PhD American Studies and Ethnicity, 2012, University of Southern California
MA American Studies and Ethnicity, 2007, University of Southern California
BA Ethnic Studies, 2003, Brown University

jesús received his PhD and MA degrees in American Studies and Ethnicity from the University of Southern California, where his research focused on representations of illegitimate familial figures and relations in Cuban diasporic cultural production (including bastards, wayward daughters, paper families, queer uncles/aunts, and orphans). His academic interests began as an undergraduate at Brown concentrating in Ethnic Studies (‘03).

jesús taught Latinx Studies with a focus on literature, cultural studies, political theory, and the humanities at USC, Williams College, and Mount Holyoke College. In addition to introductory courses and some service-learning courses he also developed advanced seminars including, “Diaspora and Displacement,” “Latina/o Collectivities: Family, Community, Nation,” and “Modern Families: Race/ Ethnicity, Kinship, and U.S. Popular Culture.” Prior to returning to Brown, jesús was the inaugural Mellon University Press Diversity fellow at the MIT Press, where he worked in acquisitions on the Communication and Information Science lists. He has also worked as a freelance editor for academic writers.

At the Swearer Center, jesús collaborates with students, staff, and faculty who are interested in connecting community work and action to academic knowledge production towards collective liberation and eudaimonia. He directs curricular, co-curricular, and research initiatives at the Center, and contributes to our field-facing efforts.