Gregory K. Freeland

Gregory K. Freeland serves as Professor of Political Science and Uyeno-Tseng Professor of Global Studies at California Lutheran University, teaching courses including International Politics, Global Studies, and Music and the Civil Rights Movement. Based in Swenson 227 with contact email freeland@callutheran.edu, he maintains active international engagement through faculty development seminars in Tunisia and Rwanda, plus student travel programs to Cuba and Jamaica.

His research centers on social movement dynamics, particularly the intersection of civil rights and music in American history, alongside electoral politics and U.S. culture-politics relationships. Current work investigates music's role in political mobilization, extending to international contexts through his Global Studies expertise and environmental justice scholarship.

Publications reveal a consistent focus on justice movements across temporal and geographic scales, from localized North Carolina segregation studies to global environmental governance frameworks. This interdisciplinary approach bridges historical analysis, cultural studies, and political theory to examine how marginalized communities leverage cultural expression for political change.

Dr. Freeland currently leads community engagement as President of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Committee of Santa Barbara, demonstrating applied commitment to civil rights principles beyond academic work.