I graduated from Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, FL with my Ph.D. in International Relations in 2010. I moved to New York immediately after that to take a position as full-time visiting professor in Sociology and Anthropology at Purchase College for the 2010-2011 academic year. Since then I have stayed on at Purchase as an adjunct. I've also taught in the Department of Black and Hispanic Studies at Baruch College - City University of New York (CUNY).
I am trained broadly across the social sciences, with a special emphasis in geography. I have extensive experience as a researcher and have worked mostly on multi- and inter-disciplinary projects. I have studied many different topics, including immigration to the U.S., civic participation, ethnic and racial identity, trust, the impact of social and economic policies on disadvantaged communities, arts and artists in U.S. society, and health promotion and disease prevention. These projects have been funded and/or commissioned by a number of organizations, including the National Science Foundation, the Federal Judicial Center, Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation/Miami Cultural Center, the Tinker Foundation, Baruch College (CUNY), the Rubin Museum of Art, the Research Institute for Social and Economic Policy, the Miami Workers' Center, and the Cuban Research Center at Florida International University.
I have collaborated with numerous senior faculty including geographers Patricia Price (FIU) and Daniel Arreola (ASU), anthropologists Alex Stepick (FIU) and Katrin Hansing (Baruch College-CUNY), and political scientists Damian Fernandez (FIU) and Maria de los Angeles Torres (UIC). I combine quantitative and qualitative methods (e.g., survey, interview, focus group, participant observation) and use a variety of technologies to organize and analyze the data (e.g., SPSS, NVIVO, and ArcGIS).
My dissertation, “Placing Immigrant Incorporation: Identity, Trust, and Civic Engagement in Little Havana,” addresses the paradigm of assimilation and examines the dynamics of Latin American immigrants and American-born Latinos in Miami. This work combine the fields of urban geography, Latino studies, and ethnic politics. It is available at: http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/263/.
I have presented papers and participated on panels at numerous professional meetings and national conferences, including the Association of American Geographers (AAG), the International Studies Association (ISA), the Latin American Studies Association (LASA), the Association of American Anthropologists (AAA), and Race, Ethnicity, and Place (REP).
