Our October spotlight features Libia Jiménez Chávez. Libia is a twentieth-century interdisciplinary historian studying migrations between Georgia and Latin America. More broadly, she is interested in transnational histories, processes of placemaking, and the relationship between race, belonging, and residency status. Through archival and oral histories, she is examining the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA/La Amnístia) to understand the resulting transformations that occurred within Georgia's immigrant communities. Libia Jiménez Chávez is Mexicana-Colombiana. She graduated from the University of Rochester with a double bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Philosophy. She holds a master’s degree in Human Rights from University College London in addition to professional and graduate certifications in project management, development policy, fundraising, and Latin American Studies. Her research interests include Latinx and U.S. South Histories (as they form and inform each other). She has extensive experience in the nonprofit and higher education sectors working alongside Latinx youth. She currently serves as the UGA Press Acquisitions Fellow and a CLASE Goizueta Foundation Graduate Assistant. In addition to her academic work, she volunteers with El Refugio to help end detention: https://www.elrefugiostewart.org
