Douglas Carranza Mena received his Ph.D. in Social-Cultural Anthropology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and has taught at California State University Northridge since 2001.

Prof. Carranza is interested in cultural and political issues, particularly in the rigors and conflicts of colonialism in the Central American region.  His research agenda is to explore from an interdisciplinary perspective the concepts of space, citizenship, civil society, sovereignty and modes of governing to address Indigenous movements and transnational communities in Central America and in the United States. He has taught a variety of courses that address the Central American diaspora and migration, the contemporary revolutionary processes, modern historiography and identity formation, development, environment and its human impact.