Curriculum Vita

Academic Appointments

Assistant Professor. Latin American and Latino Studies Department. DePaul University. 2017-Present 

Visiting Scholar. Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America. Brown University. 2021

Education

Ph.D. Chicana and Chicano Studies. UC Santa Barbara – 2017

M.A. Chicana and Chicano Studies. UC Santa Barbara – 2012

B.A. Chicana and Chicano Studies with a Political Science minor. UC Los Angeles – 2010 

Book

Becoming Salvi: Constructing Salvadoran Ethnic Identity in the Diaspora. Forthcoming from the University of Arizona Press

Articles, Chapters, and Research Reviews

“Documenting the Salvadoran Diaspora: Countering the Central American Threat Narrative.” Teaching Central American Literature in a Global Context. Modern Language Association. 2021.

“Rupturing the Silences: Intergenerational Construction of Salvadoran Immigrant War Necronarratives.” Journal of Latino-Latin American Studies 11, no 1 (2021): 75-92.

Review of U.S. Central Americans: Reconstructing Memories, Struggles, and Communities of Resistance. 2017. Edited by Alvarado, Karina O., Alicia Ivonne Estrada, and Ester E. Hernández. Latino Studies 16, no. 2 (2018).

Review of Mexican Americans and the Question of Race. 2014. By Dowling, Julie. Aztlán 40, no. 2 (2015): 281-285.

(With Gustavo Lopez) “‘How to be a Cholo’: Reinventing a Chicano Archetype on YouTube.” Camino Real: Estudios de las Hispanidades Norteamericanas 3, no. 5 (2011): 151-167.

Forthcoming

“Central Americans in Chicana/o Studies: The Role of Co-Ethnic Curricular Space in Higher Education”

Other Writing

“Op-Ed: Central Americans Aren’t Co-Opting Chicano Studies. They’re Building on Their Shared History.” Remezcla – Culture. December 6, 2019. Visit

Recent Talks and Panels

Panelists for “The Intergenerations of Central American Studies” at the American Studies Association Annual Meeting. San Juan, Puerto Rico. November 2021

Speaker in “Topics in Central American Studies: Examining Salvadoran Identity Across the Diaspora” At Stanford University’s Humanities Center – Geballe Research Workshop Series: Critical Orientations to Race and Ethnicity. October 2020

Colloquium presenter “Constructing Salvadoran War Memories in the Diaspora” University of California, Irvine. April 2020

Panelist presenting “Rupturing the Silences: Intergenerational Negotiations of Salvadoran Immigrant War Stories.” American Studies Association Annual Meeting. Honolulu, HI. Panel Title: Death, Violence, and Healing:  Necronarratives and Meaning-making along the Migrant Journey. November 7-10, 2019.

Session speaker on “Mental Health and Immigration” at Ignite Chicago “Young Women Run” Conference. October 2019.

Panelists presenting “Americanness and U.S. Salvadoran Ethnic Labeling Practices.” Narrative Postmigration: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. Aix-Marseille Université. March 7, 2019.

Research Fellowships, Awards, and Honors

2021 and 2020 – Faculty Recognition Award from graduating class at DePaul University Latinx Graduation 

2021 – Woodrow Wilson Career Enhancement Fellowship from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation 

2020 and 2018 – Faculty Summer Research Grant from DePaul University

2016 – Dissertation Grant from UCSB Graduate Division

2015 – Dissertation Grant from UCSB Chicana/o Studies Institute

2011, 2012 and 2014 – Graduate Studies Enhancement Grant from the Social Science Research Council 

2011 – Jose Tarango and Susana Escamilla de Tarango Graduate Student Fellowship

2010 and 2013 – Graduate Opportunity Fellowship at UC Santa Barbara

2009 – Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship 

Professional Development

2019 – Service-Learning Certificate at DePaul University.

2019 – Project Based Learning Faculty Institute at DePaul University.

2018 – Summer Institute on Tenure and Professional Development at Duke University’s Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity and Gender in the Social Sciences.

2018 – Community Immersion Faculty Institute in Back of the Yards, Chicago. STEANS Center for Community-Based Service Learning and Community Service Studies. 

2017 – Certificate in College and University Teaching at UC Santa Barbara.

Service to the University

2021 – Curriculum Development for Liberal Studies Program 

2018-Present – Faculty Advisor to Lambda Theta Alpha Sorority at DePaul University

2019-Present – DePaul Latinx Graduation Committee

2019-Present – Advisory Committee for DePaul Women’s Center

2020 – Interlocutor Unforgetting: A Memoir of Family, Migration, Gangs, and Revolution in the Americas, an evening with author Roberto Lovato, Department of Latin American and Latino Studies

2019 – Keynote Speaker, DePaul Latinx Heritage Month Celebration

2019 – Moderator for Sexuality and Migration Symposium, Center for Latino Research at DePaul University

Service to the Profession

2021-Present – Program Committee for the Latino Studies Association Biannual Meeting

2020-Present – Research Committee Member. Community Advisory Council for the Latinx Project at the Chicago History Museum. 

2019-Present – Advisory Committee for Dialogo Journal. 

2020 – Panelist for “MMUF Fellows in their Careers” for MMUF West Coast Regional Conference. UC Riverside and the Claremont Colleges 

2020 – Manuscript Reviewer for Latino Studies Journal. 

Student Mentorship and Advising

2021 – Faculty Mentor for Inter-University Program for Latino Research Mellon Fall Institute

2020-Present – Dissertation Committee Member

2019 – Faculty Research Mentor in the McNair Scholars Program 

2018 – Faculty Research Mentor in the Mitchem Research Program 

Professional Affiliations

Latino Studies Association

American Studies Association

Latin American Studies Association