Rate My Professor Felipe Gonzales

Phillip B. (Felipe) Gonzales is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Sociology and Criminology at the University of New Mexico, where he has made enduring contributions to Social Science, particularly in political sociology, race and ethnicity, social movements, and Latino/a studies. He received his B.A. in Sociology from the University of New Mexico in 1974, M.A. in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1976, and Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1985. His academic career at UNM began as Assistant Professor of Sociology from 1987 to 1996, followed by Associate Professor from 1996 to 2003, and Professor from 2003 onward. Gonzales has held prominent administrative positions, including Director of the Southwest Hispanic Research Institute from 1996 to 2003, Chair of the Sociology Department, Associate Dean and Senior Associate Dean of Faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Director of the School of Public Administration from 2015 to 2017. Since 2019, he has served as Co-Principal Investigator for ADVANCE at UNM.

Gonzales's research centers on the politics and identity of Nuevomexicanos, exploring themes of political incorporation, ethnic protest, land grants, and historical shifts in national identities in New Mexico. Key publications include Política: Nuevomexicanos and American Political Incorporation, 1821-1910 (University of Nebraska Press, 2016), Forced Sacrifice as Ethnic Protest: The Hispano Cause in New Mexico and the Racial Attitude Confrontation of 1933 (Peter Lang, 2001), Sunbelt Working Mothers: Reconciling Family and Factory (Cornell University Press, 1993, co-authored with Louise Lamphere and Patricia Zavella), Impresiones de un Surumato en Nuevo México: A Bilingual Edition (University of New Mexico Press, 2023, editor, translator, and annotator), and the forthcoming Hispano Nation: The Rise and Decline of Spanish Identity in New Mexico (University of New Mexico Press, 2026). He has published extensively in journals such as New Mexico Historical Review, Aztlán, and Pacific Historical Review, with articles on Nuevomexicano statehood, party politics, and loyalty during the Great War. Gonzales received the 2013 Espinosa Prize for the best article in New Mexico Historical Review. His work has shaped scholarly understandings of Hispano political history and ethnic dynamics in the U.S. Southwest. He teaches courses including Sociology of Mexican Americans, Race and Ethnicity, and Advanced Undergraduate Work in Sociology.