Jordyn Alvarez StarrGraduate Student

Hi! I am a PhD student in Latin American and Caribbean History, interested in struggles against slavery and imperialism in the Spanish Caribbean. My research focuses on 19th and 20th-century Puerto Rico, particularly how enslaved and ‘subaltern’ individuals subverted oppression through diverse freedom-making strategies. Before coming to Emory, I got a BA in History and Spanish from the University of Florida, where I also completed an MA in Latin American Studies with a thesis titled “Revolutionary Rhetoric: Antislavery and Anticolonial Alliances in Puerto Rican Abolitionist and Nationalist Movements, 1800-1898.”

My current research expands upon this prior work to emphasize nonelite, alternative ways in which ‘ordinary’ Puerto Ricans mobilized for liberation. I am increasingly interested in looking at rural schools and educational programs as a window into the entangled web of empire, race, and resistance. From childhood encounters with arms of state control, as well as spaces of freedom it fails to reach, I ask how the everyday lives of locals in the interior of Puerto Rico complicate narratives of Americanization. That is, how did rural Puerto Ricans under US imperial rule react to education as a tool for oppression but also an opportunity for empowerment?

I am also deeply committed to contributing to public knowledge, in the classroom and beyond. As an educator, I believe that everyone can harness the power of history to push for change in the present. We all deserve access to the resources and skills necessary to critically examine the past, challenge narratives that neglect certain perspectives but prioritize others, and participate in the making of history. Ultimately, I aim to equip and empower learners; this means people’s human needs must be met too. I enjoy working alongside others to support community members, with a special passion for youth empowerment - shoutout to Cool Girls and Global Village Project!