Assistant Professor, Film and Digital Media
Native American History; Spanish Borderlands; Indigenous Studies; Colonialism and Nationalism; American History; California History; Representation(s) of Native American People and Cultures; Critical Race & Ethnic Studies; Latin American and Latino Studies; Indigenous Studies; American Studies.
Research Interests:
My work focuses on Indigenous histories, politics, and stories from 19th Century California. My research and writings emphasize Indigenous politics of survival and perseverance by centering stories on Indigenous peoples rather than colonial institutions, such as the missions.
Email:
Selected Publications:
- “We are Not Animals”: Indigenous Politics of Survival, Rebellion, and Reconstitution in 19th Century California. Lincoln, NE: The University of Nebraska Press (forthcoming, Fall 2021)
- "'If They Do Not Fulfill What They Have Promised, I Will Accuse Them’: Locating Indigenous Women and Their Influence in the California Missions.” Western Historical Quarterly, Vol. 53, No. 3 (Autumn 2020): 291—313.
- “Indigenous Homes & Social Stratification,” in Revisiting the Lost Adobe Excavations, 1981-1985: Archaeology, Ethnohistory, and Indigenous History at CA-SCR-217H-T, La Misión de la Exaltación de la Santa Cruz (Mission Santa Cruz), ed. Tsim Schneider. (forthcoming)
- “The Many Lives of Justiniano Roxas: The Centenarian Fantasy in American History and Memory.” Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAIS), Vol. 5, No. 1 (Spring 2018): 168—204. Co-written with Boyd Cothran.
- "No Somos Animales": Indigenous Survival & Persistence in 19th Century Santa Cruz, California -- Dissertation, 2016.
- Indigenous Justice or Padre Killers?: Lino, Fausta, & the Assassination of Padre Quintana -- in Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History Journal #9, 2016
- "He came from an Indian Kingdom": The Lorenzana Family, Race, & Rights in a Changing Society -- in Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History Journal #9, 2016
- "Dios no manda eso": Indigenous Community and Leadership in the Assassination of Padre Quintana in Santa Cruz, 1812 -- Chapter in Evangelization and Cultural Conflict in Colonial Mexico, ed. Robert Jackson (Cambridge Scholar Publishing, 2014)
- "The Americanos came like hungry wolves": Ethnogenesis and Land Loss in the Formation of Santa Cruz -- MA Thesis, 2010
Education and Training:
Ph.D., History, UC Santa Cruz, with Designated Emphases in American Studies & in Latin American and Latino Studies, 2016.
M.A., History, UC Santa Cruz, 2010.
B.A., American Studies, UC Santa Cruz, 2004.
B.A., Philosophy, UC Irvine, 1999.