About
I received my B.A. in Anthropology, Spanish, and Latin American and Caribbean Studies from the University of Michigan. I completed my PhD in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Michigan in 2019. After concluding a post-doctoral position in the Center of Humanities and Information at Penn State, I am now an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at Western Carolina University.
My research, teaching, and service are animated by a desire to equitably engage a diversity of voices, knowledge systems, and aesthetic practices.
with Angelina Grefa during a recording session at AMUPAKIN | Photo by Alí Huitzílatl
Teaching Philosophy
Grounded in my immersive and applied methodologies, I bring experiential and community-based learning into the classroom. Using canonical anthropological frameworks in conversation with intersectional and interdisciplinary perspectives, my pedagogy directs students to recognize and interrogate the practices and paradigms that structure their worlds. As a teacher-scholar, I aim to guide students in navigating social science and humanities texts by pairing close readings with hands-on assignments in order to develop transferable analytical and research skills.
With James Yumbo of Mushuk Ñampi during a live broadcast
Wawa Sumaco, Napo, Ecuador
Community Commitments
The collaborative work I continue to do with communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon drives my teaching and research, attuning me to how alternative forms of knowledge transmission affect perceptions of authority and legitimacy in institutional spaces. I have worked extensively with language activists and cultural revival organizations in the Ecuadorian Amazon, developing trilingual, multimodal language documentation and revitalization materials in consultation with community members.
Personal Connections
I am deeply committed to creating a more just and sustainable world. Recognizing that oppression and inequality are always tied to global systems of production and consumption, in my daily life, I seek to reduce my impact and live in greater harmony with my environments. My personal interests include the “zero waste” movement, sustainable agriculture and traditional food systems, and the intersections of climate and social justice. On my days off, you can find me in the forest.
I respectfully acknowledge that the lands today known as the United States of America are the ancestral and unceded territories of a diverse group of sovereign Native peoples, whose unique cultures, histories and worldviews continue to enrich our contemporary society.
Apsaalooké, Cheyenne, Očeti Šakówiŋ, Shoshone lands (Absaroka -Beartooth Wilderness, Shoshone National Forest)