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Cecilia M. Rivas
  • Title
    • Associate Professor
  • Division Social Sciences Division
  • Department
    • Latin American & Latino Studies
    • Merrill College
  • Affiliations Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas, Anthropology Department, Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems, Feminist Studies Department
  • Phone
    000-000-0000
  • Email
  • Office Location
    • Merrill College Academic Building, Merrill College
  • Office Hours Thurs., 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Zoom, by appointment.)
  • Mail Stop Merrill/Crown Faculty Services
  • Mailing Address
    • 1156 High Street
    • Santa Cruz CA 95064
  • Faculty Areas of Expertise Latin American and Latino Studies
  • Courses LALS 194H CENTRAL AMERICA AND THE UNITED STATES (SENIOR SEMINAR); LALS 194R VIOLENCIA EN AMERICA (SENIOR SEMINAR); LALS 80J RACE, NATION, WAR; LALS 80X CENTRAL AMERICAN PEOPLES AND CULTURES; LALS 122 MEDIA AND NATIONALISM; LALS 135 EL SALVADOR: EXPRESIONES CULTURALES; LALS 152 CONSUMER CULTURES; LALS 202 LATIN/O AMERICAN SPACES AND MODERNITY (GRADUATE)

Research Interests

Media and communication; transnationalism and migration; globalization; race and ethnicity; consumer cultures; modernity; El Salvador; Central America; Southern Mexico.

Biography, Education and Training

Ph.D. Ethnic Studies, University of California, San Diego (USA)
M.A. Area Studies (Latin America), ILAS, University of London (UK)

Selected Publications

  • "Beyond Borders and Remittances: Discussing Salvadoran Emigrant Voting Rights," Urban Anthropology and Studies of Cultural Systems and World Economic Development (UAS). Special issue: Salvadoran Migration to the United States. Vol. 39, No. 1-2 (2010): 149-174.
  • Salvadoran Imaginaries: Mediated Identities and Cultures of Consumption. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2014.
  • "'El Salvador Works': The Creation and Negotiation of a National Brand and the Transnational Imaginary," in Borders in Service: Enactments of Nationhood in Transnational Call Centers. Kiran Mirchandani and Winifred R. Poster, Editors. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2016.

Teaching Interests

Professor Rivas teaches in the areas of national identity, nationalism, media, consumer cultures, and modernity. Some of her courses focus specifically on contemporary Central American societies.