Contact LAC, T-2364

Ama Boakyewa
Associate Professor, Anthropology

LBCC Professor Ama Boakyewa's Headshot

Dr. Ama Boakyewa discovered Anthropology as a Public Educator at the African Burial Ground Project (ABGP) in New York City. The ABGP is an archaeological/ancestral site discovered during construction in lower Manhattan. She was inspired to formalize her profession in Anthropology and returned to Indiana to pursue further education at the University of Louisville in Pan-African Studies/Anthropology and doctoral training in Anthropology/African Studies at Indiana University-Bloomington.

(562) 938-4450
Contact LAC, T-2362

Edward Chen
Assistant Professor, Psychology

Psychology Professor Edward Chen

Edward “Ed” Chen received his Ph.D. in Education from the University of California, Irvine in 2022. At UC Irvine, he researched math cognition to better understand the role memory plays in how children learn and think about math. He has also conducted research in improving student engagement with online courses with college students. Ed loves learning and memory just as much as he loves helping students become budding social scientists.

(562) 938-4006
Contact LAC, T-2362

Nicholas Herrera
Professor, Psychology

Nick Herrera received his Ph.D. and M.A. in Social Psychology from Stanford University and his B.A. in Psychology from the University of California at San Diego. As a graduate student, he conducted research on emotional contagion, as well as beliefs about birth order differences in intelligence and personality. He worked as an Honors Intern for the F.B.I. and studied the hunting patterns of serial rapists and the criminal profiling of serial killers.

(562) 938-4332
Contact LAC, T-2363

Carmen Laguer Diaz
Assistant Professor, Anthropology

Professor Carmen Laguer Diaz' headshot

Please call me: Carmen, Dr./Prof. Laguer Díaz (or any combination of the previous). My pronouns are she/her & ella.

Where I came from: I was born and raised on the island of Puerto Rico, in the Caribbean. It was there that I discovered my love for the past, and the dirt. It was also there that I realized I wanted to learn why people behaved the way that they do. So, when it was time to decide what I wanted to do for the rest of my life anthropology was the obvious choice.

(562) 938-4524
Contact LAC, T-2303

Elisabeth Orr
Dean, Social & Behavioral Sciences

LBCC Elisabeth Orr Headshot

Lisa Orr has deep roots in Long Beach and at LBCC. After growing up in here, she attended LBCC in the 1980s and eventually became a part-time and then full-time faculty member in History. She served as department head for the History & Political Science Department (now History, Political Science and Ethnic Studies) and then eventually Dean of Social Sciences and Arts, a position she held from July 2017 through the spring of 2022. Her current position is Dean of Social and Behavioral Sciences where she oversees a variety of programs including Anthropology, Cultural Geograp

(562) 938-4446
Contact LAC, T-2337

Janine Pliska
Co-Dept. Head & Professor, Anthropology

LBCC professor Janine Pliska's headshot

Janine Pliska is a physical anthropologist who specializes in osteology (analysis of the human skeleton) and cultural reasons for infectious disease patterns. She has been teaching at Long Beach City College since 2007, was hired full-time in 2014, and also received her A.A. from LBCC way back when. She has attended U.C. Berkeley, Durham University, and Pennsylvania State University and has been associated with the Smithsonian Institution. She is depicted here getting lost in a blizzard on a mountain in Wales.

(562) 938-4636