Ariana Ochoa Camacho

Ariana Ochoa Camacho, Ph.D. completed her dissertation work at New York University in American Studies. Her dissertation research project "Racial Longings, Migrant Belongings,” argued that the racial performances of Colombian migrants in New York are part of a creative petition that refuses racial ‘otherization,’ and are simultaneously shaped through the multiple cultural contexts of migrant lives. The frictions of racial discourses propel the embodied performances of Colombian nationalism, particularly in the contexts of cultural festivals and community celebrations. Ariana earned an MA in Communication from San Francisco State University and a BA in Anthropology from Kenyon College. She has published her work in Emerging Perspectives in Health Communication, Feminist Media Studies, as well as collaborated with a visual artist to produce a video, “Elizabeth’s Story,” now housed at the National Museum of Mexican Art. Currently she is working on an article titled “Love in times of Precarity: A Very Queer Politics of Immigration,” and recently published a chapter on Maternalist discourses in media coverage of border brothels and another chapter on the criminialization of Colombian migrants. She has begun developing a second project on environmental health, toxics and embodiment.

Ariana has also worked with students from diverse backgrounds at institutions like Community Colleges, San Francisco State University, Dartmouth College, Montclair State University and New York University in addition to her work mentoring for which she was awarded the "Inspiring Woman" award by the WNBA/NBA and the Hispanic Scholarship Foundation in 2012-2013. As a Davis Putter Scholar (2012-2013) Ms. Ochoa Camacho has demonstrated a deep commitment to working with diverse community groups. Her experiences working with communities of color offers an on-the-ground-analysis of race that now complements her academic research and teaching.