About

RESEARCH. TEACHING. SERVICE

Dr. Xóchitl Chávez Bio

Dr. Xóchitl C. Chávez is the first tenure track Chicanx assistant professor in the Department of Music at the University of California, Riverside. She earned her Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from the University of California Santa Cruz in 2012 with a designated emphasis on Latin American and Latino Studies. Dr. Chávez is also trained in Museum Studies, Ethnomusicology and Folklore, and Social Documentation. As a scholar of expressive culture and performance, her research specializes in transnational migration of Indigenous communities from Mexico and their transborder efforts toward maintaining cultural traditions and placemaking.

Dr. Chávez forthcoming book, La Guelaguetza: Oaxacan Migrant Festivals and the Making of Transborder Indigeneity, is the first transborder, multi-sited ethnography and behind-the-scenes study taking readers on stage, inside rehearsals, organizing meetings, kitchens, dressing rooms, and virtual spaces to understand the historical development and making of the ultimate festival of the Oaxacan people. More than eight years of fieldwork, performance participation, and sincere collaborative intention in Guelaguetza festivals produced in Oaxaca and California reveal nuances about how the Oaxaqueño migrant community established strategies to adapt to their needs, contexts, and circumstances. The book will be available by early 2024 with the University of Oxford Press.

Dr. Chávez educational journey led her to attend the University of Colorado, Boulder (BA), University of Texas, Austin (MA), and then the University of California, Santa Cruz where is earned a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology with a designated emphasis in Latin American and Latino Studies. In addition, she received the University of California President’s Post-Doctoral Fellowship (2014-2016) and a Smithsonian Institution Post-Doctoral Fellow (2013-2014). Most recently, she has served as a curatorial advisor and guest curator in the Inaugural Molina Gallery.