Dr. Autumn Quezada-Grant

Professor Autumn Quezada-Grant was spotlighted by the Providence Journal in “Lives on the Line”

Autumn Quezada-Grant is a Professor of History and is involved with the Latin American and Latino Studies Minor, as well as Gender and Sexuality Studies Minor. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Mississippi in 2010, in Latin American History. Dr. Quezada-Grant has a broad research interest, which includes modern Latin America, indigenous history, social justice, and human rights. She is an Executive Committee Member of the New England Council on Latin American Studies (NECLAS). Her Ph.D. work examined litigation and patterns of negotiation in the of Highlands of Chiapas starting in early statehood until the 1870s between indigenous peoples and Ladinos. On the cusp of an outward looking export economy, the manuscript digs deep into judicial archives to highlight relationships between indigenous Maya and local Ladinos. What we see is that the dominant narrative of Chiapan history contrasts with the meta-narrative of real lived experience and the best way to see this is through moments of contestation, negotiation and social changes tied to legal culture. 

Professor Quezada-Grant actively works as a Country Conditions Expert with Immigration attorneys for asylum cases. Specializing in Mexico, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Peru, and indigenous issues in Guatemala.  She has written country conditions and cultural histories/practices related to a number of issues related to social issues, gender, state repression, organized crime, and marginalized peoples. 

Publishing

Professor Quezada-Grant is the co-author of several chapters involving the ethics involved with Global Service Learning in collaboration with several faculty members. She also published an article titled “Indians, Ladinos and the Resurrection of the Protector de Indios, San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas 1870-1885,” in the journal Ethnohistory. Professor Quezada-Grant is also the co-editor for Decentering Discussion on Religion and State: Emerging Narratives, Challenging Perspectives, eds. Sargon Donabed and Autumn Quezada-Grant, Lexington Press, April 2015. Professor Quezada-Grant recently published a chapter titled “Tierra, mano de obra y ley: Ladinos, “sus” indios, cultura legal en el siglo XIX en Chiapas," Chapter in Historias e historiografías del siglo XIX en Chiapas y Guatemala, (Mexico City: CIESAS-UNAM, 2021). In addition, chapters on pedagogy.

Paola Prado and Autumn Quezada-Grant, “Hold my Piña Colada: Operational and Ethnical Considerations for Interdisciplinary Experiential Learning Study Abroad” in The Synergistic Classroom: Interdisciplinary Experiential Learning Study Abroad Eds. Corey Campion and Aaron Angello, (Rutgers University Press, 2020)

“Public Health in Rural Rivas, Nicaragua: Poverty and Wealth a Study in the Contradiction of Neoliberal Policies” for the panel titled: Public Health and Political Culture in Latin America, 1900-1995 at the Latin American Studies Association in San Juan, Puerto Rico May 28, 2015.

She actively participates in academic conferences in the United States and Europe presenting at Latin American Studies meetings, professional organizations, and in international public classrooms discussing asylum work, as well as on-the-ground volunteer work. These experiences along with helping with over 400+ cases researching, writing affidavits, and testimony since 2017 has helped shape her view of scholarship and public discussions.

Service-Learning 

Professor Quezada-Grant helped establish and grow RWU's Chapter of FIMRC. 

Over her years as co-advisor of RWU’s Chapter of FIMRC, she has led service-learning trips throughout Latin America, linking together intersections of social justice, history and public health for undergraduate students. She has been a co-advisor for the RWU Chapter of FIMRC for 11 years traveling with students to 6 different countries multiple times.

Every other year she co-leads a study abroad course in the Dominican Republic titled “Social Justice in Hispaniola.” In the past, she has taught a study abroad course in El Salvador.

Professor Quezada-Grant actively researches and is involved with innovative study abroad teaching on the island of Hispaniola (the Dominican Republic and Haiti). Her work with the RWU Chapter of FIMRC helps place students into experiential learning opportunities tied to service. She enjoys traveling with students to foreign countries teaching students not only about their place in the world from the positionality of privilege, but introduces students to thoughts about ethics and ‘fair-trade learning’.

Inspiring history students to think outside of the box and engage with social media. 

Community Work

As a professor she is also committed to connecting theory to real world praxis and travels with students all over Latin American and brings that knowledge home into public talks. Her community work is both local and global. Professor Quezada-Grant has traveled in Latin America to no less than 9 countries, as well as countries in Europe and North Africa.

She regularly blogs her travels and experiences.

Professor Quezada-Grant's discussion of her Expert Witness Testimony/Country. Conditions work for asylum cases can be found in her podcast, Bridging Borders. 

Professor Autumn Quezada-Grant assists attorneys across the country and internationally on asylum cases. A country conditions expert in high demand, she involves patterns of asylum seeking into her classroom teaching. Her experience with asylum work, her previous 12 years of university service work, and teaching has made her an expert in cultural, social, and legal histories on several countries. She is also available for cultural competency workshops and training. 

Newspaper recognition around Asylum Country Conditions Work

The Providence Journal has published three articles on her work assisting attorneys with asylum cases. Roger Williams University also has press releases noting her community outreach through this work. She has been interviewed in a podcast, an online magazine, and wrote an editorial for the Montgomery County Sentinel on country conditions work in 2021.

In The Media

Life or Death: Seeking asylum and the intersection of gender and indigenous identities

Creating a More Inclusive Community through Social Justice Activism

Bristol Confronts Historic Significance of Slave Trade

Tweet by Antoine Burgard

Applied History Series

Quezada-Grant on Dangl, 'The Five Hundred Year Rebellion: Indigenous Movements and the Decolonization of History in Bolivia'

Teaching 

Dr. Quezada-Grant teaches:

• Survey of Latin American History
• Magical Realism in Latin America
• Film and Photos: Arts and Latin American History 
• Revolution, Violence, and Migration in Modern Latin America
• Introduction to Latin American and Latino Studies
• Revolution and Violence in Latin America 
• Mass Dislocation and Migration in Latin America 
• Religion in Latin America
• Race and Ethnicity in Latin America
• Gender in Latin America
• Introduction to Gender and Sexuality Studies 
• Social Justice in Latin America 
• History of Mexico and Central America
• Slavery in the Americas
• Historical Research Methods 
• Making Global: Introductory History Course 
• First Peoples: Nineteenth and Twentieth Century 
• Gold, God, and Slaves: A History of West Africa: Slavery and Beyond 
• Study Abroad: Social Justice in El Salvador and a course titled, Social Justice in Hispaniola 
• Core 102: Structures of Power

Section B. Supplemental Materials

Autumn Quezada-Grant