IRES Faculty

Yvette Saavedra

Associate Professor
IRES, Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies, Latinx
Office Hours: On sabbatical during the 2025-2026 academic year.
Research Interests: Chicanx History and Studies; Chicana Lesbian Feminist Theory; U.S.-Mexico Borderlands History and Studies; History of U.S. West; 19th and 20th century U.S History; California History; 19th and 20th century gender and sexuality in the U.S.

Leilani Sabzalian

Associate Professor
College of Education, Critical and Sociocultural Studies in Education, Curriculum & Teaching, Curriculum and Teacher Education, Educational Foundations, IRES, Sapsikwala Program
Phone: 541-346-1535
Research Interests: Indigenous Education, Native Feminisms, Curriculum Studies, Teacher Education, Elementary Social Studies Education

Irum Shiekh

Pro Tem Instructor
IRES
Phone: 541-346-0900

Cera Smith

Assistant Professor
Faculty Director of the Umoja Black Scholars Academic Residential Community
Black Studies, IRES
Phone: 541-346-1343
Research Interests: U.S. Black Literatures (African American, Afro-Latinx, and other Black diasporic), Radical Protest Literatures of the U.S., Black Studies, Critical Race Theories, Affect Theory, Gender and Sexuality, Histories of Science and Medicine, Health Humanities