Shelly Grabe, Ph.D

During my time among the council of Provosts for our 10 Colleges I have worked to integrate public-facing and community-based work aimed at decolonizing knowledge. Some of this has come from inviting award-winning individuals to contribute to students’ learning experiences – e.g., Viet Nguyen and Favianna Rodriguez – who speak truth from the margins in a manner meant to shift the dominant narrative. In addition, when directing the Eloise Pickard Smith gallery in 2023-24, I combined the vision of the namesake with my own interest in public-facing work aimed at increasing the visibility of marginalized knowledge and directed a 3-part series of installations focused on feminist activism and art. And in my current post as Provost at Rachel Carson College, I am working to open up diverse priorities in our curriculum that can center equity and justice and differing sources of knowledge and sustainability practices.

My own research focuses on structural inequity, women’s rights, and social justice. In partnership with grassroots women’s organizations in Nicaragua, Perú, and Tanzania, my work centers the activism and voices of Majority World women engaging processes of equity that contribute to meaningful changes in the actualization of their rights. I have used a multimethod approach and frameworks informed by feminist liberation psychology, decolonial feminism, and social justice to organize my research, teaching, and outreach. In Nicaragua and Perú I worked with activists to examine the role of the grass-roots social movement in promoting justice for women. In Nicaragua and Tanzania I examined links between women's land ownership, civic participation, and violence against women. I am currently working on a book project with national feminist leaders in Perú to examine the role of feminist activism in gender progressive legislation.

My work focuses on collaborations with grassroots organizations in Nicaragua, Perú, and Tanzania. In Nicaragua, I worked with several members and organizations within the Women’s Autonomous Movement (Movimiento Autónomo de Mujeres), namely with the Xochilt-Acalt Women’s Center. In Tanzania I worked with the Maasai Women’s Development Organization, a grassroots organization that works toward women’s empowerment by addressing women’s social, cultural, political, and economic human rights. In Perú, I work with the Flora Tristán Women’s Center. I have also delivered talks at the United Nations twice.

In California I have worked with students and members of the Santa Cruz community. I have supervised a variety of field placements for undergraduate students interested in positive social change for women. For example, I partnered with the Santa Cruz County Women’s Commission to create an intern position for a student to assist in writing a report to comply with the UN’s Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in Santa Cruz County. In another community project, together with a graduate student, I partnered with the Walnut Avenue Women’s Center to evaluate a local sex ed curriculum targeted at marginalized youth and aimed at improving healthy communication surrounding the body. I have also supervised undergraduate students interning at the Walnut Avenue Women’s Center.

Shelly Grabe, Ph.D

Professor Shelly Grabe

Contact Info

Research Interests

Service

Teaching