Elsa Chen
Education: Ph.D. University of California, Los Angeles, 2000; M.P.P., Harvard University, 1993; A.B. Princeton University, 1991
Professor Elsa Chen teaches public policy, criminal justice policy, housing and homeless policy, research methods, and American politics.
Dr. Chen’s published work focuses on criminal justice reform, reentry from incarceration, criminal record expungement, analyses of the implementation and effects of sentencing policies, including “Three Strikes and You’re Out,” and racial and ethnic disparities in sentencing outcomes. Her current research studies policies associated with the de-escalation of mass incarceration and prisoner reintegration into society.
Her work has appeared in journals including Criminology & Public Policy, Law & Society Review, Justice Quarterly, Punishment & Society, Criminal Justice and Behavior, Social Science Quarterly, Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, and the California Journal of Politics and Policy. She co-edited the book Beyond Recidivism: New Approaches to Research on Prisoner Reentry and Reintegration (NYU Press, 2020) and contributed to the National Academies Press report, “The Limits of Recidivism: Measuring Success After Prison” (2022).
Dr. Chen has served as Political Science Department Chair since Fall 2023. Her previous roles include Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Interim Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Development at Santa Clara. She is currently a member of the National Academies of Sciences Committee on Law and Justice, and she has also served on the Executive Board of the American Society of Criminology (ASC), chaired ASC’s Division on People of Color and
Crime, and served on the US Dept. of Justice, Office of Justice Programs’ Science Advisory Board and the ASC Policy Committee.
Dr. Chen was the recipient of the ASC Division on People of Color and Crime’s 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award, the College’s 2024 Public Intellectual Award, and the 2015 David E. Logothetti Award for teaching excellence.
- Introduction to American Politics
- Seminar in U.S. Politics
- Making Public Policy
- Special Topics in Public Policy
- Public Sector Internship
Research Guides for Dr. Chen's Classes:
- POLI 001 - Introduction to U.S. Politics