People
Karla L. Davis-Salazar
Associate Professor
Contact
Office: SOC 156C
Email: karladavis@usf.edu
Education
- Ph.D., Anthropology, Harvard University
- A.M., Anthropology, Harvard University
- B.A., French Language and Literature, University of Michigan
Teaching
Introduction to Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology, Teaching Anthropology, Anthropology, and Higher Education.
Research
After serving as an associate dean in USF's Office of Undergraduate Studies for four years, I find universities to be fascinating social and cultural systems. Academia and administration truly are different worlds, and learning to “do” administration is a transformative process. My research on higher education therefore applies anthropological methods and theories to problems in higher education as a means of building bridges between faculty and administrators. To this end, I am currently engaged in research projects investigating: 1) the structures and lived experience of “academic middle management” roles, such as associate deans; 2) the experiences of university stakeholders with structural and organizational changes in higher education institutions, particularly how faculty and administrators make sense of such disruptions to their lives and livelihoods; and 3) academic motherhood, which is a joint project with a USF colleague investigating the gendered experiences and array of personal, professional, and institutional challenges facing mothers in academia.
Recent Publications
- Davis-Salazar, Karla L. n.d. Liminality in Academic Middle Management: Negotiating the Associate Dean Role in US Higher Education Administration. Learning and Teaching. In press.
- Davis-Salazar, Karla L. 2024. 'Hidden Assets’ in Higher Education Administration: The Structures and Lived Experience of ‘Organisational Power’ among Associate Deans at US Universities. Journal of Educational Administration and History.
- Davis-Salazar, Karla L. 2023. Professional Development for Academic Associate Deans: A Case for Decision-making as an Essential Skill in Learning to Lead. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management 45(6): 674-689.
Graduate Students
Emma Abell-Selby, and Clara Buie.