Jimmy Lizama
Ph.D. Student
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Area of Study
PhD in Rhetoric
Bio
Broadly speaking, I am interested in critical cultural rhetorical studies and use racial rhetorical criticism, counterpublic theory, decolonial theory, and publicly-engaged composition studies as my entry points into cultural matters fraught with power.
In the past, I have published research in Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies on the Trump administration’s nativist framing of the MS-13 gang. In that work, I argue that the administration created an anti-immigrant narrative targeted at Central American migrants and their descendants. I argue that this xenophobic narrative is distinct from historical anti-Mexican narratives to the degree that it focuses on unaccompanied minor children, the figure of the child, and normative expectations about motherhood to narrow the borders of national belonging.
Education
- M.A. in Rhetoric, Carnegie Mellon University
- B.A. in English with Honors, University of Maryland, College Park
Research
Race and Migration, Racial Rhetorical Criticism, Counterpublics and Counterpublicity, Affect Studies