Alicia V. Nuñez  completed her PhD at Northwestern University in 2023. Alicia examines the intersections of childhood with lived migratory experiences in literature, visual, and music culture.  Her work focuses on migrant children and the diverse ways migrants tend to survive under institutional radars, in the shadows. In migration studies, Alicia’s work explores immigration policy and detention procedures in the United States and in Mexico. As a Central Americanist, Alicia explored how “problem child” narratives have been used to historically depict the Central American region. More broadly, Alicia’s interdisciplinary projects dialogue with global issues such as mass displacement due to climate change and mass incarceration. 

Alicia has a lifelong passion for teaching and values non-hierarchical methods of instruction in the classroom. Alicia has taught at Northwestern, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and UChicago. Previously, she worked with the Northwestern Prison Education Program as director and program coordinator at Cook County Jail and various youth detention centers with the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice.