About

My Name is Xóchitl
(So-cheel)

RESEARCH · TEACHING · SERVICE · COMMUNITY

I am an Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology in the Department of Music at the University of California, Riverside, where I hold the distinction of being the first tenured Chicana in both the UCR Department of Music and any UC system music program. I earned my Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, with a designated emphasis in Latin American and Latino Studies. My academic background also includes training in Museum Studies, Ethnomusicology and Folklore, Gender Studies, and Social Documentation.

As an activist scholar of expressive culture and performance, I focus on the transnational migration of Indigenous communities from Mexico and their cross-border efforts to preserve cultural traditions and create a sense of place. My work is grounded in sincere collaborative intention and acompañamiento, walking with communities over time, building relationships rooted in trust, reciprocity, and mutual care. This is not simply a methodology but an ethos and political stance: scholarship should be accountable to the communities it serves.

My forthcoming book, La Guelaguetza: Oaxacan Migrant Festivals and the Making of Transborder Indigeneity (Oxford University Press, 2026), is the first transborder, multi-sited ethnography offering a behind-the-scenes view of one of Oaxaca's most emblematic festivals. Based on more than eight years of fieldwork in Oaxaca and California, it takes readers into rehearsals, organizing meetings, kitchens, dressing rooms, and virtual spaces to show how Oaxaqueño migrants adapt and sustain their traditions across borders.

My research and writing have appeared in both English and Spanish, including "Oaxacan Indigenous Women Musicians' Collective Songwriting Process on the Title Track of Mujeres" in Americas: A Hemispheric Music Journal (2020), "La creación de Oaxacalifornia a través de tradiciones culturales entre jóvenes Oaxaqueños de Los Ángeles, California" in Desacatos: Revista de Ciencias Sociales (2020), and chapters in Dancing Across Borders: Danzas y Bailes Mexicanos and Decolonizing Pedagogies entre el Sur y el Norte: Healing, Resistance and Social Change through Music (2022).

My commitment to community extends beyond research. I serve as Guest Curator at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino and as a member of the Inaugural National Advisory Council for The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture. I have held various elected positions with the Society for Ethnomusicology, including Chair of the Latin American and Caribbean Section, and the American Anthropological Association. Alongside Manuel Cuellar, I co-founded the Dance Studies Association's inaugural HUB, Folklórico Dance across Borders. I also volunteer my expertise with Armonía, a nonprofit organization supporting marching bands in Puebla, Mexico. As a young person from a working-class background, I found purpose and community playing in middle and high school bands, this work is my way of giving back to young musicians walking a similar path.

Current projects include Soundscapes of the People: A Musical Ethnography of Pueblo, Colorado (2022–2025), a National Endowment for the Humanities-funded collaboration with Dr. Susan Thomas, and a National Endowment for the Arts Music Residency organizing free Son Jarocho community workshops in partnership with The Cheech (2024–2026).

Through teaching, mentoring, curatorial practice, and collaboration with cultural organizations, I work to amplify Indigenous voices, preserve community knowledge, and create spaces where culture thrives—con la comunidad.