Skip to main content
profile photo

Angela A. Gonzales

Assistant Professor

Primary Research Areas

  • american indian studies
  • community development
  • development sociology
  • rural development

Graduate Fields

Research Focus

My research program seeks to advance and integrate knowledge and practice in the fields of Development Sociology and American Indian Studies through theoretical, methodological, and empirical contributions in three areas: (1) contemporary constructions of identity, (2) the social impact of economic development on community life and social organization, and (3) the relationship between health and community development.These three areas of research not only overlap, but are complimentary and synergistic. I have used a diverse range of methodological techniques, both qualitative and quantitative. This mixed or multidimensional approach has enabled me to engage my research questions from multiple directions and to progress toward integrative models that elucidate both “lived experiences” and the structural forces impacting on and influencing these experiences. My contributions to the broader sociological literature have been to refine our understanding of the processes and outcomes of social change affecting Native peoples, tribes, and nations. My contributions to the field of American Indian Studies have been to interrogate the creation and manifestation of conceptual categories of “race” and their power to (trans)form Native self-understanding and identity.

Research Grants

  • REGIONAL NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITY NETWORKS PROGRAM: SOCIOCULTURAL CORRELATES OF CANCER KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES AMONG AMERICAN INDIANS
  • REGIONAL NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITY NETWORKS PROGRAM

Selected Publications

PubMed Listings
  • Gonzales, Angela A., Jeffrey Henderson, Eva Garroutte, Andy Bogart, and Dedra Buchwald. "Influence of Cultural Factors on mammography Use Among American Indian Women. " Revised and resubmitted to the American Journal of Preventive Medicine (March 2007). 2007
  • Gonzales, Angela A. "The Imprimatur of Recognition: the Federal Acknowledgement Process and the Legal De/Construction of American Indian Collective Identity. " Revised and resubmitted to Social Problems (Feb. 2007). 2007
  • Gonzales, Angela A., Thomas Lyson, and Daniel Ahlquist. "Public Opinion Polls on Casino Gambling: Implications for Rural Economic Development in the United States. " Revised and resubmitted to International Gambling Studies (Feb. 2007). 2007
  • Gonzales, Angela A., Judy Kertesz, and Gabrielle Tayac. "Eugenics as Indian Removal: Sociohistorical Processes and De(con)struction of American Indians in the Southeast. " The Public Historian 29(3). 2007
  • Gonzales, Angela A., Thomas Lyson, and K. Whitney Mauer. "What Does Casino Mean to a Tribe? Assessing the Impact of Casino Development on Indian Reservations in Arizona and New mexico. " Social Sciences Journal. 2007
  • Gonzales, A.A. "Reframing Theory, Reclaiming Identity: Reconfiguring Indigenous Identity through Narrativity and Relationality. " In J. Denetdale & G. Cajete (Eds.) Indigenous Research: Theory and Practice. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research Press. 2007
  • Gonzales, A. (2003). "Gaming and Displacement: Winners and Losers in American Indian Casino Development. " International Social Sciences Journal 175(1):123-133. 2003
  • Gonzales, A. (2003). "Native American Communities. " Pp. 960-966 in Encyclopedia of Community: From the Village to the Virtual Village, edited by Karen Christensen and David Levinson. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. 2003
  • Gonzales, A. (2003). "American Indians: Contemporary Reality, Future Trajectory. " Pp. 43-56 in Challenges for Rural America in the Twenty-First Century, edited by David L. Brown and Louis E. Swanson. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press. 2003
  • Gonzales, A. (2001). "Urban (Trans)Formations: Changes in the Use and Meaning of American Indian Identity." Pp. 169-185 in American Indians and the Urban Experience edited by S. Lobo and K. Peters. Walnut Creek, CA: Alta Mira Press. 2001
  • Gonzales, A.A., & Kertesz, J. "Engendering Identity and Power in Native North America. " In D. Vannoy (Ed.), Gender Mosaics: Social Perspectives. Los Angeles, CA: Roxbury Press. 2001