My name is Jimena Alvarado Chavarría, I was born and raised in Costa Rica, and I've spent many years moving back and forth between the US and Costa Rica, although I've also taught in Ecuador and Colombia. Acá hay información en español. 

I have a passion for teaching social justice, I often wake up early with new ideas for how to make my classes better. I'm hoping that I can get people inspired to help me change the world! I love working with folks who are new to social-justice ideas, and I'm hoping that I can choose examples and materials that really connect with their everyday lives. You'll find a lot of popular-culture materials on this site, and less of the classic texts. 

My identities are central to the way I teach. My lived experience gives me expertise and knowledge in some areas, and not in others. I have a personal understanding of homophobia, migration, religious discrimination, racism, sexism, language exclusion and colonialism and globalization. My privilege keeps me ignorant of many other oppressions, so I try to work on those issues with humility and accountability. Some of my privileged identities include being cisgender, neurotypical, light skinned, temporarily able-bodied, middle/upper socioeconomic class, currently thin, as well as educational, age and documentation privileges. 

My background is in psychology, specifically liberation psychology, critical psychology and community psychology. I've also specialized in intersectional feminism  and I teach Women's and Gender Studies full-time at Portland Community College. I'm very interested in teaching practices, sexuality, and stigma and discrimination. Please reach out to me with questions and comments, I LOVE geeking out about teaching social justice, and love talking shop. 

My activism has centered on globalization, political participation, economic exploitation, unionizing, Queer rights, Immigrant rights, sexuality, and I currently serve as Board President for SexPositivePortland.

If you want to check out what I'm reading and saving, take a look at my diigo database!

If you're interested in migration stories, some of my journey is written here.  If you want to see some of my (outdated) ceramic pieces, you can take a peek here.