George Villanueva
govillan [at] usc [dot] edu
George Villanueva pursues questions about the changing global context of community, civil society, democracy, and the city. His dissertation will study issues of sustainable urban development and civic engagement related to the implementation of the Northeast Los Angeles (NELA) Collaborative project funded by the HUD Partnership for Sustainable Communities. At USC he is a researcher for Metamorphosis; a project studying the transformations of urban communities within the greater Los Angeles area. Other research interests include communication for social change, community media, phenomenology, visual anthropology, urban studies, and Philippine/ Filipino-American existences. He graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbara with a double major in Black Studies and History. George received a MSc in Global Media & Communications from the London School of Economics and Political Science, a MA in Global Communication from the USC Annenberg School for Communication, and has conducted graduate work in Visual and Urban Anthropology at Temple University. He has also worked as a Community Organizer and Field Deputy for current Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti, a Senior Field Representative and Research Coordinator for former CA State Assembly member Jackie Goldberg, and has worked in community program evaluation and planning for different organizations. He also works with the Hollywood Community Studio, an outfit delivering community-based research and resources for the social and physical planning of the neighborhood of Hollywood. George is a native Angeleno and embraces the chaos of Los Angeles.