Ariana Ochoa Camacho, a PhD candidate from New York University’s American Studies Program, is this year’s César Chávez Fellow. She’s recently moved into the Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies (LALACS) house, where the fellowship affords her the time and space to write dedicatedly, without the usual demands of teaching and grading that most PhD programs require.

Ariana completed a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology, at Kenyon College, and has a master’s in Communication from San Francisco State University. This education, along with her extensive experiences working with communities of color in San Francisco, has prepared her for her PhD research with the Colombian community in Queens. Her dissertation, “Racial Longings, Migrant Belongings” focuses on transnational migration to examine the ways in which Colombian migrants to New York use culture to cope with issues of belonging in a place rife with racial tensions. “You have to understand cultural identity, and the reasons for discontent, to understand how and why things are adapted here,” Ariana explains.

Though New Hampshire is far from the site of her research, Ariana has found Hanover to be very encouraging of productivity, and she’s had the opportunity to indulge in some typical Hanover pastimes. So far, she’s been hiking, and is looking forward to doing some apple picking, and bike riding, in addition to some winter activities. “It snows more here, and there aren’t as many indoor activities, so I’m really looking forward to doing some cross-country skiing!” she says.

by T. Sunday