Teaching interests: The Black Family, Minority Community Development Planning,  History of Racism, Introduction to African American Studies.

Research interests: African American Families and Communities, African American Women and Popular Culture, African Americans and Community Development.

Brief biography:Lezlee Hinesmon-Matthews was born in Ohio and raised in California. She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a Ph.D. in Urban Planning in 2004.

Her recent publications and reports explore community-based responses to Hurricane Katrina, changing dynamics in the small-business economy for women and people of color, and the differential project outcomes of faith-based and secular community development organizations. Her work has been supported by generous funding from the Office of the President (Cal State Fullerton), the Community Outreach Partnership Center (University of California, Los Angeles), and the Office of University Partnerships (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development). She is currently researching the impact of popular culture on the labor market outcomes of African American women and their families.

Since her appointment at Cal State Fullerton in the Fall of 2006, she has enjoyed teaching the History of Racism and Black Family courses. She completed the Faculty Development Center’s BlackBoard Certificate Program in 2007.  

My publications:

• History of Racism (Editor). San Diego, California: Cognella, 2011.
  


• “Redlining” in Encyclopedia of African American History. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2010.


• Faith-Based Versus Secular Approaches to Community Development: The Case of the African American Community in Los Angeles. Saarbrücken, Germany: VDM Verlag, 2009.