Co-taught by Dr. Jordan Starck, assistant professor of psychology at Stanford University, and Hoang Pham, Director of Education and Opportunity at the Stanford Center for Racial Justice, PSYCH 188: Practicum on Racial Bias and the Law is an innovative, interdisciplinary course that invites students to think critically and challenge beliefs about how race and bias operate within the legal system. The course is unique in structure and scope, designed as a dual-component practicum split across two weekly class meetings. Each component offers a different disciplinary lens:
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PSYCH: Led by Dr. Starck, students explore the social psychology of race and bias—unpacking key research, testing assumptions, and developing their own hypotheses about how “myths” around race shape legal and quasi-legal outcomes.
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LAW: Led by Hoang, students turn their attention to constitutional law, legal advocacy, and legislation within the context of racial justice. Through rigorous analysis, they trace the rise and fall of major debates over race, discrimination, and concepts of equality in law and policy.
Each quarter the course is offered students experience different capstone assignments, allowing them to apply what they’ve learned to current and relevant real-world issues. This fall, PSYCH component students explored the process of qualitative coding through identifying the prevalence of beliefs that underlie symbolic civil rights—civil rights ideologies and frameworks that only superficially represent ideals of equality and justice—in college and university diversity statements. Students focused on empirically identifying a variety beliefs in these texts, including racial power evasiveness and color-evasiveness.
In the LAW component, students developed a comprehensive DEI debate-prep spreadsheet, researching arguments for and against a range of issues across the DEI landscape and examining their legal and policy implications. While students used the spreadsheet to engage in their own class debate, the work ultimately supported the Center’s Faculty Director, Rick Banks, in his recent Steamboat Institute debate with Jason Riley, columnist for The Wall Street Journal. Students are closing out the course by researching higher education data, cases, and policies for Professor Banks’ upcoming book, The Miseducation of America.
During a time when racial justice is once again at the center of legal and policy debates, this practicum offers students the chance to not only study the system by unpacking competing perspectives on complex issues—but to actively engage in shaping it by producing rigorous research for real-world impact. Learn more about our excellent fall 2025 cohort below.
PSYCH 188 | Fall 2025 Practicum Students
Jose Cristobal Berdeja | Jose is a junior from Paramount, California, Jose is majoring in Sociology with a minor in Psychology. Over the past two summers, he has worked alongside a Compton Courthouse judge reviewing petitions filed under Penal Code §1172.6 by individuals convicted of murder seeking resentencing, and served as a college intern with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. On campus, Jose is the Co-President of Barrio Assistance, a tutoring program that supports K–12 students from historically under-resourced communities in Redwood City. He takes particular interest in helping non-English-speaking students strengthen their reading, writing, and math skills. Jose is also an active member of Derechos, the Latinx pre-law organization. As a first-generation college student and the son of immigrants, Jose draws from his personal experiences to inform his academic interests in the study of “criminality” and “illegality,” particularly how these concepts converge within the framework of crimmigration. He ultimately aspires to pursue a career in criminal law, whether in defense or prosecution.
Daniela Flores | Daniela is a senior from San Jose, California, Daniela is studying Psychology and Spanish. Her academic interests include systemic racial inequality, public interest law, and how our identities shape our experiences. On campus, Daniela is a co-lead for the Stanford Women in Politics (SWIP) Public Service committee, a member of Derechos, a Latinx pre-law society, and a research assistant in Dr. Starck’s SABA lab. She is currently working on an honors thesis through the Psychology department about how biases for our racial in-group can affect our actions and memories. She was also previously an intern at the Santa Clara County Public Defender’s Office, where she assisted attorneys on active cases by analyzing evidence and working closely with clients. After graduation, Daniela hopes to go to law school, and is excited to see where she can apply the skills she has learned through social psychology into different fields of law.
Avery Hwang | A junior from Orange County, California, Avery is double majoring in Psychology and American Studies with a concentration in Inequality and the Legal System. Her academic interests lie in the intersection between psychology and the law, specifically in applying principles in social and cognitive psychology to improve the justice system. As someone passionate about art and culture, she is also interested in learning about cultural heritage law and restitution. Avery plans on attending law school after college and spent this past summer as an intern for the Los Angeles Superior Court. She currently works for the Stanford Historical Society, helping preserve the history of Stanford by documenting the lived experiences of the community through the Oral History Program.
Alaija Jones | Alaija is a junior at Stanford University, double-majoring in Sociology and Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity. Her academic path is driven by a deep commitment to racial justice and a focused passion for criminal justice reform. Alaija’s work explores the intersections of race, law, and power, interrogating how systems of punishment and surveillance disproportionately impact Black communities. She is particularly interested in the role of media, storytelling, and cultural preservation in reshaping public narratives around justice and accountability. Her studies center the voices of those most affected by systemic harm, and she is committed to amplifying their experiences through research, writing, and public engagement. Alaija’s passion for criminal justice reform is rooted in a broader vision of equity and collective care. She is drawn to work that dismantles punitive systems and builds pathways toward restorative practices, legal empowerment, and community sovereignty. Through her involvement in campus and community spaces, Alaija continues to cultivate dialogue, foster a sense of belonging, and advocate for transformative change.
Christine Kang | Christine is a senior from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Christine is double-majoring in Political Science and Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CSRE). She is interested in community-based research and her interests lie in understanding systems of governance, carcerality, and welfare. She has experience working on qualitative research, interning in county government offices, and supporting students in developing policy projects. On campus, Christine works as a research assistant, CSRE Program Liaison, and a volunteer to support individuals incarcerated in San Francisco county.
Claire Lee | Claire is a junior from Seoul, South Korea, Claire is majoring in Psychology and minoring in Classics. She is passionate about studying patterns of human behavior across cultures and time to generate solutions to difficult societal issues. On campus, she conducts research at the Language & Cognition Lab, oversees business operations at The Stanford Daily, and is editor-in-chief of the Undergraduate Journal of Classics. Over the summer, she interned at an international arbitration institution, learning about alternative dispute resolution in the commercial sector. She plans on going to law school to study how the law can be a more equitable tool for social good.
Billy Meneses | Billy is a senior from Union City, New Jersey, pursuing a double major in African & African American Studies and Public Policy with a concentration in Discrimination, Crime, & Poverty Policy. He is passionate about issues of racial formation, Afro-Latinx identity, multiracial democracy, and civil rights law and history. On campus, he is a Research Fellow at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research & Education Institute and a Peer Advisor for the Department of African & African American Studies. He remains committed to social justice and providing equitable access to opportunities for minorities and underserved groups through experiences working as a Policy & Innovation Fellow at the San Francisco Foundation and as a Legislative Intern with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He hopes to pursue a career in civil rights law and policy to address persistent racial inequalities and advocate for the communities that shaped him.
Taylor Powell | Taylor is a senior from Atlanta, GA, majoring in Psychology and minoring in Political Science. During her time at Stanford, she has been the President of the Xi Beta Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Sorority, Inc. Additionally, she has worked at the Women’s Community Center since her sophomore year, cultivating a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment for all members of the Stanford community. She has spent her summers studying abroad in Accra, Ghana, working at the Santa Clara County Re-entry Center in San Jose, and researching attitudes surrounding race, unconscious biases, and social dominance orientation. Taylor also spent time in Washington, D.C. during the spring quarter of her junior year working at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee on the Prisoners’ Rights Team. She is passionate about education, the school-to-prison pipeline, and ensuring that incarcerated individuals are treated with fairness and respect. After graduation, Taylor plans to return home to participate in the Teach for America Corps before attending law school.
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