Stephanie Huezo-Jefferson

I am an historian of twentieth and twenty-first century Latin American and Latinx History. My research interest focuses on community organizing, Central American revolutions, and immigrant activism. I am currently working on a manuscript that examines how Salvadoran community organizers in both El Salvador and the diaspora have used popular education to create spaces of belonging when state systems and narratives have neglected to do so. Drawing on more than thirty oral histories and archival resources, I demonstrate how Salvadorans used popular education as a tool for resistance against state sanctioned violence that cut across national boundaries. The manuscript ultimately demonstrates how Salvadorans understood and rearticulated a repertoire of organizing tools from their homeland, based on religious and revolutionary values, to challenge hegemonic, racist, and xenophobic systemic structures that impede social justice. My work has been supported in part by Indiana University’s History Department, the University Graduate School at Indiana University, the American Historical Association, and the Conference of Latin American History. I have also received various fellowships and grants including the Ford Dissertation Fellowship (declined), the Consortium for Faculty Diversity Fellowship, and the Andres Torres Paper Series Award.

Visiting Fellow, 2024-2025