I was born in San Francisco, California and was raised in South San Francisco where I graduated from South San Francisco High School. I received my bachelor’s degree from Lafayette College , a wonderful small liberal arts college in Easton, PA, where I double-majored in Government & Law and Spanish. I received my Ph.D. in Anthropology at Stanford University in 2001, the product of which was my dissertation, Race and Ethnicity: A Study of Blackness in Mexico (available as a .pdf file if you request it from me). I am currently Professor of Anthropology at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, CA. Among my favorite courses to teach are Race and Ethnicity, Sports in American Culture, Cultural Anthropology, and Latin American Studies.
My long relationship with Mexico began in 1991 when, as a junior at Lafayette, I spent a year studying Spanish in Mexico City at La Universidad Iberoamericana. Language study awakened in me an interest in the history and culture of Latin America in general and in Mexico in particular. That interest continues as strong as ever and I’ve been fortunate enough to have spent a great deal of time there over the years.
Some of my favorite pastimes include following football and baseball, reading epic fantasy, and listening to salsa music — Ruben Blades, Fania All-Stars, La Sonora Poncena, and many more! I also practice Vipassana meditation, and have been fortunate to have been introduced to the practice at Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA. I live in the East Bay with my wife and two girls.