Oscar Alfonso Mejía (Ph.D., University of Utah) is an Assistant Professor of Rhetoric for Social Justice in the Department of Communication Studies at Cal State LA.
Dr. Mejía's research interests include rhetorical criticism, Latinx studies, critical migration studies, and indigeneity. Specifically, he uses critical/cultural and rhetorical methods along with decolonial theories to examine how Latinx people represent community and migration. His research is published in Departures in Critical Qualitative Research and the Journal of International and Intercultural Communication.
Dr. Mejía is the son of Mexican migrants and received his Ph.D. in Communication with a concentration in Critical/Cultural Studies and Rhetorical Criticism from the University of Utah. As a scholar employing rhetorical fieldwork, he is interested in how Latinx voices create alternative narratives about their experiences, often not reflected in newspapers, films, or television shows. Dr. Mejía earned his B.A. in Liberal Studies and M.A. in Communication Studies from Cal State LA. He believes that education is essential towards social justice and equity, and is a recipient of the California State University Doctoral Incentive Program (CDIP). During his doctoral program he was awarded a College of Humanities Seed Grant from the University of Utah to facilitate research with undocumented women living in sanctuary churches aiding his dissertation titled, Rhetorical Warriors: Sanctuary Testimonios of Migrant Activists.
At Cal State LA, Dr. Mejía teaches a variety of courses including Social Justice Communication, Communication and Social Movements, Intercultural Communication, Communication of Race, Class, Gender, and Sexuality, Argumentation, and Oral Communication. Dr. Mejía is also an instructor for Cal State LA’s, in-person, Prison B.A. Program in Communication Studies.