G. Aron Ramirez
Assistant Professor
Fields
- Twentieth-century United States
- Latines in the United States
- Urban History
- Inequality
Contact Information
- Office: Bldg. 47, Rm. 25-B
- Phone: 805-756-2068
- Email: arami412@calpoly.edu
Education
- Yale University, Ph.D (History)
- Stanford University, B.A. (History)
Research and Teaching Interests
I write and teach about the modern United States. My primary specialty is Latine history. My book project, The Death of the American Dream, en Español: The "Hispanic Housing Crisis" and the Problem of Homeownership in the Neoliberal Order (under contract, University of Pennsylvania Press), traces the patterns of homeownership attainable by the nation's Spanish-speaking minority in the years between the passage of the Fair Housing Act (1968) and the all-time high in Latine homeownership (2000). My book treats Latines as a case study to see the fundamental differences in homeownership opportunity after 1968: the leadership of government-sponsored enterprises rather than Congress, the primacy of the secondary mortgage market as the leading site for affordable housing initiatives, and the emphasis on easy access to credit rather than affordability. The book is based on my dissertation, which won the Edwin W. Small Prize from the Yale Department of History and the Theron Rockwell Field Prize from the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. I have also published articles about the formation of a Mexican American middle class in Downey, California (my hometown), and the tension between use-value and exchange-value in the history of Black homeownership.
I teach courses at every level at Cal Poly. In academic year 2027 - 2028, I will teach two new courses: HIST 2207 Introduction to Latine History (a lecture course), and HIST 2209 Introduction to US Urban History (a lecture course). At every level, I emphasize the acquisition of skills which will help students refine their abilities as readers, writers, and thinkers at Cal Poly and beyond.
I'm able to advise senior theses in History. I can advise projects in most topics related to US history since 1865, but I'm especially interested in helping students write theses on topics like Latine politics, pan-ethnicity, housing markets and policy, cities and suburbs, and the evolution of racial inequality. If you are interested in writing a thesis under my supervision, I encourage you to talk to me as early as possible. (I also encourage you to take my section of HIST 3303 when offered.) Narrowing your interests into a feasible senior-project topic will take longer than you think. You will need to refine your interests into a "field" of history and read through "the field." You will need to think about the stories you can narrate. You will need to find evidence. You will need to learn to write plainly. A good senior thesis requires work and planning, but I'm happy to help you develop those skills.
Most years, I serve as the faculty co-advisor of Phi Alpha Theta (our department's history honors society) and The Forum (our department's student-led peer-reviewed journal for historical research). Please email me if you have questions about those student organizations.
In academic year 2026 - 2027, I will be on professional leave. The American Council of Learned Societies awarded me a year-long fellowship so that I can finish my book manuscript. I will be writing from my office, so please send me an email if you need to stop by for any reason.
Articles
- "Use-Value, Exchange-Value, and the Empty Promise of Black Homeownership, '' Modern American History 7, no. 2 (July 2024)
- "Business as Usual: Ethnic Commerce and the Making of a Mexican American Middle Class in Southeast Los Angeles, 1981-1995,'' Journal of Urban History 50, no. 5 (Sep. 2024)
Courses
- HIST 2202: The United States since 1877
- HIST 3303: Research and Writing Seminar in History (Topic: Race in the United States)