Position Title
Lecturer
Edgar Jesus Campos is a Lecturer in the UC Davis Department of Sociology whose teaching is shaped by his transnational upbringing between Michoacán, Mexico and California’s Central Valley. A first-generation college graduate and proud alumnus of Sacramento State and San Joaquin Delta College, he brings an inclusive, student-centered approach to the classroom that emphasizes curiosity, real-world engagement, and the development of critical thinking. Edgar creates learning environments where students feel invited to explore how their lived experiences connect to broader social, cultural, and political structures. Edgar blends foundational lectures, student-led conversations, and guided analytical activities to ensure that all students, regardless of background or preparation, can meaningfully participate and succeed.
Edgar’s research examines issues at the intersection of culture, nationalism, and media, with a focus on how nations craft global narratives through spectacle and performance. His current book project, The Sixth Sun: Mestizaje, Performance, and Mexico City’s 1968 Olympic Journey investigates how post-colonial states negotiate legitimacy through mega-events. He has published in the Journal of Olympic Studies, Sociology of Sport Journal, and other venues, and his broader research portfolio includes projects on youth sport, racial representation in media, and symbolic interaction at macro scales. Across his teaching, mentorship, and scholarship, Edgar is committed to helping students understand their positionality within society and empowering them to see themselves as active contributors to their communities and the world around them.
- PhD. Sociology, University of Minnesota 2022
- M.A. Sociology, University of Minnesota 2019
- B.A. Sociology, California State University-Sacramento, 2015
- A.A. Social & Behavioral Science, San Joaquin Delta College, 2013
- A.A. Teacher Education Preparation, San Joaquin Delta College, 2013
- 2023 Junior Faculty Summer Research Program (JFSRP)/Research and Creative Activities Fund (RCAF), Texas Christian University
- 2021 Gary Sailes Graduate Diversity Award, research “Lindo y Querido: Nationalism, Latin American Modernity, and the Contested Terrain of the 1968 Olympic Games,” recognition at the NASSS 2021 Conference in Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- 2021 Outstanding Graduate Instructor, University of Minnesota, Department of Sociology
- 2019 Graduate Research Partnership Program (GRPP) Fellowship, Department of Sociology, University of Minnesota “Viva Mexico! The Cultural Politics Behind the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games”
- 2019 Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Minnesota, Department of Sociology
- 2018 California State University Chancellor’s Doctoral Incentive Program
- 2016 Edelstein Family Sociology Fellowship
- SOC 1 — Introduction to sociology
- SOC 3 — Social Problems
- SOC 046 — Introduction to Social Research Methods
- SOC 130 — Race Relations
- Culture, Political Sociology/Nationalism, Sociology of Latina/o/x, Latin American Studies, Sociology of Sport, Media/Popular Culture, Food Studies, Racial & Ethnic Conflict, Qualitative Methods
- 2024 Hartmann, Douglas, Teresa Toguchi Swartz, Edgar Jesus Campos, Amy August, Alex Manning, & Sarah Catherine Billups. 2024. “A New Typology of Out-of-School Youth Sports in 21st Century America: The Contrasting Organizational Logics of “Sport-Focused” and “Sport-for-Development” Programming Under Neoliberal Conditions.” Sociology of Sport Journal.
- 2023 Campos, Edgar Jesus, and Douglas Hartmann. 2023. “Viva Mexico! The Cultural Politics Behind the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Bid.” Journal of Olympic Studies 4(1): 18–40.
- 2022 Campos, Edgar Jesus, and Douglas Hartmann. 2022. “Book review: Privilege at Play: Class, Race, Gender, and Golf in México.” International Journal of Comparative Sociology 62(4): 353-354.
- 2021 Campos, Edgar Jesus, and Amy August. 2021. “Reading Discussion Guide.” Pp. 225-228 in Sparked: George Floyd, Racism, and the Progressive Illusion, edited by W.R. Jacobs, W.T. Taiwo, and A. August. Saint Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press.