Credentialed Course Instructor This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Research and Teaching Interests: Japanese language, culture, and literature; Afro-Japan relations; Hip-hop and jazz in Japan; Anime and manga; Critical race and identity studies; Okinawan and Ainu culture

Office Hours: By appointment

Education:

• AA, Montgomery College at Rockville, Montgomery Scholar’s Program, General Studies
• BA, University of Maryland - College Park, Japanese Language and Literature
• MA, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Japanese Language and Literature
• PhD, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Japanese Language and Literature

As a D.C.-raised global citizen with roots in Cuba and Spain and my heart in Japan, race, identity, and hybridity have been a constant point of interest. My love of Japanese language and culture was sparked at thirteen-years-old and was developed through many years of self-study and two years of study abroad at Keio University in Tokyo and the Inter-University Center (IUC) in Yokohama. Ever since, I have been dedicated to spreading my fascination with Japan, while negotiating my delicate position as someone very much in-between cultures. Both my dissertation and passion projects put Japanese identity and racial homogeneity into question while encouraging a more nuanced examination of how “Japaneseness” is constructed through popular literature and media.