Carmella is a PhD Candidate in Border Studies in the Spanish and Portuguese Department. Her research focuses on Nuevomexicana feminine-voiced oral narratives of the 19th century and early 20th century, archival studies, community fieldwork, folkloristics and expressive culture of the U.S. Southwest Borderlands in the form of literature, music, art, and language. She is interested in literary, vernacular, social, and environmental justice initiatives for underrepresented and marginalized communities. She co-directed the pilot program Biocultural Diversity and Social Justice in Ecuador (2013) and taught in the Conexiones summer immersion program in Granada, Nicaragua (2012) with the University of New Mexico. She has been a Supervisor/Program Assistant in the Spanish as a Heritage Language Programs at both the University of New Mexico and the University of Arizona and enjoys teaching Heritage Language Learners.
Fellowships:
University Fellow University of Arizona (2018-Present)
Latino Museum Studies Program Smithsonian (2019)
Mellon-Fronteridades Fellow UA Confluence Center (2021)
Publications:
"Voces Nuevo Mexicanas: Power, Gender & Recovery in “El corrido de la votación”—A Centennial Celebration." New Mexico Historical Review (95, 4, Fall 2020). University of New Mexico, Alburquerque: 373-408.
"Ballots and Ballads: New Mexican Corridistas Keep “La Votación” Alive." BorderLore Magazine. August 21, 2020. Southwest Folklife Alliance, Tucson, AZ.
"A Centennial Glimpse into New Mexico’s Suffrage Movement through “El corrido de la votación.” Folklife Magazine. September 20, 2019. Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage. Washington, D.C.
"Witch Tales of El Guache: An Ethnopoetic Analysis." Journal of the Southwest (58,4, Winter 2016). The Southwest Center, University of Arizona, Tucson: 781-812.
"La mujer de mi vida." Nuestras Raíces (27, 3, Fall 2015). Essay Contest Winner for the Genealogical Society of Hispanic America, Pueblo, Colorado (2015).