Carmella Scorcia Pacheco

Carmella Scorcia Pacheco is a doctoral student in the Spanish program. She graduated from the University of New Mexico with Bachelor degrees in Spanish and Marketing and International Management in 2006 and with a Master of Arts in Spanish with a concentration in Hispanic Southwest Studies in 2013. She has also studied at the Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey in Chihuahua, Mexico, and the Universidad de Granada in Spain. The multicultural character and history of her hometown, Los Alamos, New Mexico, influences Carmella’s research on cultural hybridity, in all the manifestations and genres of expressive culture. Her work will explore border issues, cultural resistance, social justice, and the affirmation of multicultural and transnational identities. She plans to raise awareness of histories that influence border communities and to create tools to facilitate broader discussions about the politics of difference; one objective of her work is to enable more inclusive and expressive cultures, particularly as manifested in music, language, literature, and the arts. Her own engagement with the arts is evident in her enjoyment of music, flamenco dancing, great food, and wine. She is a certified accordion apprentice in the New Mexico Folk Arts program, and she enjoys tuning, rebuilding, and refurbishing accordions in addition to playing accordion and offering lessons.