Doctoral Candidate in Jurisprudence and Social Policy (ABD)
I hold a J.D. from Berkeley Law with a Certificate of Specialization in International Law, a M.A. in Social Science with a concentration in International History and Human Rights from the University of Chicago, and a B.A., cum laude, in International Relations and Italian Language and Culture from Wellesley College.
My doctoral dissertation examines whether and how legal actors who volunteered in short-term pro bono programs at the U.S.-Mexico border and in select detention centers came to see themselves as social movement activists, what motivated their sense of collective identity in these spaces, and whether this consciousness shifted over time. Drawing on the concept of bearing witness that emerged from my field work, I also study the mechanisms and processes that translate direct legal service into more traditional social movement activities. My dissertation draws on a series of ninety-three interviews that took place between 2019-2023 with thirty-six attorneys and non-lawyer legal volunteers. Because my data are longitudinal, I was able to determine how legal volunteers’ consciousness and engagement shifted over time prior to, during, and after the invocation of section 265 of Title 42, commonly known as “Title 42,” which effectively closed the U.S. border to asylum seekers.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Award No. 1921156. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
