Dr. Albert Ponce is Chair/Professor of Political Science and Co-Director of the Social Justice program at Diablo Valley College (DVC). Professor Ponce earned his Ph.D. & M.A. from the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), specializing in race, immigration & political theory. After earning his GED, he attended Mt San Antonio College graduating from the University of California, Berkeley with B.A. degrees in Chicano Studies & Political Science with Distinction.
At DVC, he teaches courses in political theory, race & American Government, Social Justice & Ethnic Studies. Professor Ponce mentors students across disciplines and is also part of the PUENTE and UMOJA programs. Dr. Ponce continues to advise multiple student clubs, including the Social Justice Club and formerly incarcerated students. He is a founding member of the Contra Costa Community College District Ethnic Studies Council. Dr. Ponce has taught in Incarcerated Student Programs at Folsom and High Desert State Prisons and is a member of the Dreamers Alliance, Racial Justice Collective, and a founding member of DVC’s Faculty & Staff for Justice in Palestine.
His research centralizes race, capitalism, decolonial theory & praxis. Professor Ponce has published in Educational Theory (2024), Critical Sociology, and a book chapter titled “Community as the Basis of Resistance” Routledge (2023).
