ROCIO MAGAÑA
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
137 Irving Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Office 617-441-6184
Cell 773-398-0196
Fax 617-576-5050
rmagana@amacad.org
www.rociomagana.com


EDUCATION
University of Chicago, Ph.D. in Anthropology, 2008.
Dissertation Title: “Bodies on the Line: Life, Death, and Authority on the Arizona-Mexico Border.”
Dissertation Co-Chairs: John L. Comaroff (University of Chicago) and Claudio Lomnitz (Columbia University).

University of Chicago. M.A. in Sociocultural Anthropology, 2003.
Thesis Title: “National (In)Security, Contracting Borders & Threatening Others: The historical construction of the U.S.-Mexico border as a national threat.”

California State University, Fresno. B.A. Summa Cum Laude, 2001.
Anthropology and Sociology majors and minors in Philosophy and French.

Université de Paris X, Nanterre, Diplôme d’Etudes de la Langue Française 1999.
Year-long French certificate program and ethnology coursework.

INSTITUTIONAL AFFILIATION
Visiting Scholar. American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Cambridge, MA, 2008-2009.
Assistant Professo. Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, (Appointment to start Fall 2009).

PRIMARY RESEARCH & TEACHING INTERESTS
Thematic interests: Political anthropology; anthropology of the body and violence; borders, migration and territoriality; the politics of security, policing and humanitarianism; space, place and sociopolitical landscapes; human and civil rights; globalization and transnationalism.

Geographic focus: North America, United States-Mexico Border, Sonoran Desert.

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
-Dissertation field research for Bodies on the Line: Life, Death, and Authority on the Arizona-Mexico Border. Arizona-Sonora border region, 2005-2007.
-Dissertation field research on governmental perceptions of the U.S.-Mexico border. Mexico City, Winter 2005.
-Preliminary field research on migrant protection efforts. Arizona-Sonora border region, Summer 2004.
-Preliminary field research on NGO border interventions. Arizona-Sonora border region, Summer 2003.
-Binational survey research trip of the U.S.-Mexico border. Brownsville-Matamoros to San Diego-Tijuana, Summer 2002.
-Undergraduate ethnographic research project on state parental expectations and cultural conflict through the case of Mixtec immigrant families with children in public schools. Madera, CA, Fall 2000.
-CSU Fresno Archaeological Field School in the Yosemite Sierra directed by John Pryor, Student participant, Spring 2000.

Research Fellowships
-University of Minnesota Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2009-2010 (declined).
-American Academy of Arts & Sciences, Visiting Fellowship, 2008-2009.
-American Anthropological Association, Minority Dissertation Fellowship, 2007-2008.
-Dartmouth College, Cesar E. Chavez Dissertation Fellowship, 2007-2008.
-UC San Diego, Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, Visiting Fellowship, 2007-2008 (declined).
-Wenner-Gren Foundation Dissertation Fieldwork Grant, 2005-2006.
-University of Chicago Leiffer Dissertation Research Fellowship, 2005.
-University of Chicago Trustees Fellowship, 2001-2007.
Rotary International Ambassadorial Fellowship – India, 2001-2002 (declined).

Grants, Honors, Awards
-Sol Tax Dissertation Prize, University of Chicago, 2009.
-NCID Exemplary Diversity Scholar, University of Michigan, 2008.
-Ignacio Martín-Baró Human Rights Essay Prize, University of Chicago, 2008.
-Society for the Anthropology of North America Student Coordinated Panel Award, 2008.
-Society for the Anthropology of North America St. Clair Drake Travel Award, 2007.
-Doolittle-Harrison Fellowship, 2004.
-Edward Larocque Tinker Foundation Field Research Travel Grant, 2002, 2003, 2004.
-College of Social Sciences Dean’s Medal. California State University, Fresno, 2001.
-Jessie L. Rushing Memorial Award, Outstanding Sociology Student, 2001.
-Radio Bilingüe Noticiero Latino, Radio News Production Fellowship, 1998.
-President’s Honors List, California State University, Fresno, 1996-2001.
-Dean’s Honors List, California State University, Fresno, 1995-2001.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE
-“Ethnographic field methods.” Lecturer. University of Arizona and Colegio de Sonora. Border Public Health Certificate Program (Diplomado de Salud Pública Fronteriza). Prepared seminar lectures on qualitative methods for binational public health professionals planning studies involving migrating subjects and populations, and assisted during field visits. May 2006.

-“Contemporary Global Issues.” Course Discussant. Prof. James Hevia. University of Chicago. International Studies. Prepared and facilitated weekly discussion sessions for a group of 24 undergraduate students. Provided advice and monitored progress on individual research projects. Fall 2004.

-“Latin American Civilizations III: The 20th Century.” Course Discussant. Prof. Emilio Kourí.. University of Chicago. Worked with a group of 22 students guiding weekly discussions on various historical topics and issues, and helped in the development of term projects. Cross-listed in Anthropology, Latin American Studies, and Sociology Spring 2004.

-“Mexican Migration to the United States.” Teaching Assistant. Prof. Jorge Durand, Tinker Visiting Professor. University of Chicago. Worked with 20 undergraduate students, and assisted with course logistics. Cross-listed in Anthropology, Human Rights, and Latin American Studies. Fall 2003.

DISSERTATION
My dissertation, Bodies on the Line: Life, Death, and Authority on the Arizona-Mexico Border, offers an ethnographic analysis of contemporary struggles over border control, humanitarian intervention, and unauthorized migration.  It draws on over 30 months of multi-sited field research between 2002 and 2007 focused on the politics and practices surrounding the rescue, death and the recovery of bodies of border-crossers in the Sonoran Desert region. Over the course of five chapters, I trace the productive tension between efforts aimed at protecting the U.S.-Mexico border from unauthorized migration, and unauthorized migrants from the effects of extreme desert exposure. By doing this, my dissertation offers an analysis of the political potency of the exposure, representation, and mobilization of these migrants’ bodies and their stories particularly in relation to the articulation and contestation of power over people and space. One of my chapters received the 2008 Martín-Baró Human Rights Essay Prize.

PUBLICATIONS & MANUSCRIPTS IN PREPARATION
-“Desolation Bound: Enforcing America’s Borders on Migrating Bodies.” 2008 Ignacio Martín-Baró Human Rights Essay Prize, University of Chicago Human Rights Program. http://humanrights.uchicago.edu/awards.shtml.
-“Desert Evacuations: Navigating the Politics of Rescue, Border Space, Unauthorized Migration and Humanitarianism in the Arizona-Mexico Region.”
-“Considering sacrifice: Narratives and analysis on the deaths of unauthorized migrants crossing America’s deserts.”

ACADEMIC PRESENTATIONS & PAPERS
-Rio Bravo Mediterraneo, Tangiers, Morocco, June 18, 2009.
-Borders & Boundaries. Center for the Critical Analysis of Social Difference, Columbia University, May 1, 2009.
-“Desert Evacuations: Medicalized bodies, emergency interventions, and the politics of border rescues along the Arizona-Mexico border.” University of Chicago Medicine, Body, and Practice Workshop. Chicago, IL. May 24, 2007.
-“Fatalities, injuries, and medicalization: The politics of saving lives in the every-day negotiation of the Arizona-Mexico border.” Annual Meeting of the Association for Borderland Studies. Phoenix, AZ. April 22, 2006.
-“Reaping the Benefit without Counting the Cost: Undocumented Immigrant Laborers and U.S. Border Policies in the American Southwest.” With John F. Chamblee (Univ. of Arizona) and Bruce E. Anderson (Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office). Annual Meeting of the Society for Economic Anthropology. Ventura, CA. April 21, 2006.
-“Bodies, Borders, Protocols: Unauthorized migration, the management of life, and human rights discourse at the Arizona-Sonora Border.” University of Chicago Human Rights Workshop. Chicago, IL. November 30, 2004.
-“Crossing Identities: Representations of Migrant Suffering in the Arizona-Sonora Desert.” 10th Annual Eyes on the Mosaic Conference, Social Construction and Transformation of Racial Identity. April 10, 2004.
-“Death, Life, Sacrifice: Media Coverage of Border Crossing Biopolitics in the Arizona Sonora Desert.” University of Chicago Workshop on the Sociology and Cultures of Globalization. Chicago, IL. February 24, 2004.
-"At the Edge of Authority: Spatial Politics of the Arizona-Sonora Border Landscape." The University of Chicago Workshop for the Anthropology of Latin American and the Caribbean. Chicago, IL. February 12, 2004.
-"Stepping away from security: Life-and-death politics at the U.S.-Mexico border." University of Chicago Center for Latin American Studies Brown Bag Colloquium. Chicago, IL. November 24, 2003.
-"National (In)Security, Contracting Borders & Threatening Others: Discourses of National Instability and their Effects on the U.S-Mexico border." The University of Chicago Workshop for the Anthropology of Latin American and the Caribbean. Chicago, IL. May 21, 2003.
-“Migrant Border Narratives: Making Sense of the Present through History.” Puerto Rican Cultural Center – Family Learning Center. Chicago, IL, September 19, 2002.
-“Autonomía y autodeterminación: Algunas lecciones de Chiapas para la comunidad Latina en California.” XXV Conference of the National Association for Chicano/Chicana Scholars. Mexico City, July 1998.

INVITED LECTURES
-“Desolation Bound.” Invited paper for a combined session of the University of Chicago Human Rights Workshop, Global Environment Workshop, and Science, Society, Technology and the State Workshop. Chicago, IL. February 7, 2008.
-"Bodies on the Line: The death of unauthorized migrants on the Arizona-Mexico deserts and the constitution of authority." Solicited paper for “Sacrifice, Sovereignty, and the General Economy.” An Invited Session by the Society for the Anthropology of Religion American Anthropological Association 106th Annual Meeting. Washington, DC. December 1, 2007.
-“Día de los Muertos: Commemorating the lives lost on the U.S.-Mexico Border.” Day of the Death Keynote Lecture. Dartmouth College. Hanover, NH. November 4, 2007.
-“Health Care, Human Rights, and Shared Responsibilities: International Responses to Deaths at the U.S./Mexico Border.” Prepared for the 33rd Annual Arizona Rural Health Conference Beyond Borders: Collaboration for Health in Rural Arizona. Bisbee, Ariz. July 18, 2006.
-“Migrantes indocumentados en la frontera Sonora-Arizona: hallazgos de campo y reflexiones de política social.” Diplomado de Salud Pública Fronteriza. University of Arizona and Colegio de Sonora. H. Caborca, Sonora, Mexico. May 24, 2006.
-“Vida, protección, sacrificio: Migrantes mexicanos en el Desierto de Sonora, panorama biopolítico fronterizo.” Colegio de Sonora. Hermosillo, Sonora, Mex. March 23, 2006.
-“Seguridad, vida y fronteras: Perspectivas contemporáneas sobre la fortificación territorial, los cruces indocumentados y la muerte de migrantes en ésta y otras fronteras.” Fundación México. Breakfast Speaker Series. Tucson, AZ. January 28, 2006.
-“Desert Interventions.” Instituto Nacional de Migración. Mexico City. February 4, 2005.

LANGUAGE SKILLS
Spanish: Reading, writing, speaking (educated native speaker).
English: Reading, writing, speaking (educated non-native speaker).
French: Reading, writing, speaking (advanced proficiency).

MEMBERSHIP & SERVICE IN PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
-American Anthropological Association, 1999-2009.
-Society of the Anthropology of North America, 2006-2009.
-Association of Political and Legal Anthropology, 2006-2009.
-Association of Borderland Studies, 2006-2008.
-Alpha Kappa Delta, National Sociology Honorary Society, 2001-2002.
-Phi Kappa Alpha, National Honors Society, Member, 2000-2001.

SELECTIVE EMPLOYMENT
-Gear Up Tutor. Wakefield Middle School. Tucson, AZ, 2007.
-Tutor. Pima County Library Youth Services, Tucson, AZ, 2006-2007.
-Summer Program Coordinator. CSU Fresno, Migrant Student Services. Fresno, CA, 2001.
-University Ambassador. CSU Fresno, Outreach Services. Fresno, CA, 2001.
-Education Coordinator. Consulate General of Mexico. Fresno, CA, 1999-2000.
-Language Tutor. Paris, France, 1998-1999.
-News Production Assistant. Radio Bilingüe, Inc. Fresno, CA, 1998.

OTHER RELEVANT PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES
-Panel Co-coordinator. American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, 2008.
-Resident Fellow. Dartmouth College Latin American, Latino & Caribbean Studies House, 2007-2008.
-Certified Wilderness First Responder. Aerie Backcountry Medicine, 2007-2009.
-Coordinator. Workshop for the Anthropology of Latin America & the Caribbean, Chicago, IL, 2004-2005.
- Founder. Field Technologies for Anthropologists, Brown Bag Series. Chicago, IL, 2004.
-Cultural Programming Committee Member. Arte Américas, Fresno, CA, 1999-2000.
-Human rights observer and translator. Fray Bartolomé de las Casas Human Rights Center, San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, 1998.
-President. California State University, Fresno Associated Students, Inc., Fresno, CA 1997-1998.
- Associate Producer. “Radio Nagual.” KFSR, Fresno, CA 1996-1997.
-Co-producer. “La Pachanga” Radio Magazine. Radio Bilingüe, Inc., Fresno, CA, 1995-1996.

REFERENCES
John L. Comaroff
University of Chicago,
Department of Anthropology
1126 E. 59th St.,
Chicago, IL 60637
(773) 702-7768
jcomarof@uchicago.edu

Claudio Lomnitz
Columbia University
Department of Anthropology
1200 Amsterdam Ave. & W. 119th St.
New York, NY 10027-7054
(212) 854-0195
cl2510@columbia.edu

Joseph Masco
University of Chicago
Department of Anthropology
1126 E. 59th St.,
Chicago, IL 60637
(773) 834-7807
jmasco@uchicago.edu

Adam T. Smith
University of Chicago
Department of Anthropology
1126 E. 59th St.
Chicago, IL 60637
(773) 834-4495
atsmith@uchicago.edu

Additional references available upon request.