Home / About / People / Faculty

Psychology Faculty

Regina Day Langhout
  • Pronouns she, her, her, hers, herself
  • Title
    • Professor
    • Area Head, Social Psychology
    • Associate Editor, American Journal of Community Psychology
  • Division Social Sciences Division
  • Department
    • Psychology Department
  • Affiliations Latin American & Latino Studies, Community Studies Program, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas, Feminist Studies Department
  • Phone
    831-459-2535 (Psychology)
  • Email
  • Fax
    831-459-3519
  • Website
  • Office Location
    • Social Sciences 2, Room 263
  • Office Hours (Fall 2023) In Person -- Mon., 2pm - 3pm, Thurs., 1pm- 2pm. By appointment Mon-Thu 1pm - 2pm Soc Sci 2 rm 263. Schedule sign up link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EmDdmPEJ9nvt0M3hWurAEMNeqqtNIE7nVL GFGUV6hX0/edit?usp=sharing. Zoom link: https://ucsc.zoom.us/j/94485495566?pwd=MHV0MTlMc0FrREdFUzVKYTJnaGR1Zz09
  • Mail Stop Psychology Faculty Services
  • Mailing Address
    • Psychology Department, 1156 High St.
    • Santa Cruz CA 95064
  • Faculty Areas of Expertise Community-based Research, Discrimination and Inequality, Ethnography, Psychology, Youth Studies

Summary of Expertise

Professor Langhout's commitment to and interest in a variety of social justice-oriented issues and concerns has led her to the study of empowerment in educational settings and neighborhoods. Her research addresses the following questions: (1) What characteristics within settings inhibit or promote - either intentionally or unintentionally - thriving? (2) How do race, ethnicity, social class, and gender influence experience, and how do these experiences influence subjectivity? (3) How do individuals and groups experience, cope with, and resist negative stereotypes? (4) What conditions are necessary for individuals to change their ideological perspectives and become inspired to work toward social justice? How can researchers facilitate systemic, sustainable change that increases individual and group thriving, and support people identifying as agents of social change?

Professor Langhout's primary research takes place in elementary schools and neighborhoods that serve working class and working poor African American, Latina/o, and white students. She uses a paradigm called participatory action research (PAR) to critically examine schools and neighborhoods. With PAR, stakeholder groups collaborate to determine the problem being researched and the intervention. Professor Langhout's research might include playground observations, focus groups, and a recess intervention project, or survey research to assess teacher, parent, and student perceptions of school context. Additionally, she might work with children to develop and paint a mural on school grounds in order to create a more welcoming atmosphere for students and their families.

Research Interests

School-community-university collaboration; how schooling experiences are informed by social class, race, and gender; participatory action research

Biography, Education and Training

Ph.D., University of Illinois,Urbana-Champaign
B.A., University of California, Santa Cruz

Selected Publications

  • Langhout, R.D., Collins, C., & Ellison, E.R. (2014). Examining relational empowerment for elementary school students in a yPAR program. American Journal of Community Psychology, 3, 369-381.
  • Fernández, J.S., & Langhout, R.D. (2014). “A community with diversity of culture, wealth, resources, and living experiences:” Defining neighborhood in an unincorporated area. American Journal of Community Psychology, 53(1-2), 122-133.
  • Kohfeldt, D.M., & Langhout, R.D. (2012). The 5 whys: A tool for developing problem definitions in collaboration with children. Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 22, 316-329.
  • Silva, J.M. & Langhout, R.D. (2011). Cultivating agents of change in children: An ethnographic analysis. Theory and Research in Social Education, 39, 61-91.
  • Kohfeldt, D., Chhun, L., Grace, S., & Langhout, R.D. (2011). Youth empowerment in context: Exploring tensions in school-based yPAR. American Journal of Community Psychology, 47, 28-45.
  • Dworski-Riggs, D., & Langhout, R.D. (2010). Elucidating the power in empowerment and the participation in participatory action research: A story about research team and elementary school change. American Journal of Community Psychology, 45, 215-230.
  • Langhout, R.D. (2003). Reconceptualizing quantitative and qualitative methods: A case study dealing with place as an exemplar. American Journal of Community Psychology, 32, 229-244.

Teaching Interests

Psych 159H: Community-based Interventions
Psych 159P: Social-Community Psychology in Practice
Psych 182: Advanced Research Methods
Psych 204: Quantitative Data Analysis