Brains Uncorked by Coriolis

Join us for the October installment of Brains Uncorked, a live event series where three scholars share powerful, thought-provoking talks, each just 10–15 minutes long.

This is not a traditional academic lecture. Hosted in a relaxed bar setting, Brains Uncorked challenges three scholars to deliver concise and compelling talks (each under 15 minutes) and invites attendees to explore bold ideas while enjoying a drink and good company. The format is simple: no slides or dense jargon, just clear and thought-provoking insights designed to spark meaningful conversation. Expect fresh perspectives, surprising connections, and discussions that will stay with you well after the night ends.

📍 Tuesday, October 28, 2025

🕖 7:00 PM (doors at 6:30 PM)

🍷 The Nickel Mine in Sawtelle

🎟️ Free to attend, reservations encouraged

Glenda Flores

Dr. Glenda Marisol Flores is Professor and Chair of the Department of Chicano/Latino Studies at UC, Irvine. Her research agenda centers on the social mobility patterns of Latinas/os into the middle class and their workplace experiences in the white-collar world, especially in teaching and medicine. Her first book Latina Teachers: Creating Careers and Guarding Culture won the 2018 Outstanding Contribution to Scholarship Book Award from the Race, Gender, and Class Section of the American Sociological Association. Her research has been published in several venues, such as Gender & Society, Sex Roles, Gender, Work and Organization, and The Journal for STEM Education Research. Her new book-length project is based on interviews with over seventy Latina/o/e physicians in California and is titled The Weight of the White Coat: Latinos Navigating American Medicine (UC Press, 2025). Dr. Flores received her PhD in Sociology from the University of Southern California.

Rocío Rosales

Rocío Rosales is Associate Professor of Sociology and former Associate Dean of Faculty Development at the University of California Irvine. She researches and teaches in the areas of international migration, immigrant detention, race/ethnicity, and qualitative methods. She is the author of Fruteros: Street Vending, Illegality, and Ethnic Community in Los Angeles (2020, UC Press).

Irene Isela Vega

Dr. Irene I. Vega is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Irvine. Her primary line of research examines how the intersection of legal and policy mandates, bureaucratic culture, and political processes shapes immigration enforcement. Her recently published book, Bordering on Indifference: How Immigration Agents Negotiate Race and Morality (Princeton University Press) draws on fieldwork with Border Patrol Agents and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Officers to show how bureaucratic indifference is produced and maintained on the frontlines of immigration control. As a Hellman Fellow, Dr. Vega is conducting a new research project mapping the experiences of upward mobility across demographic groups in Southern California, contributing to broader understanding of social stratification and opportunity structures in the region. You can find Dr. Vega’s research in well-regarded outlets, including Theoretical Criminology, Social Problems, The Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, and American Behavioral Scientist, among other venues. Dr. Vega teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on race/ethnicity and immigration, and graduate courses on qualitative data analysis. She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Info: In this talk, Dr. Glenda Flores will focus on how Latina/o educators and physicians in California navigate their workplaces.

Info: Street vendors are ubiquitous in Los Angeles; their rainbow-colored umbrellas dot the urban landscape. But, how much do we really know about them? In this talk, Dr. Rocío Rosales will explain how fruit vendors got their start, how a group of migrants from a small town in Mexico came to dominate the field, and the daily issues vendors face on the streets of this metropolis.

Info: In this talk, Dr. Irene I. Vega discusses how indifference—which we can understand most simply as apathy or detachment—shapes immigration enforcement agents' ability to perform their work uncritically.

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