Melissa Ann Canlas

"Melissa Ann Canlas is an Associate Professor in International and Multicultural Education at the University of San Francisco and the Project Director of USF’s AAPI Center.  She also teaches undergraduate courses in USF’s Critical Diversity Studies program. Dr. Canlas is daughter of Filipino immigrants and her scholarship focuses on generating knowledge to address injustice while also building more liberatory futures.

Her prior experience includes working with middle and high school students through federally funded TRIO programs, teaching and serving as a mentor teacher with Pin@y Educational Partnerships (PEP), and building collaborative partnerships between community organizations and educational programs in San Francisco. Dr. Canlas also currently serves as the Director of Education at the Revolutionary Love Project, where she supports the creation of educational and artistic tools to nurture communities and social movements through an ethic of Revolutionary Love.

• Ethnic studies and racial justice
• Critical pedagogies and humanizing education
• Social justice leadership development 
• Social movement praxes
• Participatory action research

• Project Director and Co-Principal Investigator, USF AAPI Center: an AANAPISI grant funded program
• Co-Coordinator, Humanities Mellon Scholars Program (2017-2023)

• University of San Francisco, EdD in International and Multicultural Education
• San Francisco State University, MA in Asian American Studies
• St. Mary’s College of Maryland, BA in English

• Faculty in Asian American Studies, City College of San Francisco
• Project Director, Asian Pacific American Leaders United, City College of San Francisco

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• Fuentes, E. H., & Canlas, M. A. (2024). Homeplace Story-Telling: Theorizing for and from Home. In D. Philoxene, D. S.-V. Koon, & E. H. Fuentes (Eds.), Crafting homeplace in the academic borderlands: Humanizing education, research, and relationships. Teachers College Press.

• Canlas, M. (2020). “Now I’m able to make a difference”: Teaching and learning critical leadership praxis for Asian American students. In D. C. Maramba & T. P. Fong (Eds.), Transformative practices for minority student success (pp. 153–168). Stylus Publishing.

• Bajaj, M., Argenal, A., & Canlas, M. (2017). Socio-politically relevant pedagogy for immigrant and refugee youth. Equity & Excellence in Education, 50(3), 258–274

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