I teach Latin American, economic, immigration, and public history. Classes integrate traditional scholarship with digital explorations; primary source analysis with community-engaged coursework; and traditional seminar and lecture style with collaborative projects. I strive to provide students with the skills and values to help them achieve success within and outside of the classroom.
I welcome the opportunity to work with graduate students interested to work on Modern Latin America, including economic history and labor, topics of migration and immigration, and women’s interests and experiences.
Fall 2024 Courses
HIST155/FMST281, Film as History: Modern Latin America
HIST153, Women, Citizenship, and Education: Brazil 1500–2020
(office hours, Tu/Th 11:15 – 12:15pm, Rush Rhees 449)
Digital Learning
I am committed to exploring digital scholarship in my courses and to allowing students to explore these tools in their own research. The following sites and projects were highlight that commitment.
Students in Fall 2024 Public History: Theory and Practice, partnered with the Clarissa Street Legacy committee to create a map that would highlight the Clarissa neighborhood’s past vibrancy and the community’s resiliency and legacy after facing the challenges of urban renewal. “Historically Clarissa” (forthcoming) was created for the Clarissa Street Legacy’s website. One particular highlight of the project was capturing the conversations and memories that elders had of the area.
Spirit of the Pythodd (archived view July 2022) – In a public history course co-taught with Prof. Michael Jarvis during Spring ’20, we persevered through the pandemic and adapted to develop a website dedicated to creating a fascinating glimpse Rochester’s beloved jazz club, the Pythodd Club.
In Fall ’21, students in Immigration in the Americas partnered with the Central Public Library to create an topic on Rochester’s immigration history based in local library resources. Their efforts will be added to Rochester Voices site and will be available in Fall ’22 for all Rochesterians, especially the K-12 audience.
Final media projects – In Spring ’21 in Film as History: Modern Latin America, students produced interconnected group projects to highlight how democracy, communism, dictatorship, and the Cold War were presented in films. The “Communism in Cuba through the Lens of Film” podcast below highlights thought-provoking and innovative collective research and demonstrates how students came together in a hybrid classroom environment.
In this podcast, Amna Arain (UR, Class of ‘24), Ariel Murillo (UR, Class of ’21), Quinn Cowan (UR, Class of ’21), Sebastian Cordero (UR, Class of ’22), and Zicora Hamilton (UR, Class of ’23) discuss communism in Cuba through the late 20th century into the early 21st century through the lens of film. We highlight the intentions behind the films and how they showcase the development of communism through Cuba’s history during this era. Aside from the political and public opinion regarding communism, themes such as self-sufficiency, propaganda, racial inequities, the role of international partners, and the relationship of Cuba and the US are discussed. Ultimately, this podcast shows how films can be used as a medium for historical analysis.
Rochester’s Immigrant Tour – Students used local archives to develop independent research highlighting Rochester’s rich immigrant history in Immigration in the Americas, Fall ’18 and Fall ‘ 16.
With anticipation and planning, I allow students to explore alternatives to traditional research papers. Here are some samples of their work.
- Molly Killian (’23, Digital Media Studies), Human Rights, Sociology and Immigration website, (Spring ’20, Immigration in the Americas)
- Madeline Blackburn (’18, History) and Cindy Molina (’18, History) created library exhibits drawn from their research on Immigration in the Americas (Fall ’16)
- Eilis Regan (’21, Russian), created “The Evolving Irishman” podcast Fall ’18 to highlight changes in Rochester’s Irish immigrant population.
Community-Engaged Coursework
As an affiliated faculty member of the University of Rochester’s Center for Community Engagement, many of my courses include requirements where students work with community organizations to help partners reach goals and to enrich the classroom learning experience. Partnerships have included the Central Public, Phillis Wheatley, Frederick Douglass libraries, Teen Empowerment, and the Corn Hill historian. I have also overseen internships for students working with community organizations. If you are a student or community organization interested in this type of partnership, please contact me.
Internships
and Research
I have supervised several public history internships for students within the Rochester area. This includes opportunities through RMSC and working with the Center for Teen Empowerment and their Youth History Ambassador’s “Clarissa Street Uprooted” project as well as with Rochester Voices at the Monroe County Public Library. If you are interested in these types of opportunities, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Through the HOUR program, I have supervised student researchers interested in working on economic history projects. Reading knowledge of Portuguese or Spanish are important. Assisting with my research often requires familiarity with statistical software and methods, or at the least high competency with Excel. Currently I am looking for students to work on a broader project related to Latin American economic history and a historic standards of living and quality of life development project.
Past Courses (last taught)
- HIST 155 / FMST 281, Film as History: Modern Latin America (Fall ’22)
- HIST 254w / ECO 228w, Big Business in Brazil (Spring ’21)
- HIST 150 / AAAS 150, Colonial Latin America (Fall ’21)
- HIST 352w/453, Racial Democracies, Mexico vs. Brazil (Fall ’22)
- HIST 240/440, Public History: Theory and Practice (Fall ’23)
- HIST 252/252w/353, Immigration in the Americas (Spring ’23)
- HIST 351w/451, The City in Latin American History (Fall ’23)
- HIST 151 / CLTR 151, Modern Latin America (Spring ’23)
- HIST 153, Women, Citizenship, and Education: Brazil, 1500-2020 (Spring ’22)