Curriculum Vitae
Vanessa's CV is listed below. If you would like a PDF copy, please e-mail her.
Education
Fall 2020—Spring 2025
The University of Arizona
Doctor of Philosophy in Mexican American Studies
Dissertation Title: Intergenerational Displacement in Aguililla-Redwood City: Migration from Michoacán and Diaspora in Northern California
Dissertation Committee: Dr. Michelle Téllez (Chair), Dr. Maurice Rafael Magaña (Minor Chair), Dr. Daniel E. Martínez, and Dr. Manuel Barajas
Fall 2017—Summer 2020
San Francisco State University
Master of Arts in Anthropology
Thesis: "Ancestry Isn't the Past, It's the Future: Human Genetics Research and Race"
Advisors: Dr. Cynthia Wilczak and Dr. James Quesada
Fall 2013—Spring 2017
San José State University
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
Minor in Latin American Studies
Academic Appointments
AY 2025—2027
Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellowship
in Latinx Studies
University of California, Santa Cruz
Department of Latin American and Latino Studies
Affiliation with the Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas
Writing book manuscript titled Morisqueta Mapping: Foodways in the Tierra Caliente Diaspora of Northern California and conducting archival research in collaboration with the Dolores Huerta Foundation to assist the development of Dolores Huerta’s archives into the Dolores Huerta Papers and the Dolores Huerta Foundation Papers.
Mentor: Dr. Gabriela F. Arredondo
*Eligible for the UC PPFP/CPF Faculty Hiring Incentive
Awards
Fall 2023—Fall 2024
August 2022—August 2023
AY 2022—2023
Spring 2022
Fall 2021
Fall 2021
AY 2020—2021
AY 2020—2021
Russell J. and Dorothy S. Bilinski Fellowship
Crossing Latinidades Mellon Humanities Fellowship
Social and Behavioral Sciences Graduate College Fellowship
Mexican American Studies Tuition Scholarship
University of Arizona Hispanic Alumni Graduate Scholarship
Social and Behavioral Sciences Graduate College Fellowship
Graduate Access Fellowship
Social and Behavioral Sciences Graduate College Fellowship
Publications
Winter 2024
Pasados: Recovering Histories, Imagining Latinidad
Vol 1, No. 2 pp. 161-180
"Intergenerational Displacement and Diaspora from Aguililla, Michoacán: Archives, Collective Memory, and Survivance"
Research Expertise
Topics: Mexican migration and diaspora, intergenerational displacement, placemaking, collective memory, survivance, kinship, Indigenous and Chicana feminisms, Traditional Food Knowledge, Mexican foodways
Methodologies: community-based research, Indigenous ethnography and autoethnography, oral tradition and history, archival research, genealogical research, digital humanities
Geographic Locations: Northern California, Tierra Caliente of Michoacán, Mexico
Fields of Study: Chicanx/Latinx Studies, P’urhépecha Studies, Critical Indigenous Studies, Native American/Indigenous Anthropology, Food Studies
Research Experience
August 2022—August 2023
Crossing Latinidades Humanities Research Initiative at The University of Illinois at Chicago
Junior Peer and Researcher: "The Latinx Past: Archive, Memory, and Speculation" Working Group
Worked with Principal Investigators Dr. Kirsten Silva Gruesz, Dr. Vanessa Pérez-Rosario, and Dr. Anita Huizar-Hernández in the study of multiple documents and multimedia objects part of the Latinx archive to further understand the Latinx past, and engage in knowledge production regarding Latinx identity, history, traditions, and cultural production through literary analysis, archival research, translation, academic and creative writing.
March 2022—August 2022
Binational Migration Institute at The University of Arizona
Research Assistant: "Salud Sin Fronteras"
Developed logistics of research study with research team led by Dr. Daniel E. Martínez, consulted on research design, designed promotional graphics/flyers for recruitment, participated in recruitment of potential participants, coordinated team schedules and meetings, trained in RedCap, and wrote annotated bibliography.
Teaching Experience
Spring 2022
The University of Arizona
MAS 150C1: Popular Culture, Media, and Latina/o Identities
Graduate Teaching Associate to Dr. Luis Coronado Guel
Fall 2021
The University of Arizona
MAS 150B1: Sex and AIDS in the 21st Century
Graduate Teaching Associate to Dr. Anne Segal
Spring 2021
The University of Arizona
MAS 160A1: American Indian Medicine and Wellness
Graduate Teaching Associate to Dr. Patrisia Gonzales
Fall 2020
The University of Arizona
MAS 150B1: Sex and AIDS in the 21st Century
Graduate Teaching Associate to Dr. Antonio Estrada
Academic Activities
May 2024—Current
P'urhépecha Studies Collective
Founding member of the P'urhépecha Studies Collective along with seven other academic scholars led by Dr. Mintzi Martinez-Rivera and Dr. Gabriela Spears-Rico.
June 26, 2022—July 10, 2022
Crossing Latinidades Summer Institute
Selected to participate in the Crossing Latinidades Summer Institute at The University of Illinois at Chicago for a two week long program from June 26 to July 10, 2022, including daily lectures, seminar discussions, workshops, and presentations to increase knowledge and practice of Latino Humanities, along with 31 other doctoral students selected from 16 universities included in the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Research universities, funded by The Mellon Foundation.
Invited Talks and Lectures
Presented research talk titled “Placemaking and Foodways in the Tierra Caliente Diaspora of Northern California” at the UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program Spring Retreat at the UCLA Lake Arrowhead Lodge on April 24, 2026.
Presented research talk titled “Placemaking and Foodways in the P’urhépecha Diaspora of Northern California” at the UC Postdoctoral Fellow Symposium hosted by the Department of Latin American and Latino Studies at UC Santa Cruz on April 8, 2026.
Presented research talk titled “From Displacement in the Tierra Caliente Region of Michoacán to Placemaking in the Tierracalenteño Diaspora of Northern California” at the Crossing Latinidades Alumni Symposium at University of Texas – Austin on March 25, 2026.
Guest lectured on topic of community-based research in graduate course “LALS 200: Bridging Latin American and Latina/o Studies” at UC Santa Cruz on March 11, 2026.
Conference Presentations
April 4, 2026
National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies
Conference
Organized panel titled “Claiming Space and Placemaking as Intergenerational Practices of Resistance and Belonging in Mexican and Chicanx Communities” and presented individual paper titled “Collective Memory of Our Communal Struggle Against Colonialism: Five Centuries of Intergenerational Resistance in Aguililla, Michoacán” at the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies Conference in San Antonio, Texas on April 4, 2026.
March 26, 2026
Latinx Studies Association Biennial Conference
Organized panel titled “Ancestors Guide Us: Latinx Scholars Practicing Decolonial and Indigenous Research Methodologies in Their Own Communities” and presented individual paper titled “Autoethnography, Archival and Community-Based Research among the Aguilillense Diaspora of Northern California” at the Latinx Studies Association Conference at University of Texas – Austin on March 26, 2026.
November 21, 2025
American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting
Co-organizer for panel titled “Indigenous Foodways and Traditional Food Knowledge in North America” at the 2025 American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting at the New Orleans Marriott in New Orleans, Louisiana on November 21, 2025.
June 26, 2025
Native American and Indigenous Studies Association
Presented paper titled “Indigenous Survivance in Aguililla, Michoacán, Mexico: From P’urhépecha Tributary Community to Mestizo Pueblo” at the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association Conference at The University of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on June 26, 2025.
May 24, 2025
Latin American Studies Association
Co-organized panel titled “P’urhépecha Studies Collective: New P’urhépecha Studies in the USA (Part One)” and roundtable session titled “New Directions in P’urhépecha Studies” with P’urhépecha Studies Collective at the Latin American Studies Association Conference in San Francisco, California on May 24, 2025.
April 4, 2025
National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies
Conference
Presented paper titled “Indigenous Foodways and Traditional Food Knowledge in the Aguilillense Diaspora of Northern California” at the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies Conference at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Albuquerque, New Mexico on April 4, 2025.
November 21, 2024
American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting
Presented paper titled “Indigenous Foodways in the Aguilillense Diaspora of Northern California” as part of a panel titled “Anthropology of Diaspora Foodways: New Directions in Praxis” invited by the Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition at the American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, FL on November 21, 2024.
June 26, 2024
Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social Summer Institute
Organized a panel titled “The P’urhépecha People of Michoacán, Mexico: Indigeneity in Diaspora and en la Madre Tierra” and presented paper titled “Conocimientos desde Aguililla, Michoacán: Assembling a Collective Memory in the P’urhépecha Diaspora” at the Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social Summer Institute at UNAM – Oaxaca in Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico on June 26, 2024.
April 26, 2024
National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies Conference
Presented paper titled “Chicana/o/x Indigeneity for the Future: Tools and Strategies to Move Past the Mexica Monolithic Myth” as part of a panel titled “For Indigeneity: Strategies and Support” at the National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies Annual Meeting at Hilton San Francisco Union Square on April 26, 2024.
April 19, 2024
Latinx Studies Association Conference
Invited to join roundtable discussion panel titled “Graduate Student Mentoring” as part of the La Plaza programming for the Latinx Studies Association Conference at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona on April 19, 2024.
Organized a panel titled “P’urhépecha Placemaking and Performance in Diaspora: Transnational Indigenous Resilience amidst Displacement, Gentrification, and Erasure” and presented paper titled “Placemaking in Little Michoacán: The Transnational Diasporic Community of Aguililla-Redwood City in North Fair Oaks” at the Latinx Studies Association Conference at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona on April 19, 2024.
November 16, 2023
American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting
Organized a panel titled “P’urhépecha Culture and Identity in Michoacán and the United States: Gender, Sexuality, Traditions, and Migration” and presented paper titled “The Transnational Community of Aguililla-Redwood City: Rooted in Michoacán and Silicon Valley” at the American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting at the Metro Convention Centre in Toronto, Canada on November 16, 2023. The panel was invited by the Association of Indigenous Anthropologists and selected as a "Featured Session" in the printed and virtual "Highlighted Events" booklet for the Annual Meeting.
November 9, 2023
6th Annual International Conference on Border Studies
Presented paper titled “Transborderism in Silicon Valley: ‘Little Michoacán’ and the Unincorporated Area of North Fair Oaks” at the 6th Annual International Conference on Border Studies at University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley on November 9, 2023.
July 13, 2023
Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social Summer Institute
Presented paper titled “Ancestral Sinaloense Maternal Knowledge: Indigenous Mothering, Intergenerational Displacement, and Healing in Diaspora” as part of a panel titled “Embodied, Decolonial, and Indigenous Knowledge as Resistance” at the Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social Summer Institute at UC Davis on July 13, 2023.
April 6, 2023
5th Biennial Latinx Literary Theory & Literature Conference
Presented paper titled “Genocide in Tierra Caliente, Michoacán: Archival Neglect and P'urhépecha Memory” as part of a panel organized with Crossing Latinidades working group at the 5th Biennial Latinx Literary Theory & Literature Conference at City University of New York (CUNY) on April 6, 2023.
Professional Memberships
Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS)
Latinx Studies Association (LSA)
National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies (NACCS)
American Anthropological Association (AAA)
Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA)
Latin American Studies Association (LASA)
Languages
English (first language)
Spanish (speak, read, and write with basic competence)
P'urhépecha (beginner)