Mark Overmyer-Velázquez

Mark Overmyer-Velázquez serves as Dean and Chief Administrative Officer at UConn Hartford and holds a professorship in Latino & Latin American Studies. He is also a Faculty Associate at the Human Rights Institute and a UConn Honors Faculty Fellow. Previously, he served as Research Professor at the Leonel Fernández Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Jordan (2014-2018) and as Co-chair for the Latino Studies Section of the Latin American Studies Association (2012-2014).

His research interests center on transnational migration between Mexico and the United States, Modern Mexico, U.S. Latino/a studies, and Las Américas. His scholarly work examines economic and political imperialism, human rights, migration, cultural nationalism, political membership, gender relations, race and racism, identity formation, religion, labor, immigration law, and the arts. He approaches these topics through historical analysis with special emphasis on the history of Greater Mexico, including the Mexico/US border and the Mexican diaspora.

Overmyer-Velázquez's publications reveal a consistent evolution from regional Mexican history toward broader transnational and global migration patterns. His early work focused on Porfirian Oaxaca and visual culture, then expanded to Mexico-US migration history, and most recently to global Latin(o) American diasporas extending beyond the traditional US-centric framework to include movements within the Global South and across the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

• 2007 Best Book Prize, New England Council on Latin American Studies
• Finalist, 2007 Urban History Association Kenneth Jackson Award
• 2009 American Library Association Booklist Editors' Choice Winner
• Latin American Studies Association, Latino Studies Section Outstanding Article Award 2014
• Finalist, Conference on Latin American History, Vanderwood Article Prize, 2014
• Choice Academic Title Award

His academic leadership extends beyond traditional scholarly work through service on the West Hartford Board of Education (2011-2017), where he applied his historical training to educational policy. He has received numerous prestigious fellowships including a Fulbright Visiting Scholar award, Howard Foundation Fellowship, Peggy Rockefeller Visiting Scholar position at Harvard, and an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship. His editorial work, particularly on the two-volume series Latino America: State by State, demonstrates his commitment to documenting the historical significance of growing Latin(o) American populations throughout the United States.