Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (GSPA)
Needles Hall, second floor, room 2201
Faculty of Environment
Department of Knowledge Integration
Faculty of Arts
Department of Social Development Studies - Renison College
Country of origin: United States
Academic degrees and Institutions:
- PhD, Environmental Studies - York University (2023)
- MSSc, International Relations - Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences, Ecuador (2009)
- BA, Conflict Studies and Spanish - DePauw University (2006)
Describe your work, and its interdisciplinary nature, as it relates to the Program. What impact will this have and why is it of societal importance?
Social movements make history. They bring about the advances in rights and values by which we measure progress, and in this era of rapid change they will do so even more. As we have seen with the Black Lives Matter movement, migrant justice movements, and those responding to the housing crisis, member-led community organizations are the driving force of social movements. Yet the very characteristics that create such dynamism – their inclusive and non-hierarchical membership, the flexibility of not having legal status – mean that universities seldom engage community organizations as viable sites of service learning. This is a missed opportunity because, if they are to become innovative leaders, the next generation of graduates must be able to bridge these gaps with community organizations making social change.
My postdoctoral research explores how to remedy this. "Bridging the Gap: The Makings of Constructive Service Learning with Community Organizations" is an inquiry into effective collaboration. Students and professors at universities like Waterloo have much to learn from these practices, and to responsibly do so they must engage in ways that are accountable to community organizations, rather than treating them as mere research subjects. My research will provide tools for doing so.
What are some activities you hope to accomplish during your postdoctoral appointment at University of Waterloo?
- To create toolkits for both community organizations and university faculty and staff looking to involve their students in social justice work.
- To facilitate students’ engagement with community organizations in Waterloo and the Greater Toronto Area via the Emergent Encounters Action Project.
- To mobilize best practices for engaging with community organizations via the Teaching Innovation Incubator.
Have you been the recipient of any other major or donor-funded awards?
- Fulbright grant for study in Ecuador, 2006-2007. This grant allowed me to complete my master's degree and learn about how undocumented Colombian refugees were organizing for their human rights despite being denied asylum.
- SSHRC Doctoral Scholarship, 2018-2021. This scholarship supported my research into how undergraduate students who have studied with the indigenous Zapatista movement in Chiapas, Mexico are mobilizing those lessons in their activism back home.
Do you have any relevant academic projects you would like to share?
My book Entre Sospecha y Ciudadania [Between Suspicion and Citizenship] explores how well-intentioned government workers can deny refugees their human rights, and how - nonetheless - these refugees organize to assert these rights.
Making Social Movement, which I am currently preparing for publication, is an exploration of what exactly it means to "organize," comparing the efforts of the Zapatistas, student-activists who have learned from them, and a US-based solidarity group.
I am currently translating into English Jerome Baschet's book on Zapatista political philosophy, entitled Rebellion, Resistance and Autonomy.
Why did you choose the University of Waterloo?
I'm compelled by Waterloo's mission to "connect imagination with impact," as it is the same mission that guides my scholarly work: to reflect on people's attempts to change the world, find lessons, and use them to strengthen ongoing efforts to make social change. UW supports this mission through an array of institutions across campus, and I'm excited to see what sorts of impacts we can create together.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
A few of the things I love are playing with my daughter, organizing for migrant justice, canoeing, guerrilla gardening, and beach volleyball.