EDUCATION
Ph.D. Joint Degree, Anthropology and Education, University of Pennsylvania, May 2022
Dissertation: Waiting for Change: Indigenous youth striving for non-migration in Guatemala
Committee: Deborah Thomas (chair), Kathleen Hall (co-chair), Stanton Wortham, Krystal Strong
M.A.T. Urban Education, University of Chicago, August 2008
B.A. Anthropology, University of Chicago, June 2006 (with honors)
PUBLICATIONS
Books
Wortham, S., Nichols B., Clonan-Roy, K. & Rhodes, C. (2020) Migration Narratives: Diverging Stories in Schools, Churches, and Civic Institutions. Bloomsbury Press.
Refereed Articles
Nichols, B. (2022) Being Free: Youth future making in the wake of forced migration. Journal of Refugee Studies. (Special Issue: Language and Temporalities in Forced Migration, accepted by journal pending review)
Nichols, B. (2021) Disruptive Bricolage: Indigenous politics, development and migration in Guatemala. Ethnologies.
Nichols, B. (2021) Nothing is Easy: Educational striving and migration deferral in Guatemala. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2021.1877122
Nichols, B., Wortham S., Clonan-Roy K., Rhodes C. (2020) Interethnic relations and local politics in an American Town. Academia Letters, 1, 1-4.
Nichols, B. & Wortham, S. (2018) Black flight: Heterogeneous accounts of Mexican immigration in a diverse community. Language & Communication, 59, 4-16
Nichols, B., Umana, K., Britton, T., Farias, L., Lavalley, R., & Hall-Clifford, R. (2017) Transnational Information Politics and the ‘Child Migration Crisis’: Guatemalan NGOs Respond to Youth Migration. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 28(5),1962-1987
Clonan-Roy, K., Wortham, S., & Nichols, B. (2016) Shifting Racial Stereotypes in Late Adolescence: Heterogeneous Resources for Developmental Change in the New Latino Diaspora. Language & Communication, 46, 51-61
Nichols, B. (2016) Mexicans Be Like: Memes, Social Value, and Contested Models of Personhood. Working Papers in Educational Linguistics, (31), 69-86
Book Chapters
Nichols, B. & Farias, L. (2018) Maternal Care in Guatemala: Problematizing discourses of development, transnational advocacy, and indigeneity. In Maternal Death and Pregnancy Related Morbidity Among Indigenous Women of Mexico and Central America, 553-566, Springer.
Other Publications
Nichols, B. (2020) US and Guatemala Migration-Related Pandemic Policies: A View from Guatemala. Invited Contribution, Center for Migration Studies New York. https://cmsny.org/publications/us-guatemala-covid/
Nichols, B. & Hall-Clifford, R. (2018) Practicing Anthropologists Make Anthropology Matter. Anthropology News.
Nichols, B. (2018) Motherhood in the Field. Anthropology News.
Nichols, B. (2017) Producing a Crisis at the Border. Anthropology News.
Nichols, B. & Farias, L. (2015) Child, Bride, Mother. Invited Contribution, Youth Circulations. http://www.youthcirculations.com
AWARDS, HONORS, FELLOWSHIPS
2021-2022 Penn Migration Initiative Fellow
2020-2021 NAEd/Spencer Dissertation Fellowship
2020 University of California Global Scholars Early Career Fellowship
2013-2018 University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education Dean’s Fellowship
2014-2017 University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education Summer Research Apprenticeship
INVITED TALKS
2020 “Ruptures, Realignments and Disintegration: Kinship in an era of heightened migration enforcement.”
Max Planck Institute and the Department of Social Anthropology, Cambridge University.
2020 “No son libres allí.” Grad Penn Talks, University of Pennsylvania
2019 “Qualitative Methods: Notes from the Field.” Cleveland State University
2017 “Migrant Youth Reintegration in Guatemala” Senior Capstone course, University of Pennsylvania
2013 “Undocumented Families Navigating the Public Schools.” University of Chicago Center for Urban
School Improvement
CONFERENCES
Papers Presented
Nichols, B. (2021) “Migration, Educational Violence and Youth Striving in Guatemala,” NAEd /Spencer Fellows Retreat. Virtual.
Nichols, B. (2021) “Tienes Que Estudiar: Articulations of indigenous migration and formal education in Guatemala,” American Educational Research Association annual conference. Virtual.
Nichols, B. (2021) “Decentering Freedom,” Language and Migration: Experience and Memory Conference, Princeton University. Virtual.
Nichols, B. (2020) “No emigré, me sacaron de mi país que es diferente”: Guatemalan Indigenous political collectivity in an era of precarious migration,” Society for Linguistic Anthropology Annual Conference. University of Colorado, Boulder. Postponed
Nichols, B. (2020) “Nothing is Easy: Educational striving and migration deferral in Guatemala.” Annual Global Studies Conference, University of California, Irvine.
Nichols, B. (2019) “Educational striving, ‘professionalism’ and mobility in Guatemala.” European Association of Social Anthropologists Anthropology of Mobility Workshop. Barcelona, Spain.
Nichols, B. (2019) “Waiting for Change: Cruel Optimisms, Educational Striving and Migration in Guatemala.” American Anthropological Association. Vancouver, Canada.
Nichols, B. (2019) “Esperando un Cambio: Optimismos crueles, educación y migración en Guatemala.” Guatemala Scholars Network Conference. Antigua, Guatemala.
Nichols, B. (2019) “Nothing is easy: Guatemalan youth, educational decision making and migration.” Anthropology of Children and Youth Interest Group Conference. Rutgers University, New Jersey.
Nichols, B. (2018) “They are excited to play in the snow: mediatized discourses of youth migration and mobility.” American Anthropological Association Conference. San Jose, California.
Nichols, B. (2018) “Sara is a 15-year-old girl from El Salvador who loves seafood: Migration discourse and the reproduction of migrant personhood in legal advocacy.” Society for Linguistic Anthropology Conference. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Nichols, B. & Wortham, S. (2017) “One American Town: Recursive Identity construction in a time of rapid migration.” American Anthropological Association. Washington, DC.
Nichols, B. (2016) “To Protect and Deport: Undocumented Youth, Non-Governmental Workers, and Collaboration with the Security State.” Society for Cultural Anthropology Conference. Cornell University, New York.
Farias, L. & Nichols, B. (2016) “Problematizing constructions of motherhood, development discourses, transnational advocacy and indigeneity in Guatemala.” Decolonizing Conference. Toronto, Canada.
Clonan-Roy, K. & Nichols, B. (2016) “Shifting Racial Models of Personhood in Late Adolescence: Heterogeneous resources and the New Latino Diaspora.” American Educational Research Association Conference. Washington, DC.
Nichols, B. & Britton, T. (2015) “Transnational Information Politics, Power, and the Child Migration ‘Crisis’: Guatemalan NGO perspectives on causes of child migration.” NGOgraphies Conference. Denver, Colorado.
Nichols, B. (2015) “Constructions of Identity, Community, and a Diasporic Imaginary: El circulo de lectura in the New Latino Diaspora.” American Educational Research Association Conference. Chicago, Illinois.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
2018-Present Community organizing with Grupo Cajola, Guatemala: community and youth participatory action research project, teacher training and advocacy, community school research, planning and development
2020-Present President of the board of Grupo Cajola in North America: 501c3 organization supporting Grupo Cajola’s work in Guatemala
2019 From Houses to Homes, Guatemala: Restorative justice and community organizing consulting
2017-2019 Interfaith Community Partners, New Jersey: curriculum development and community outreach
2015-2016 Centro de Cultura Arte Trabajo y Educacción, Pennsylvania: Community organizing, culturally relevant curriculum development and arts-based programming
Briana nichols 