Synopsis:
Dr. Audrey Lucero is an Associate Professor in the Department of Education Studies at the University of Oregon and director of the Latinx Studies program. With roots stemming from New Mexico, she was born and raised in Colorado. In the past decade, these roots have been sowed into the state of Oregon and, most notably, the University of Oregon since 2011 and her work with Latinx Studies. She is motivated by her own experiences and her family’s surrounding language and identity. As a child, her parents decided not to teach her or her brother Spanish due to the difficulties they had experienced in school. In her work and story, Dr. Lucero has woven community and language as mutually grounding one’s sense of belonging. Her story reveals how the learning and transformation of identities are made possible across territories and through discussions of Latinidad.
Producer’s Bio:
Polet Campos-Melchor is a PhD student in Anthropology and a Graduate Certificate student in Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of Oregon. Polet’s doctoral research examines community care practices between Mexican migrants in their household kitchens in Oregon. Her research explores how migrants articulate strategies of belonging, expanding beyond only the imaginary into everyday practices of community care. In participating in Latino Roots and alongside her peers and Dr. Lynn Stephen, Dr. Gabriela Martínez, and Shuo Xu, Polet has learned storytelling through a digital lens.
