
academic experience
The resume of an ex-anthropologist
Experience working in academia
I have personal experience of doing my own PhD and Postdoc. But I also know what it is like to work as an adjunct, in student advising, and in university administration.
Postdoctoral Researcher, Anthropology
University of Michigan
2017 - 2021
As the Project Manager for the two major transnational collaborations, MEXPOS and NESTSMX, my contribution was both intellectual and managerial.
I led the design process of an interdisciplinary fieldwork methodology that would bring together engineering data on water quality, biological data on cortisol levels, and ethnographic data on water use and trust.
Later I designed and supervised the process of analyzing the ethnographic data, developing a system to compare and synthesize fieldnotes written by a 2-6 person field-team.
On a day-to-day basis I coordinated the collaboration between the team members in Mexico and the US, wrote grant applications, publications, & reports, and ran the Roberts Ethnographic Coding Lab.
Adjunct Lecturer
Multiple locations
2006 - 2021
Teaching introductory and specialist courses, as a TA, as a Lecturer, and as an Adjunct at multiple different colleges.
At Purdue University (2021), University of Michigan (2017-2020), University of Chicago (2006-2014), DePaul University (2010), & Northwestern University (2013)
Assistant Director, Office of Undergraduate Research
Northwestern University
2015 - 2017
In my capacity as an advisor, I taught 200+ students each year, from every major, how to design independent research projects and write research proposals.
I also ran several grant programs, developed several new workshop series for student and faculty researchers, and collaborated on running an annual undergrad research conference.
Chicago Collaborative for Undergraduate Success, Researcher and Project Manager
University of Illinois, Chicago (UIC)
2015
The Chicago Collaborative for Undergraduate Success, was a research and advocacy project run from by the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Affairs at the UIC.
The Collaborative's goal was to understand and ameliorate barriers to graduation faced by low-income, minority, and first-generation students students from Chicago Public Schools.
As a researcher on this project, I worked with a social scientists, education policy makers, and education NGOs, and became cognizant of the wider literature and policy work on higher education beyond the rather limited number of anthropological studies of higher education.
I also gained some fascinating insights into university administration at the very top levels of a state university.
Production Manager, Humanities and Social Sciences
Cambridge University Press
2003 - 2005
Managed the production process for a portfolio humanities and social sciences monographs. I was the person responsible for making sure the indexer, the proof reader, the copy editor, the cover designer, the illustrator, and the author all met their deadlines and stayed within budget. And that the correct version of the final manuscript was delivered to the printing press,
Education
(In Progress) MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, DePaul University
PhD in Anthropology, University of Chicago
BA in Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge
Professional Membership
Illinois Counseling Association
American Counseling Association
Languages
English
(native speaker)
Spanish
(conversational)
German
(optimistic beginner)