1. Where are you from?

I grew up in the Atlanta area. As an adult, I’ve moved around quite a bit. At various points I’ve called Edinburg (TX), Memphis, Chicago, Tempe (AZ), Nashville, Mexico City, Oxford (OH), Columbus (OH), and now Anniston home.

2. What are some of your hobbies?

When I’m not reading, writing, or teaching history, I enjoy spending time with my family, playing soccer, running, cooking, and traveling.

3. Why/how did you decide to pursue History (or more specifically, Latin American Studies)?

During spring semester of my freshman year in college, I took a class on Modern Latin American history with a dynamic professor. I also spent a week in the Dominican Republic working at an orphanage. Those two experiences caused me to change my intended major from Biology to Latin American Studies, and it set me down a path to where I am now. The path, however, was not direct. As I tell students, there’s more than one way to get where you want to go. Sometimes the experiences that do not take us toward the end goal, whatever that might be, teach us what we’re most passionate about. At other times, those life and professional experiences show us where we ought to go.

4. Did you always plan on teaching?

Not initially. I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do when I first entered college. The college I attended did not offer a teaching degree, and the limited teaching experience I got came from volunteering in a literacy program at a local elementary school and working with elementary-aged ELL (English Language Learner) students. Ironically, teaching is about all I’ve done since graduating from college. I taught middle school and high school in South Texas and in South Chicago, and I directed a leadership and academic achievement program for first-generation Latinx students in Memphis City Schools. I continued to teach during graduate school and have done so full-time since earning my PhD.

5. What brought you to JSU?

My parents and my brother live in Atlanta, and my in-laws live in Birmingham, so coming to JSU put us very close to family.

6. What classes are you teaching this semester?

I’m teaching two sections of the post-1865 US history survey, and Revolution and Radical Politics in Latin America. Next semester, in addition to the US survey, I’ll be teaching a course on US-Latin American Relations. (Spring 2020 registration is coming! Please encourage your advisees to sign up; they do not need to have any background in Latin America to take the course.)

7. So far, what has been your favorite thing about working at JSU?

Colleagues, students, and the atmosphere. I have great colleagues, I have found the atmosphere to be welcoming and supportive, and I have enjoyed getting to know students in my classes.

8. What accomplishment(s) are you most proud of?

In terms of professional accomplishments, I am proud of earning a PhD. For historians (and others), it’s a long, difficult, and at times very lonely road. I am also proud of my current job. It took several years, considerable persistence, over a hundred applications, and some luck to land a tenure-track position.

In terms of personal accomplishments, I am a proud father to a healthy, kind, and gregarious 4-year old (as a parent who continually tries to parse nature vs. nurture, it’s hard to know how much credit to take for these qualities). I’m not sure it’s a personal accomplishment, but I am fortunate to have a wonderful partner in life, Lauren, who has sacrificed and supported me—and our family—to help make my current position possible. Very few (if any) “personal” accomplishments are achieved entirely on our own without communities and support systems.

9. Are you currently working on any research projects?

I am finishing revisions to an article manuscript that examines how a wildly popular, farcical play was re-imagined through mid-19th century satirical newspapers to hash out serious debates about the Mexican nation. The article argues that satirical expression, which drew upon popular stage characters and tropes, helped make free speech and public debates more resilient in the face of volatile press freedoms and censorship. The article has been fun to write (in a totally nerdy way), but it’s also been challenging. I describe it to colleagues as akin to a scholar in 2170 reading issues from The Onion in 2019 trying to make sense of the many references encoded in it, 150 years removed from the period.

10. What do you think is the most interesting thing about modern Mexico?

It’s hard to pin down just one thing that makes modern Mexico interesting. In general, I think the richness and complexity of modern Mexico is largely misunderstood in the United States. I try to show people, in my classes and through daily conversation, that there’s far more to modern Mexico than what’s reported in the US media and the ways the country and its residents are portrayed in popular culture. I hope at some future point to design and teach a faculty-led study abroad to Mexico, which would give students the opportunity to see and experience the country’s richness for themselves.

11. Do you have any advice for JSU History/Spanish majors?

I have three pieces of advice, which apply to History & Spanish majors and to disciplines across the arts and humanities. First, take courses on subjects about which you know little. You might very well discover you have a passion for time periods, places, and subjects you never imagined. Second, get to know your professors. Stop by their office hours outside of class. This is one of the best ways to tap into university resources and professional networks. It will also help should you need a letter of recommendation for a scholarship application, job, or other opportunity. Third, find a way to study abroad, whether it’s a short course or an entire semester. There is no better way to learn more about yourself, the country in which you reside, and the world. Living abroad changes you in fundamental (and positive) ways. It teaches you perspective, and it equips you to be a more globally engaged citizen.