Education
Ph.D., University of California, Irvine
M.A., University of California, Irvine
B.A., University of California, Santa Barbara
Biography
Educational Journey:
Dr. Alamillo was born in Zacatecas, Mexico and raised in Ventura County, California. His family worked in the year-round lemon industry which allowed him to attend local public schools uninterrupted. At high school age, he took part in University of California Santa Barbara's Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) and earned B.A. degrees in Sociology and Communication at UCSB. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in Comparative Cultures (Ethnic Studies) at University of California, Irvine. After completing a one-year postdoctoral fellowship at University of California Los Angeles Chicano Studies Research Center, he obtained a tenure-track position in the Department of Comparative Ethnic Studies at Washington State University, Pullman, WA.
Research Interests:
Dr. Alamillo’s research focuses on the ways Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans have used culture, leisure, and sports to build community and social networks to advance politically and economically in the United States. His family’s experiences in the lemon industry inspired his first book, "Making Lemonade out of Lemons: Mexican American Labor and Leisure in a California Town, 1900-1960" ( University of Illinois Press, 2006) He co-authored a textbook "Latinos in U.S Sport: A History of Isolation, Cultural Identity, and Acceptance" (Human Kinetics, 2011) and recently published, "Deportes: The Making of a Sporting Mexican Diaspora" (Rutgers University Press, 2020). He is currently working on two new projects: (1) An edited volume "Untold Legacies: A Ventura County Ethnic Studies Reader" (2) A new book project titled "Dark Waters: Floods, Ethnic Mexicans and the Politics of Disaster Relief along the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands. "
Teaching Interests:
Dr. Alamillo’s brings over 20 years of teaching Ethnic Studies beginning with the Chicano/Latino Studies Department at UC Irvine. Then he taught Introduction to Ethnic Studies and Chicana/o Studies courses for the Department of Comparative Ethnic Studies at Washington State University. Since arriving at CSU Channel Islands, he has taught Contemporary Immigration Issues, Diverse Latina/o Communities, Transborder Perspectives in Chicana/o Studies, Chicana/History and Culture and Theoretical Foundations in Chicana/o Studies.
Community Engagement:
Dr. Alamillo conducts Community Engaged Research Projects with students and community partners, working together on a shared research agenda. Some past projects include the Bracero Exhibition and History Archival Project ( 2008-2013), Wagon Wheel Community Project (2014-2016) and the Latino Baseball History Project (2016-2021). He helped with the bilingual Smithsonian exhibition on the history of Latinos and Latinas in baseball. ¡Pleibol! In the Barrios and the Big Leagues / En los barrios y las grandes ligas opened in summer 2021 and remained on view at the National Museum of American History until 2023.
Representative Courses Taught
- CHS 331 Transborder Perspectives in Chicana/o Studies
- CHS 350 Chicana/o History and Culture
- CHS 292 Chicana/o Service Learning and Engagement
- CHS 491 Theoretical Foundations in Chicana/o Studies
- CHS 425 Contemporary Immigration Issues
Scholarship
Keywords
Chicano/a Studies, Latino/a Studies, Immigration Studies, Oral History Method, Sport Studies, Ethnic Studies
Additional Teaching and Research Information
- Dr. Alamillo's Personal Website
- Making Lemonade out of Lemons: Mexican American Labor and Leisure in a California Town, 1900-1960
- Latinos in U.S. Sport: A History of Isolation, Cultural Identity and Acceptance
- Braceros of Ventura County Exhibition
- American Latino Theme Study: Latino Sports
- Deportes: The Making of a Sporting Mexican Diaspora
- ¡Pleibol! In the Barrios and the Big Leagues / En los barrios y las grandes ligas
- Mexican American Baseball in Ventura County