Romeo Guzmán

Romeo Guzmán is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History at Claremont Graduate University, where he teaches and conducts research at the intersection of Chicanx history, transnational Mexican studies, and public history. He previously served as an Assistant Professor at California State University, Fresno (2016–2020), where he founded and directed The Valley Public History Initiative: Preserving our Stories.

His research focuses on citizenship, migration, sport, public history, and digital humanities, with a particular emphasis on bridging Chicanx historiography and modern Mexican scholarship through transnational narratives of Mexican migrants and Mexican-Americans.

His major projects include co-directing the South El Monte Arts Posse’s “East of East: Mapping Community Narratives in El Monte and South El Monte,” which resulted in the publication of East of East: The Making of Greater El Monte (Rutgers, 2020). His work employs oral history, creative nonfiction, archival research, and community collaboration to expand how underrepresented communities are represented in the historical record.

His recent publications explore topics such as repatriation during the Great Depression, transnational family letters, the cultural history of soccer in Mexican-American communities, and radical archives. These works reflect a strong interdisciplinary approach combining history, cultural studies, and public engagement.

His public history initiatives have received funding and recognition from:

• California Humanities
• Los Angeles City Department of Cultural Affairs
• National Performance Network
• National Endowment for the Humanities

He has been featured in media outlets including NPR, KCRW, The California Report, KCET Departures, and the Fresno Bee. Guzmán co-edits Boom California, a public-facing journal of the University of California Press, and is currently working on a book titled Orphans of the Nation: Mexican-Americans, Transnational Citizenship, and Belonging, the 1920s to 1940s. He mentors students through collaborative public history projects and community-based research, though specific advisees are not listed in the provided text.

He leads and collaborates on several public history labs and teams, including:

• South El Monte Arts Posse (SEMAP)
• The Valley Public History Initiative
• East of East Project
• Boom California editorial collective