Academic History
M.A., Ph.D. University of Texas at Austin
B.A. DePaul University
At St. Thomas since 2009

Expertise/Specialties
Mexican American Literature
Latino Literatures
Urban and Working-Class Literature
Chicana Feminisms
Race and Place in American Literature
Latinos/as in Film, Art, and Popular Culture

Selected Publications
“Revolutionary Dreams and Folkloric Practice: Radical Labor Politics in the Work of Carlos A. Cortez and Richard Wright.”  Forthcoming, Interior Borderlands: Writings on Latina/o Literature of Chicago and the Midwest, ed. William Barillas, University of Illinois Press.

Interview with Ramon Saldívar.  Ethnic and Third World Review of Books, University of Texas, Spring 2008.

Rev. of Lost City Radio, by Daniel Alarcón.  The Austin American-Statesman, 18 Feb. 2007: J05.

Rev. of the Gloria Anzaldúa Papers.  Ethnic and Third World Review of Books, University of Texas, Spring 2007.

Selected Presentations
“So Far from Aztlan, So Close to the Borderlands: Sandra Cisneros, Ana Castillo, and Mexican Chicago Literature.”  Paper presented at the American Comparative Literature Association, New Orleans, LA, April 2010.

Invited speaker, inaugural Américo Paredes Literature & Letters Award ceremony honoring Ana Castillo, Center for Mexican American Studies, University of Texas, Austin, May 2009.

“Revolutionary Dreams and Folkloric Practice: Radical Labor Politics in the Work of Carlos Cortez and Richard Wright.” Paper presented at the American Studies Association conference, Albuquerque, NM, October 2008.

“In the Master’s House: Chicago Space, Race, and Labor in Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle and Richard Wright’s Native Son.” Paper presented at the Conference of Ford Fellows, Washington D.C., September 2008.

“Blogueando:  Chicano/a Bloggers and the Construction of Gender Identity.”  Paper presented at the Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association conference, Boston, MA, April 2007.

“Fea is as fea does:  Revisions and Reiterations of Latina Beauty in Ugly Betty.” Paper presented at the SW/TX Popular/American Culture conference, Albuquerque, NM, February 2007.

“Work for Whoever Wants It?  Race, Gender, and the Promise of Work in the City of Big Shoulders in Ana Castillo’s Peel My Love Like An Onion.”  Paper presented at the Society for the Study of American Women Writers, November 2006, Philadelphia, PA.

“Latina Literature and Trends in Mainstream Publishing.”  Paper presented at the Latina Letters Conference, San Antonio, TX, July 2005.

“‘For those who cannot out’: Textual Differences in Three Editions of The House on Mango Street.”  Paper presented at the South Central Modern Language Association Conference, Houston, TX, October 2005.

Awards
Dissertation Fellow 2008-2009
Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowships

Borderlands Research Award
College of Liberal Arts, University of Texas at Austin, Spring 2007

Alternate selection
Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowships, April 2004