Research Bio

Laurent Reyes is Assistant Professor of Social Welfare at UC Berkeley and Director of Critical Gerontology at Center for the Advanced Study of Aging Services. Dr. Reyes’s research advances a critical understanding of how systemic oppression, culture, and historical legacies shape civic participation and access to social and health services among historically marginalized older adults. Grounded in interdisciplinary frameworks and critical theories, her work examines the strategies, networks, and cultural resources that communities draw upon to meet their needs and contribute to society. Central to her scholarship is a commitment to theoretical and methodological innovation that is person-centered and community-engaged, particularly with groups historically excluded from knowledge production. She approaches research as a practice of epistemic justice, one that amplifies the agency of marginalized communities in shaping their own narratives. The spirit of her research program centers on access disparities in civic life, social and health services, and research itself. Rather than seeking inclusion through existing systems, Dr. Reyes explores how the structures of civic life, welfare, and knowledge production can be reimagined to reflect and build from the experiences, practices, and expertise of historically excluded communities.  

Her research has been published in The Gerontologist, The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, Innovation in Aging and Research on Aging. At Berkeley, she teaches Critical Research Literacy and Multilevel Approach to Working with Older Adults. 

Research Expertise and Interest

civic participation, community based research, visual methods, aging, immigration, Latinx older adults, Black older adults, intersectional life course perspective, systems of oppression, access to healthcare