Metropolitan State University of Denver

Dr Annjanette Alejano-Steele

Personal Biography Statement

Dr. AnnJanette Alejano-Steele is a full professor in the departments of psychology and women's studies at Metropolitan State College of Denver. She was the former director for the Institute for Women’s Studies and Services between 2006 and 2009, and has been at Metro State since 1996. Her educational background includes a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from Michigan State University and NIH-supported postdoctoral work in psychology and medicine from the University of California, San Francisco. Her health psychology expertise has focused on local and global multicultural issues, including reproductive health access for low-income populations, and comprehensive health services for victims of human trafficking.

Over the years, she has taught many courses for both departments, including Psychology of Women, Psychology of Gender, Women’s Health Issues, Women of Color, and Human Trafficking. For the psychology department, she has also taught the Psychology of Human Development, Child Psychology, Adulthood and Aging, Cross Cultural Psychology, Social Justice, Self and Citizenship, and Health Psychology. Her teaching is often described as multiculturally-sensitive and globally-aware.

Research Areas/Interests

Dr. Alejano-Steele serves on the steering committee of the victim services-focused Colorado Network to End Human Trafficking, and also serves on a key investigative taskforce led by the State of Colorado Division of Criminal Justice. Her decades of academic experience supported her role as a law enforcement trainer for the Colorado Regional Community Policing Institute, supported by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice. She also serves on a national working group focusing on trauma-informed care for the Office of Women’s Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

With Dr. Alejano-Steele’s various roles in the anti-trafficking movement and academe, she blended together academics with on-the-ground field experience to create a multidisciplinary undergraduate human trafficking course. Most importantly, she created and coordinated the Human Trafficking Academic Response Team, which consists of ten academic departments designed to provide wrap around academic services for survivors of human trafficking as a form of long-term survivorship.

Current Projects

Dr. Alejano-Steele is currently coordinating a national project on promising practices in human trafficking, named the Colorado Project to Comprehensively Combat Human Trafficking. Details of this project can be found at www.coloradoproject.combathumantrafficking.org.

Links

Information for the Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking can be found at www.combathumantrafficking.org. Featured as one of the faculty in the Chronicle Campaign, please see www.mscd.edu/metrostatesuccess/annjanette.

Courses Taught

AAS-2100,AAS-4160,CHS-2100,CJC-4160,HES-3920,HON-4160,HSP-4160,PSY-3920
,PSY-4160,SOC-3920,SWK-4160,WMS-2100,WMS-3920,WMS-3980,WMS-4160,WMS-4920
,WMS-4970,WMS-498E,WMS-498U,WMS-498X

Office Hours

Tuesday - [  :00 to 11:30]
Thursday - [  :00 to 11:00]