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Bienvenidos!

I am Professor and Chair of Department of Women's and Gender Studies at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. I teach and conduct research in the fields of Latina/o literature, militarization, and gender and sexuality. I teach and have taught courses such as "Introduction to Latina Feminist Literature," "Gender, Labor and (Im)migration in Latina/o Literature," "Introduction to Feminist Thought," and "Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies." I am the author of three books: War Echoes: Gender and Militarization in U.S. Latina/o Cultural Production (2014), Understanding Francisco Goldman (2018), and Public Negotiations: Gender and Journalism in Latina/o Literature (forthcoming). 


Born and raised in the suburbs of Ohio, I attended The Ohio State University - where I earned a BA in English with a Minor in Women's Studies in 2001. I then pursued an MA and PhD in English from Cornell University, from which I graduated in 2008. In addition to Cleveland and Ithaca, NY, I have lived in Austin, TX, Lincoln, NE and Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico. I also maintain close ties to the Bay Area of Northern California.


I am of European/Jewish and Chicana/Mexican ancestry - from my mother and father, respectively. My father's family can be traced back to pre-1848 southwestern U.S., when the states we know now as New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and others were Mexican territory. My mother's family emigrated from central and eastern Europe in the early 20th century. I identify as Chicana, Latina, Mexicana, U.S. Latina, culturally Jewish, and mixed, often depending on the circumstances and environs. When I'm hankering for spicy food in central america me siento bastante mexicana but when I find myself trying to explain that I eat a different kind of atole or what chicos are, me di cuenta que soy nueva mexicana.