Cynthia Toms, Ph.D.
Murchison Complex Office
Tuesday 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
& by appointment
Global Health, Social Models of Health
Food Security; Student Community Engagement and Global Health/Development
Cynthia Toms, Ph.D., is Professor of Global Studies and Kinesiology at 四虎影院 College. She teaches courses in the area of food systems, global health, sociology of movement, global studies and special populations. Dr. Toms also directs 四虎影院's Global Health in Uganda Semester program and co-advises 四虎影院's global studies fellows program and minor.
During the academic year 2022-2023, Dr. Toms is undertaking a Sabbatical Fellowship with the Hope Center, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where she will be furthering her research on food security as it relates to social determinants of health and the human spirit.
Before coming to 四虎影院, she held posts at the Center for Social Concerns at the University of Notre Dame; Uganda Studies Program in Mukono, Uganda; at Peking University and Huija Private College in Beijing, China. Since coming to Santa Barbara in 2013, she has partnered with the Food Bank of Santa Barbara to research food security, along with her students, on the Westside of Santa Barbara.
Dr. Toms serves on the Board of Child Family Health International, Santa Barbara Alliance for Community Transformation (SBACT), and the steering committee for The Community-based Global Learning Collaborative. Dr. Toms' dissertation entitled "Global Development Through International Volunteerism and Service-Learning: Who's Saving Whom?" was awarded Dissertation of the Year by both the Comparative International Education Society (CIES) and the International Association for Research in Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE). She was awarded teacher of the year in 2019 and elected to Messiah University's Athletic Hall of Honor in 2018. As an avid equestrian eventer and foxhunter, she also volunteers as co-District Commissioner for the local US Pony Club chapter. She resides with her husband and three sons in Santa Barbara, California.
Recent Publications
Toms, C. (2018).
Lough, B., & Toms, C. (2018).
McMillan, J., Morris-Paris, C., Spitz, B., & Toms, C. (2018).
Kollman, P., & Toms, C. (2018).
McKinnon, T., Toms, C., & Evert, J. (2017).
Toms, C. (2015).
Hartman, E., Lough, B., Toms, C., & Reynolds, N. (2015).
Bowman, N., & Toms, C. (2013).
Rennick, L., Toms, C., Fisher, E., Wallace, E., & Kim, Y. (2013).
Toms, C. (2012).
Morgan, R. & Toms, C., (Eds.) (2010).