Ph.D. 2014, Sociology, UC Davis
Cara Chiaraluce specializes in the fields of carework, gender and family, and health. Chiaraluce has published articles in the Journal of Family Issues, American Behavioral Scientist, and her forthcoming book Becoming an Expert Caregiver: How Structural Flaws Shape Autism Carework and Community (Rutgers University Press, 2024) examines the process through which lay women become expert caregivers to provide the best care for their children. The expert caregiver emerges from an insufficient and fragmented social safety net that places the overwhelming burden of care on the shoulders of individual caregivers and their families. The expert caregiver is shaped by cumulative frustrations in U.S. care systems, particularly in education and healthcare, and constraining flaws in entrenched cultural ideals of gender, family, and ability.
At Santa Clara, she teaches many courses, including the following classes: Principles of Sociology, Sociology of Family, Globalization and Inequality, Public Sociology Internship, Children, Youth, & Society, and Social Problems. This year, she is a Faculty Associate with the Faculty Collaborative for Teaching Innovation, and she is particularly committed to creating inclusive, meaningful learning experiences that deeply connect with students' complex lives today.
Prior to joining the department in 2015, she taught Sociology at UC Davis (where she won the 2013 "Excellence in Undergraduate Education Award") and California State University- Sacramento. Chiaraluce is originally from Boston, Massachusetts, received her B.A. in Sociology from Assumption College, and M.A. and Ph.D. from UC Davis.
For questions on SOC 198 and internships, please stop by during office hours or send an email: cchiaraluce@scu.edu.