Not in residence

C.J. Álvarez is a Ph.D. candidate in history at the University of Chicago and was a predoctoral fellow at CISAC for 2011-2012. He is interested in US-Mexico relations, the state, and legal history. His dissertation, “Policing the US-Mexico Border,” looks at the various ways the United States has tried to guard, patrol, and regulate its southern border.

At CISAC he will examine the relationship between trade, both in contraband and legitimate goods, and border policing, focusing on the Prohibition era, Nixon’s “Operation Intercept,” and the post-NAFTA years.

He received an undergraduate degree in art and art history from Stanford University, as well as a master’s in history of art and architecture from Harvard University. He grew up in the borderland, just outside El Paso, Texas.

Last updated: August 2012.