She earned her master’s degree in contemporary Latin American literature and bachelor’s degrees in sociology and Spanish literature from Marquette University. She currently is completing her doctoral dissertation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her teaching and research interests include the Black diaspora, construction and articulation of Black identity in Central America, representations of outsider or marginalized subjects in literature, contemporary women writers and issues of gender. Her commitment and passion for literature, the arts, and the Hispanic and U.S. Latino cultures goes beyond her teaching and responsibilities as a professor. She is proud to serve as the adviser for the Hispanic Club and the Hispanic Professionals of Greater Milwaukee student chapter at Stritch.