Alejandro Ollin Prado is a Ph.D. candidate in the department of Chicana/o Studies and a Ford Dissertation Fellow at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He received his B.A. in Chicana/o Studies and Anthropology from the University of California, Riverside and his Masters in Chicana/o Studies from UCSB. 

Alejandro’s research areas of expertise consist of Marxism, Critical Globalization Studies, Cultural Political Economy, Labor Studies, Urban Studies, Chicanx Studies, and Environmental Studies. His current dissertation project, Chicanx Material Conditions: Chicanidad and the ‘Rise of China,’ Global Capitalism, and International Solidarity in 21t Century Los Angeles, California, explores the relationship between 21st century Chicanx/Latinx communities in Los Angeles and China. Through a mixed method approach of qualitative and quantitative approaches, Prado urges a transnationalization of the discipline of Chicanx Studies to engage with the contemporary logistical organization of global capitalism as central to contemporary Chicanidad. His work has received the Cervantes Student Premio by the National Association of Chicana Chicano Studies for the innovate contributions to the discipline. At the core of his research interest is an exploration of contradictions rooted in material realities which revisit old concepts and establish new paradigms. 

Prado’s has published an article, War on Terror Paradigm and Contemporary Civil Uprising” in the global-e Journal where he explores the similarities between state repression and rhetoric in the Middle East and in Portland, Oregon in response to uprising in the 21st century. Currently, he has a journal article under review, “Chicana-Chicanx Studies: Vendido Politics and Global Capitalism in Los Angeles, California,” in Aztlan: A Journal of Chicano Studies. At UCSB Alejandro has served as a researcher for the Global Latinidades Project in the English Department and the Transnationalizing the Study of the United States research cluster through the Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies. As a Research Assistant for the Global Latinidades Project where his work involved the recovery of archival photography on Latinx authors and grassroots political delegations abroad, and he also participated in the planning of two anthology projects, The Global Latinidades, and, The Luis Rodriguez Reader. Drawing on his training in anthropology and sociology, he also identified demographic changes for the Latinx population in the Tri-County region surrounding UCSB and worked on the Global Latinidades Videography Project (focusing on the profiles of poet Joe Jimenez and scholar Dr. Roberto Hernandez). Equally as important, Alejandro was part of the grant writing team for the $300,000 Global Latinidades Project University of California Multi-campus Research Programs and Initiatives Grant, which involves a collaboration with UCLA and UC Riverside, as well as the $200,000 Global Latinidades New Authors Series National Endowment for the Arts Grant. As a research fellow for the Orfalea Center he collaborated with scholars from across the world, co-published research, created a syllabus for War on Terror Paradigm research in Spanish and English and helped organize Global Carceral States: Violence, Transgression, and Technologies of Imprisonment. These opportunities allow Alejandro to extend and further develop his global analysis and skill set. 

Lastly, Alejandro is dedicated to a collaborative ethos that manifests itself through his research and mentorship of students. He organized a China-Chicanx Research Team through funds awards from the Chicano Studies Institute Dissertation Grant where he hired two undergraduate students to help with his research, learn about graduate school, and organize political economic discussions. Additionally, he has served as the Winthrop Research Grant: Graduate Mentor to mentor an undergraduate student in her social science thesis. He looks forward to continuing his work with students and community members upon leaving UCSB.