OLProfile

Orlando Lara
Scholar, Writer, Educator, Organizer

In much of my work, I focus on the melding of creative production, ethnography, and community organizing. Currently, I am a graduate student in Anthropology at UCI working on an ethnography of citizenship review and passport denial in Southeast Texas and other parts of the US. I am a member of the Sin Huellas Artist/Activist Collective, which created the multi-media exhibit, "Detention Nation." The work has been shown in Houston, Denver, Topeka, and Lubbock. I am also a co-founder and facilitator for the Ethnic Studies Network of Texas, a network of scholars, educators, and leaders committed to growing Ethnic Studies in K-16 Texas public ed.

Previously, I served as the inaugural Associate Director of the Department of Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies at TCU, the first Ethnic Studies Department in Texas. Before that, I was Mexican American Studies Faculty and the lead Puente Instructor for the Puente Project at Lee College.

I am a proud Chicanx Studies major and hold an MFA in Creative Writing from Cornell where I taught freshman writing and creative writing. Before that, I obtained a Master's degree in Anthropology and a Certificate in Culture and Media from NYU and a BA in Chicana/o Studies with Honors from Stanford. While in New York City, I worked with undocumented youth during the early "coming out as undocumented" movement and later worked on deportation defense efforts in Houston, TX. Through my creative, academic, and community collaborations, I work to build intergenerational knowledge and intersectional communities of survivance and resistance.

Current Research

Passport Denial and the Criminalization of Birth in Texas
Blooming K-12 Ethnic Studies in Hostile Times

Works and Projects

Publications and Public Writing:
Latinx Studies Curriculum in K-12 Schools: A Practical Guide (Contributor)
"A Trail of Thirst" for Anthropology Now (Photo Essay)
"Walkers in the Maze" (Project Essay)

Art and Multimedia:
Detention Nation (Multimedia Installation)
Know Your History, Know Yourself (Mural)
Sed: A Trail of Thirst (Installation)

Video:
"Caravana 43 - Anayeli" (Co-Produced)
"Arpa Viajera"
"Elizabeth's Story"
"El Buddha"

Creative Writing:
For When I Am Weak (novel in-progress)

Academic Interests

Migration, citizenship, and race
Detention, deportation, and bureaucratic exclusion
Community organizing, resistance, and refusal
Multimodal anthropology, creative writing, and film
Chicanx/Latinx Studies
Critical Race and Ethnic Studies

Social Media

Twitter: @Orlando_Lara_

Design by olara@orlandolara.com