Andra Chastain

Andra Chastain is an Assistant Professor of History at Washington State University Vancouver, specializing in modern Latin America with a focus on 20th-century Chile. She holds a Ph.D. from Yale University (2018), an M.A. from UC Berkeley (2012), and a B.A. from Reed College (2008). Her research examines the Santiago Metro system as a lens to study political transitions, Cold War dynamics, and urban inequality. Her monograph Chile Underground traces the metro’s evolution through Chile’s democratic socialism, military dictatorship, and neoliberal shift. Chastain has conducted fieldwork across Chile, France, Brazil, Mexico, and the U.S., supported by grants from the Social Science Research Council and P.E.O. Foundation.

Her teaching and research interests include urban environmental history, transnational aid, and oral history methodologies. Awards include the 2020 Teaching Excellence Award from WSU Vancouver students and the Michael Katz Award for best urban history dissertation. She collaborates on projects exploring Latin America’s 'Long Cold War' and serves as co-editor of Itineraries of Expertise (2020).

Labs/Teams: Active in transnational Cold War studies networks, collaborating with institutions in Chile and France. Current projects focus on postwar infrastructure and the socio-political dimensions of urban development.