Rate My Professor Mark Overmyer-Velázquez

Mark Overmyer-Velázquez serves as Campus Dean and Chief Administrative Officer at the University of Connecticut Hartford and Professor of History with a joint appointment in Latino and Latin American Studies through El Instituto. He holds a Ph.D. in Latin American History from Yale University (2002), an M.A. and M.Phil. from Yale (1998-1999), and a B.A. in History and German Literature from the University of British Columbia (1993). He joined the University of Connecticut in 2004 as Assistant Professor in the Department of History, advancing to Associate Professor in 2008 and full Professor in 2012. Previously, he was Visiting Assistant Professor in History and Chicano/a Studies at Pomona College (2002-2003). Additional appointments include Research Professor at the Leonel Fernández Center for Latin American Studies, University of Jordan (2014-2018), Co-chair of the Latino Studies Section of the Latin American Studies Association (2012-2014), and elected Chair of the West Hartford Board of Education (2011-2017).

Overmyer-Velázquez's research focuses on transnational migration and empire, Mexico-US migration, and the historical origins of Latin(o) American history, emphasizing Greater Mexico, economic and political imperialism, human rights, cultural nationalism, gender relations, race and racism, identity formation, religion, labor, immigration law, and the arts. He authored Visions of the Emerald City: Modernity, Tradition and the Formation of Porfirian Oaxaca, Mexico (Duke University Press, 2006; second edition 2011), recipient of the 2007 Best Book Prize from the New England Council on Latin American Studies and finalist for the Urban History Association's Kenneth Jackson Award for Best Book in North American Urban History. Key editorial works include Beyond la Frontera: The History of Mexico-US Migration (Oxford University Press, 2011), Latino America: State by State (two volumes, Greenwood Press, 2008; 2009 American Library Association Booklist Editors’ Choice Winner), Global Latin(o) Americanos: Transoceanic Diasporas and Regional Migrations (co-edited, Oxford University Press, 2017), and foreword/contribution to They Should Stay There: The Mexican Government and the Repatriation of Mexicans from the United States, 1834-1940 (University of North Carolina Press, 2017; 2018 Choice Academic Title Award). His article “Good Neighbors and White Mexicans: Constructing Race and Nation on the Mexico-US Border” (Journal of American Ethnic History, 2013) won the 2014 Latin American Studies Association Latino Studies Section Outstanding Article Award. Other honors include UConn Honors Faculty Fellow, Vision Award in Social Justice (Charter Oak Cultural Center, 2019), and Realie Award for Educational Leadership and Community Engagement (Real Art Ways, 2018).