Akhila L. Ananth

Dr. Akhila L. Ananth is an Associate Professor in the School of Criminal Justice & Criminalistics at California State University, Los Angeles, part of the College of Health and Human Services. Her research critically examines intersections of race, gender, and spatial design within juvenile justice systems, with particular focus on Los Angeles. She actively engages in social justice advocacy through multiple roles including executive board membership in her faculty union and directorship at LA-32 Neighborhood Council.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Criminology, Law and Society (Graduate Feminist Emphasis) - University of California, Irvine
• MA in Social Ecology - University of California, Irvine
• BA in Individualized Study - New York University

Her research investigates racial and gender dynamics in juvenile court/detention facility design, child welfare systems, and global juvenile justice frameworks. She explores how institutional structures perpetuate inequality through spatial arrangements and legal mechanisms.

Ananth's publications demonstrate consistent focus on systemic injustice in juvenile justice systems, with recent works analyzing: racial violence in incarceration design (2019), sanctuary campus vulnerabilities (2019), community-university partnerships in probation systems (2019), and historical race/gender dynamics in dependency law (2017). Her scholarship employs critical race theory and spatial analysis across legal and social science disciplines.