Renelinda Arana, PhD

Professor of Sociology
Program Head for Sociology, Data Analytics and Multidisciplinary Studies
Main Building, Room 328
210-528-6722
rabressler@ollusa.edu

Curriculum Vitae

Areas of Expertise

I am an applied sociologist who has expertise in varying topics of sociology including immigration, crime and incarceration, statistics, substance use and HIV among at risk populations, college success among Latinos, civic engagement among Latin Americans. I am an Expert Witness for Capital Punishment Defense Cases in Texas and Missouri. Most recently, I conducted program evaluation for two programs to provide training services to Speech Language Professionals; and improve remote learning opportunities and the digital capacity and skills at OLLU and surrounding anchor community. 

Teaching Philosophy

I use a mixture of straight lecture, visual aids like photographs, cartoons, short clips of films or tv shows. I LOVE discussion, so therefore, my classes are very interactive and designed to be very conversational. Expect to interact, question, brainstorm, explain, problem-solve, disagree, persuade, and engage with the professor and classmates. I use cooperative learning in my classes, which means I put students into groups in order to enhance discussion, learn from each other’s perspectives, and improve students’ understanding of a subject. In this way, each student is part of a team and is responsible for not only for their own learning but also for helping other teammates to learn. I hope students appreciate sociological topics or techniques from various perspectives. Furthermore, I provide students with experiential learning experiences via my research projects. Students have helped me to code, enter data, transcribe, conduct statistical analysis, create interview memos, administer surveys in OLLU and in the surrounding community, deliver health education lectures to students, etc. This enables students to become more marketable because they become proficient in the sampling methods, statistics, software programs, and concepts that they are learning within the classroom!

Outside Interests

I love family, friendship and nature. Thus, you can find me hiking, camping, barbequing, RV-ing, and star gazing with my family at the many beautiful Texas state parks on many weekends.