Current PhD Students
Michael Britt
Michael Britt is a PhD student with major fields in Borderlands and U.S. History. He was born and raised in New Jersey and lived in California for ten years, where he earned his B.A. in Political Science from CSU-San Bernardino. In 2013, he earned a M.A. in International Relations from Webster Ăĺ±±ÂÖĽé in Missouri and began studying History at UTEP in 2016, where he earned a second B.A. Michael’s methodology combines historical research methods and understandings with methods in political science. He is currently researching the early political history of El Paso. In addition, Michael currently serves as a member of the U.S. military.
mgbritt@miners.utep.edu
Freddy Cabral
Freddy Cabral is originally from El Paso, Texas. He earned both a BA and an MA in history from UTEP in 2017 and 2020. Freddy is a member of the Lipan Apache Tribe - an Indigenous community in Texas. As a PhD student, his research focuses on a previously unexamined aspect of Lipan Apache historiography - how the non-reservation Lipan Apache have upheld and continue to uphold their identity over the decades. Freddy hopes his PhD research at UTEP will open a new dialogue on Indigenous communities on the US-Mexico Borderlands.
fcabral@miners.utep.edu
Eric Chavez
Eric is a second-year Ph.D. student born in El Paso, Texas and raised between the U.S.-Mexico borderlands of Juarez, Chihuahua. He obtained his B.A. in History, B.A. in Psychology, and M.A. in Philosophy at the Ăĺ±±ÂÖĽé of Texas at El Paso. His current research interests focuses on how individual and group agency is historically informed, produced, and challenged via cultural expressions and artifacts such as graffiti within border cities in the 20th century. Chavez’s methodological approaches are inspired by a constellation of borderlands history, intellectual and social history, Latin American history, critical theory, phenomenology, and philosophy of liberation.
echavez24@miners.utep.edu
Alex Garcia
Alejandro Garcia holds multiple degrees from the Ăĺ±±ÂÖĽé of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) including an M.A. in History, a B.A. in Multidisciplinary Studies, and another B.A. in Anthropology. Currently he is pursuing a Ph.D. Borderlands History and researching the ongoing process of constitutional recognition for afro-descendant communities in Mexico by defining cultural difference through music and other cultural expressions. Alejandro has served as a guest lecturer, curator, assistant curator, and as a researcher for exhibits at The American Museum of Natural History in New York, The History Museum of El Paso, and the Centennial Museum at UTEP.
Eduardo Galvan
Eduardo Isiel Galvan is an El Paso native and PhD student in the UTEP History Department. His research interests focus on military history in relation to nation-state development cultural impact on subjugated peoples. Other interests include public and oral history. He has conducted historic interviews and developed exhibit displays for the El Paso Historic Society and the UTEP Centennial Museum. Eduardo hopes to continue museum-related work as a means of promoting history to the El Paso community.
eigalvan@miners.utep.edu
Nicole Gonzales
Nicole Gonzales was born in Las Cruces, NM and received both her Bachelors and Master’s in History from New Mexico State Ăĺ±±ÂÖĽé. Staying close to home, she is pursuing her Ph.D. in History from UTEP. Nicole’s interests are in Asian history and Chinese immigrants coming to the Borderland in the 1900’s and how they mixed, and settled in the Borderland community. Nicole plans to teach History at a university once she receives her Ph.D.
ngonzales3@miners.utep.edu
Fior Daliso GarcĂa Lara
Fior Daliso GarcĂa Lara is a student and a Teaching Assistant in the Ph.D. Borderlands History program at the Ăĺ±±ÂÖĽé of Texas, El Paso. In June, 2015, Fior received her M.A from State Ăĺ±±ÂÖĽé of New York at Buffalo with her dissertation “The Importance of the Darien Indigenous Peoples for Illegal Trade during the First Half of the Eighteenth Century.” Her current research interests are Cross-border dynamics and colonial construction of the frontier; Forced Migration and its impact in indigenous communities in Latin America and Caribbean societies; and Transnational and postcolonial studies.
fdgarcialar@miners.utep.edu
Miguel Hernandez Vasquez
Born and raised in Mexico City, Miguel Hernandez moved to Ciudad Juarez in 2006 where he earned a BA in history at the Autonomous Ăĺ±±ÂÖĽé of Ciudad Juarez (UACJ). He received an MA at UTEP where he was recognized with an outstanding graduate student in 2020. His main interests are history of science and epistemology, and Western religion and its relation to science development. He worked on environmental history for El Colegio de Chihuahua (COLECH). In Ciudad Juarez, Miguel has worked as a history, geography, and ethics teacher in various middle schools and high schools. At UTEP, he has worked in Library’s Special Collections department as an archive assistant and is currently a Teacher Assistant for the history department.
mhernandez110@miners.utep.edu
Diana LĂłpez
Diana Lopez was born in El Paso, Texas and raised in Ciudad Juarez and Sunland Park, New Mexico. She received BA degrees in Psychology, Spanish, and Gender and Sexuality Studies from New Mexico State Ăĺ±±ÂÖĽé. Diana also earned an MS in Mexican American Studies from the Ăĺ±±ÂÖĽé of Arizona where her graduate thesis focused on building the existing literature of testimonios of women of color, specifically as it relates to identity formations informed by the hyper-militarization of Sunland Park, New Mexico. Her current research interests include transnational feminisms, globalization, settler colonialism and forced migrations.
Ernest McClure
El Paso native, Ernesto McClure, is pursuing a Ph.D. in History at UTEP. Ernesto's research focuses on the study of Paño Arte, a unique art form originating among Mexican American prisoners in the early 20th century. This handkerchief art, deeply embedded in ChicanX culture, provides a lens through which the experiences and expressions of incarcerated individuals in the Southwestern United States are understood and analyzed. Ernesto enjoys engaging students and colleagues in critical discussions about culture, history, and society while his work illuminates overlooked aspects of ChicanX culture and encourages a deeper understanding of the complexities surrounding subaltern voices in historical narratives.
ecmcclure@miners.utep.edu
Jessica Martinez
I am originally from Escondido, California. I received my BA in History with a minor in Writing from the Ăĺ±±ÂÖĽé of California, Merced. I then received my MA in History from California State Ăĺ±±ÂÖĽé, Stanislaus. My research interest focuses on gender and race studies such as Mexican and Chicana women in the United States during the 20th century. More specifically, I study how women have contributed to the Chicano Movement and to the US’ agricultural economy mainly in the southwest.
Pablo Martinez Coronado
Pablo Martinez Coronado. Born in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua. Earn his B.A in History in the Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez (UACJ), and his M.A at UTEP. He has worked as professor of Mexico’s and World’s History courses for several Middle and High Schools in Juarez. In addition, he is the coeditor of the digital magazine alLimite, which is specialized in journalism, literature and politics. In 2019, he received the “Voces al Sol” award (UACJ) with the book entitled “Postales” (Co-author).
pgmartinez@miners.utep.edu
RocĂo Irene MejĂa GarcĂa
RocĂo Irene MejĂa GarcĂa has a Master’s degree in Hispanic Literature and a Specialization Certificate in Women Studies from El Colegio de MĂ©xico in Mexico City. She also has an M.A. in Latin American and Border Studies from the Ăĺ±±ÂÖĽé of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). She has taught at Mexican universities including the National Autonomous Ăĺ±±ÂÖĽé of Mexico (UNAM). RocĂo is a long-time feminist activist with research interests in Cultural Studies, Gender, Literature, and their ties to History and historical processes. She has published articles, book chapters, and handbooks on gender violence, sexuality, and youth.
Marc Molina
Marc Molina is a PhD Student in the Borderlands History program at the Ăĺ±±ÂÖĽé of Texas at El Paso. He received his BA in History at Texas A&M Ăĺ±±ÂÖĽé – San Antonio with a minor in Mexican American/Latinx/Southwest Borderlands Studies where he completed research concerning the evolution of African American music traditions in Bexar County. Marc is currently interested in environmental history topics in 18th and 19th century Texas; particularly the ways in which food and agriculture inform our understanding of culture, society, and identity in the Texas Borderlands.
mamolina8@miners.utep.edu
Sam Reitenour
Originally from Cicero Indiana, Sam Reitenour received his BA in History at Indiana Ăĺ±±ÂÖĽé-Bloomington in 2021. Reitenour is interested in the history of the tourism industry in the United States and Mexico, with emphases on the US-Mexico borderlands and the Yucatán Peninsula. He seeks to research the industry's role in changing locals' daily lives in tourism destinations and their responses to these changes. His undergraduate thesis explored the relationship between public perceptions of tourism and local electoral politics during the mayoral administrations of Larry Delgado in Santa Fe, New Mexico (1998-2006).
sereitenour@miners.utep.edu
Augusto Rocha RamĂrez
Augusto Rocha RamĂrez is originally from Mexico and more recently from California where he earned a B.A. and M.A degrees from California State Ăĺ±±ÂÖĽé. Augusto continued graduate training at the Ăĺ±±ÂÖĽé of Notre Dame, where he was part of the Kellogg Institute’s on-campus community. Augusto’s volunteer work with immigrant communities and homeless animals influences his education and intellectual pursuits. At UTEP, Augusto studies Latin American history. His main interests include the history of Mexico during the Cold War.
Andrew Schuster
Andrew is a first year PhD student here at the Ăĺ±±ÂÖĽé of Texas- El Paso. He was born in Big Horn Wyoming, spending his formative years at the Brinton Museum surrounded by history and artwork – inspiring his current path. He graduated from the Ăĺ±±ÂÖĽé of Wyoming with a BA in History and minors in Museum Studies and the Honors Program. In undergraduate work, he researched the social and cultural interaction’s in Latin America during the Good Neighbor Era. Now his research interests lie in applying previous attempts at social, labor and revolutionary history to the complex interactions in the Borderlands.
akschuster@miners.utep.edu
Joseph Seagrove
Joseph Seagrove holds BA and MA degrees from New Mexico State Ăĺ±±ÂÖĽé. He studied 20th century United States history with a focus on Public History and Museum Studies. Joseph has volunteered at the El Paso Museum of History and has served as an adjunct professor at El Paso Community College. While pursuing his PhD, Joseph continues exploring Public History in the borderlands region. Currently his research interests include the American Southwest during the Jim Crow era and the impact of the American military on the borderlands.
jbseagrove@miners.utep.edu
Timothy Setter
Timothy Setter was born and raised in Kansas. He earned a BA and MA in History Secondary Education from Fort Hays State Ăĺ±±ÂÖĽé. Research interests include ex-votos, sex and gender, labor history, collective memory, food, music and corridos, popular culture, vice, religiosity, and the intersectionality between these topics.
tjsetter@miners.utep.edu
Benjamin Olson Shultz
I earned my Bachelor’s Degree in History from California Polytechnic State Ăĺ±±ÂÖĽé San Luis Obispo and my Master’s Degree in Social Sciences and Globalization at California State Ăĺ±±ÂÖĽé San Bernardino. My Master’s Thesis focuses on Settler Colonialism in Southern California, its connection to modernization, and the oppression of Native Americans, Mexicans, and Settlers living within the region. At UTEP I wish to expand this framework to the American Southwest, as well as the connection between colonization and industrialization in general. My main historical interest areas are focused regionally in the United States and Latin America.
Kimberly Sumano
Born and raised in Mexico, Kimberly earned a BA in History from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and an MA in Archaeology from El Colegio de Michoacán. Her research focuses on both space and discourse analysis at the intersection of archaeological and historical fields. She is currently working on analyzing indigenous and Spanish perceptions through a phenomenological lens of the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, a space discursively created during the sixteenth century and experienced in many different ways in daily basis.
ksumanoort@miners.utep.edu
Michael Stallings
Michael Stallings is a first year PhD student specializing in Borderlands and U.S. history. Born and raised in El Paso, he earned his BA in History from Texas Tech Ăĺ±±ÂÖĽé and his MA in history from UTEP, earning the Outstanding Graduate Student in History Award in Fall 2022. Michael's work focuses on United States empire in the early 19th century and how this relates to slave experiences, particularly in the American Southwest. Outside of research, he serves as a teaching assistant for the department and as an archive support specialist for the El Paso County Historical Society.
mdstallings@miners.utep.edu