Jesse Alemán

Jesse Alemán, Ph.D., is a professor of English and a Presidential Teaching Fellow at the University of New Mexico (UNM), where he has worked since 1999.  In 2023-24 , Alemán was the Mellon Distinguished Scholar in Residence at AAS, where he completed his book manuscript, “Latinx Civil Wars: The Transformation of Nineteenth-Century US Latinidad,” forthcoming from New York University Press.

His research spans two fields: nineteenth-century American literature and Latinx literary and cultural histories in the United States. He has recovered and republished The Woman in Battle, the 1876 autobiographical narrative of Loreta Janeta Velazquez, who fought for the Confederacy as Lt. Harry T. Buford. He co-edited Empire and the Literature of Sensation (with Shelley Streeby) and The Latino Nineteenth Century (with Rodrigo Lazo)—two foundational collections of US Latinx literary and cultural histories.

He has also published over thirty influential articles and essays, including pieces in The Cambridge History of Latina/o Literature, Timelines in American Literature, The Spectralities Reader, American Literary History, Azltán, and Latino Literature in the Classroom. His most recent pandemic piece, titled “The End of English,” appeared in PMLA, the journal of the Modern Language Association of America.

Alemán is the recipient of the University of New Mexico’s College of Arts and Sciences’ Award for Teaching Excellence; the American Indian Student Services’ STARS Award; the Wertheim Award for Outstanding English Faculty Member; and he’s been twice named Outstanding Faculty Member by the English Graduate Student Association and UNM’s Peer Mentoring for Graduate Students of Color. He also holds the title of Presidential Teaching Fellow, the highest recognition for teaching excellence UNM bestows. He recently served as the university’s associate dean and dean of graduate studies.