Summary
Languages: Spanish, English and Spanglish. Some proficiency in French, Portuguese and Italian.
I was born in Texas and raised in Phoenix. I am the son of migrant farmworkers and was a farmworker myself as a young child. My parents were also born in Texas, but my extended family is from Guanajuato and Sonora, México, with roots in Yaqui culture. I was the first person in my family to graduate from high school and college. I attended Arizona State University, where I completed a B.A. in Mathematics, an M.A. in Comparative Literature, and a Ph.D. in Spanish with a specialty in Chicanx and Latinx literature and culture.
I joined the University of Nevada, Reno Department of World Languages and Literatures in 2004 as an assistant professor and became an associate professor in 2010. My research centers on Jotería studies — gender and sexuality in Chicanx and Latinx culture. I’m a founding member of Alianza, the Department of Gender, Race and Identity, and the Latino Research Center at the University of Nevada, Reno. I have the distinct pleasure of serving as Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for the College of Liberal Arts. I also serve on the board of the national Association for Jotería Arts, Activism and Scholarship (AJAAS).