Jorge Mariscal

Jorge Mariscal is a Professor in the Department of Literature at the University of California, San Diego, within the Division of Arts and Humanities. He holds leadership roles as Director of the Chicano/a~Latino/a Arts and Humanities (CLAH) Program and Co-Director of the Dimensions of Culture Program at Thurgood Marshall College. He is also an Affiliated Faculty member in the Department of Ethnic Studies.

Mariscal earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine. His scholarship is deeply interdisciplinary, rooted in both historical and contemporary cultural analysis.

His primary research interests center on Chicano/a and Spanish Literature, the U.S. Latino experience in war (particularly the Vietnam War), and 17th-century Spanish culture. His work critically examines themes of identity, social justice, militarism, imperialism, and the intersection of race, class, and politics. He is a prominent voice on issues of immigration policy, the militarization of education, and the representation of Latinos in American history and media.

His recent writings and blog posts analyze a wide range of topics, including the DREAM Act, military recruitment of Latino youth, the legacy of César Chávez and Martin Luther King Jr., the privatization of higher education, and the erasure of Latino contributions in national narratives like the Ken Burns WWII documentary. This body of work demonstrates a consistent focus on social justice, anti-imperialism, and the critical examination of power structures.

• Recipient of the UCSD Chancellor's Associates Faculty Excellence Award
• Co-winner of the Modern Language Association's (MLA) Katherine Singer Kovacs Prize for his book Contradictory Subjects

Mariscal is a dedicated mentor and public intellectual. He is a member of Project YANO, a counter-recruitment organization for military veterans, where he speaks to youth about the realities of military service. He has advised and collaborated with student and community groups, such as the Association of Raza Educators (A.R.E.), on activism against militarism and for full legalization for undocumented communities. His work extends beyond the academy through his active blog and numerous public commentaries.

He leads the Chicano/a~Latino/a Arts and Humanities (CLAH) Program, a key institutional hub for research, teaching, and community engagement focused on Chicano/a and Latino/a cultures. His directorship of the Dimensions of Culture Program further underscores his commitment to interdisciplinary and socially relevant education.