Christofer A. Rodelo is a senior at Yale University double-majoring in American Studies and Ethnicity, Race, and Migration. Born in and living the entirety of his childhood in various Southern California suburbs, Chris is currently experiencing the expat life amidst the fast-walking, season-enjoying urbanites of New England. With a Colombian mother and Mexican-American father, he enjoys the expansive culinary repertoire of these two cultural traditions while identifying as queer Latina/o. Academically, his interests lie in Latina/o Studies, cultural geography, consumer studies, and affect/performance theory. His work as a Mellon Mays research fellow—and aspirations to earn a PhD in American Studies-- has led to a long-term project looking at the negotiation of Latina/o authenticity in the everyday built environments of ethnic supermarkets in Southern California. Slated for completion in spring 2015, he presented some of his findings at the inaugural Latina/o Studies Conference in July 2014 in Chicago.

In envisioning the final project for this course, Chris hopes to learn more about the relationship between Latina/o and Asian mobility in 20th-century California, and in particular, the points of solidarity in iconic labor struggles like the Delano Grape Strikes of the late 1960s. Moreover, he is particularly excited about the public nature of the project, and hopes to facilitate a visceral and visual understanding of California vibrant Latina/o history among the not nearly as sunny walls of Yale’s campus. He presented on the class project, and a call for a more fun, community-based digital pedagogy, at the 2014 American Studies Association meeting in Los Angeles this past November. When not in class or working as a student coordinator at La Casa Cultural, Yale's Latina/o cultural center, you can find Chris binge-watching on Netflix, planning his next trip abroad, and realizing the limitations of a student budget in his very cozy but semi-dilapidated off-campus house.