| Office Location: | 277 Sociology-Psychology Bldg., Box 90088 |
| Office Phone: | 919-660-5777 |
| Email Address: | ![]() ![]() |
| Ph.D. | The University of Chicago | 1997 |
| Master's Degree | The University of Chicago | 1994 |
| Bachelor’s of Arts and Science | The University of Buenos Aires | 1988 |
Current projects: Gender, Migration, and HIV risks among the Mexican population in Mexico and Durham, NC., International migration from Paraguay and Peru to Argentina.
Broadly, my research entails the study of the interaction between social change and population processes with particular emphasis on Latin America. Most of my work falls into three categories: 1) marriage, employment, and fertility behavior, 2) international migration, and 3) the Latino population of the United States. Underlying these diverse areas there is a common interest in issues of inequality, development, and stratification. More recently, I have begun to investigate the relationship between gender, international migration, and HIV risks in Mexico. The specific aims of this project are to: (1) Compare prevalent sexual behaviors among Mexican men and women in Durham, NC and four sending communities in Mexico; (2) Identify and describe the impact of migration on the gender structures of labor, power, and cathexis among the Mexican population; (3) Model the gender and migration related determinants of sexual behaviors, including condom use, use of commercial sex workers, number of partners, sex outside of marriage, and male-male sexual encounters; and (4) Construct a data derived culture and gender specific model of sexual behavior to inform the development of HIV interventions for at risk immigrant groups. Data for the analysis will come from an "ethnosexual" survey of Mexican migrants collected in Durham, North Carolina and four sibling communities in Mexico, supplemented with in depth ethnographic interviews in the U.S. The combination of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies will provide culturally grounded and reliable information on gender, migration, and sexual behavior. I am also expanding my interest in migration to other areas in Latin America. I am currently conducting a study of migration from Paraguay and Peru to Argentina that investigates the role of gender, family strategies, and marco-economic crises in affecting migration decisions.