associate of the Broom Center for Demography. University of California, Santa Barbara. March 2017.
University of California Santa Barbara Senate Grant, UCSB (Awarded $12,000) June 2016.
University of California Santa Barbara, Institute for Social, Behavioral and Economic Research (ISBER). Social Science
Research Grants Program (SSRGP). (Awarded $17,000) Summer s of 2016 and 2017.
University of Oxford. Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship (with Shahana Chattaraj) for the study of urban revitalization
and integration of Syrian Refugees in the UK. July 2016. (Awarded 11,000 GBP)
California Department of Water Resources, Sustainable Groundwater Planning Grant Program. (With Casey Walsh) (Awarded 104,000).
Columbia Population Research Center Fellow. Nominated by Jane Waldfogel, March 2013.
IRAAS, Research Grant, Columbia University, 2012-2013.
Merit Scholarship Award, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Columbia University. 2011-2012.
Summer Merit Scholarship Award Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Columbia University, 2010-2012.
Dean’s Office Diversity Documentary Grant, Columbia University, 2012.
Initiative For Policy Dialogue Summer Research Grant, Columbia University, 2007.
IGERT Fellow (Globalization and Development program at Columbia University) led by Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz. 2007-2010.
Applied Statistics Center/Center for the Study of Developing Societies Summer, Research Grant, Columbia University, Summer 2010.
Faculty Fellowship, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Columbia University, 2006 – 2011
Ford Foundation and William Flora Hewlett Foundation Fellowship, 2005-2007
National Award for Best Undegraduate Dissertation. Mexican Association of
Rural Studies, 2003.
Teaching
Assistant Professor. University of California Santa Barbara.
Undergraduate Courses: Quantitative Research Methods for Political Science, Challenges in Public Opinion Polling, Latino Politics.
Graduate Courses: Immigration, Religion and Democracy; Public Opinion and Political Behavior.
Assistant Adjunct Professor, Columbia University. Department of Political Science.
Undergraduate Course: Race, Ethnicity and Immigration in American Politics. 2014.
Adjunct Instructor, New York University. Steinhardt School of Education, Culture and Human Development.
Graduate Course: Comparative Studies of Education: Quantitative Analysis. 2013.
Instructor (with Robert Shapiro) and Research Mentor, Columbia University. GSAS Office of Diversity-Leadership Alliance Summer Research Program. Course: Quantitative Methods for Political Science & Survey Research Methods. 2010-2013
Teaching Fellow at the Department of Political Science, Columbia University. Courses: Quantitative Methods for Political Science, Analysis of Political Data and Applied Econometrics (with Prof. Robert Y Shapiro). Introduction to American Politics (with Prof. Justin Phillips). Fall 2006 to 2011.
Teaching Fellow at the Workshop on Poverty, Development and Globalization (with Joseph Stiglitz. Manchester University, Summer 2009
Diversity
Faculty Mentor of 17 DACA Dream Scholars at UCSB (2015-2017)
Faculty Mentor of 4 McNair Scholars at UCSB (2016-2017)
Graduate Student Mentor of the Leadership Alliance Early Identification Program (2010-2013).
Non-Academic Appointments
Researcher Los Angeles Times, Mexico City Bureau, 2005.
Political Liaison & Coordinator for the Program for the Mexican Communities Abroad of the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs in San Francisco, CA, 2002- 2004
Head of the Press and Trade Office of the General Consulate of Mexico in San Francisco, CA, January 2001- July 2002