Jennifer Ayala, Ph.D.

Professor
Director, The Center for Undocumented Students
Director, Latin American and Latino Studies

Headshot of Jennifer Ayala

Contact Info

About Dr. Ayala

Jennifer Ayala, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Sociology, Urban Studies, and Anthropology Department, Director of the Center for Undocumented Students (TCUS), and Director of the Latin American and Latino Studies program at Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City, New Jersey. Her scholarship focuses on education and immigrant justice issues using a PAR Entremundos approach with youth. More recently, her research examines how Latine young adults conceptualize and engage wellbeing.

“There are many reasons why I enjoy being part of the SPU community. Because of its small size and deep connections. It means I can get to know the students, and these connections don’t always simply cease once they graduate. Because of it’s truly diverse student body, which means that students learn from one another as much as, if not more than, what they learn from me. Because of its social justice Jesuit mission. The work beyond the classroom walls, the relationship building and community engagement are tied to the university mission. Though there is always more work to do to live up to this image, it is an important one to struggle towards.”

COURSES TAUGHT

Career & Accomplishments

Degrees

  • •The Graduate School at CUNY, Ph.D.

  • •Montclair State University, B.A.

Publications

Painting, Talking, Rapping and Healing: U.S. Latine Youth and Young Adults Define Wellbeing through Arts-Based PAR.
Armas, D.; Juarez, I.; Ayala, J.; Dobles, J.; Estrada, A. , Youth, 3, 1030-1052, 2023.

ENCUENTROS: Decolonizing the Academy and Mobilizing for Justice. (Invited paper).
Ayala, J., Fine, M., Mendez, M., Juarez Mendoza, A.N., Garcia Rivera, J.C.,  Finesurrey, S.Villeda, H.T., Mena, V., Azzam, K., Galletta, A., Houston, A.,  jones, v., Mungo, D., Qualitative Inquiry, 2020

We Are More Than Paperless People: Reflections on Creating Spaces, Narratives and Change with Undocumented
Mendez, M., Ayala, J., & Rojas, K., Communities. Societies, 11(2), 47. MDPI AG, 2021

“Living Praxes and Principles in PAR EntreMundos.” In J. Cammarota (Ed.). Liberatory Practices for Learning: Dismantling Social Inequality and Individualism with Ancient Wisdom.
Berta-Ávila, M., Rivera, M., Ayala, J., & Cammarota, J. – Palgrave Macmillan: London, 2021

PAR EntreMundos: A Pedagogy of the Américas.
J. Ayala, J. Cammarota, M. Rivera, L.R. Rodriguez, M. Berta-Avila, M.E. Torre – Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 2018

Authenticity, aims and authority: Navigating youth participatory action research in the classroom
B.C. Rubin, J. Ayala, M. Zaal – Curriculum Inquiry, 2017

Poetics of Justice: Using Art as Action and Analysis in Participatory Action Research.
J. Ayala, M. Zaal – Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research, 2016

PAR Entremundos: A Practitioner’s Guide
J. Cammarota, M. Berta-Avila, J. Ayala, M. Rivera, L. Rodriguez – Growing Critically Conscious Teachers: A social justice curriculum for educators of Latino/a youth, 2016

Creative Expressions of Agency: Contemplating Youth Voice and Adult Roles in Participatory Action Research.
V. Jones, C. Stewart, A. Galletta, J. Ayala – Teachers College Record, 2015

“Why Don’t We Learn Like this in School?” One Participatory Action Research Collective’s Framework for Developing Policy Thinking
M. Zaal, J. Ayala – Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, 2013

Documenting disappearing spaces: Erasure and remembrance in two high school closures.
J Ayala, A Galletta – Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 2012

Public science and participatory policy development: Reclaiming policy as a democratic project
M. Fine, J. Ayala, M. Zaal – Journal of Education Policy, 2012