John Alba Cutler

John Alba Cutler is an Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of California, Berkeley. He specializes in Chicano/a/x and Latinx literature and culture, with particular focus on modernism, literary institutions, and transnational frameworks. Before joining Berkeley in 2021, he spent over a decade at Northwestern University, where he received a distinguished teaching award in 2013. His research explores intersections between literature and sociological discourse, colonial legacies, and the role of print culture in forming literary counterpublics.

His major works include Ends of Assimilation: The Formation of Chicano Literature (2015) and an upcoming book on Latinx modernism. Cutler’s scholarship has been supported by prestigious fellowships from institutions like the Radcliffe Institute and ACLS. He frequently publishes in journals such as American Literary History and contributes to edited volumes on transnational American literature and contemporary poetics.

Research interests include 20th- and 21st-century American literature, modernismo’s influence on Latino/a/x writing, and the historiography of Latinx cultural production. His current project examines how Latin American modernismo shaped early 20th-century Latino/a/x print culture in the U.S., addressing coloniality and transnational literary networks.

• Awards: Alice B. Kaplan Institute Fellowship, Radcliffe Institute Fellowship, ACLS Fellowship
• Teaching: Courses on Chicano/a/x literature, modern American literature, and transnational frameworks
• Publications: Over 15 peer-reviewed articles and two monographs, with an edited volume forthcoming from Cambridge University Press

Cutler’s work bridges literary analysis with sociohistorical critique, emphasizing the institutional dimensions of cultural production. He is actively involved in redefining Latinx literary history through interdisciplinary approaches.