She specializes in Latina/o cultural production, including art, music, and the performing arts. She has taught at the University of California, Davis, at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She also has served as an archivist, curator, public historian, and oral historian for various public institutions, including the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, and the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center. She earned her Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin and received her B.A. in English Literature from the University of California, Los Angeles.