Dr. Cheryl Ana Jimenez Frei (she/her/hers)
- Assistant Professor
- Co-director of the Public History Program
- History
- Latin American and Latinx Studies
- Hibbard Humanities Hall 717, Eau Claire | Directions
- Office hours: Fall semester 2023:
MW 12:15-1:15 pm and by appointment
Dr. Cheryl Ana Jiménez Frei is an Assistant Professor of History, co-director of the Public History Program, and affiliated faculty in the Latin American and Latinx Studies Program at UWEC. She teaches various courses in Public History, History of Latin America, and World History, and her research specializations are in memory and the built environment, museums, monuments, visual culture, oral history, digital history, and Argentina and the Southern Cone. Her work has been published in the Journal of Latin American Studies, The Public Historian, and Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archive Professionals.
Her current work as a core member of the Wisconsin Latinx History Collective includes a multi-year project to create a comprehensive digital edition site documenting, preserving, and providing public access to artifacts and stories on the rich history and contributions of Latinx communities in Wisconsin. The project, funded by the National Archives and the Mellon Foundation, will create a digital history site compiling research and educational materials including archival sources, digital exhibits, and lesson plans.
Dr. Jiménez Frei is an Academic Advisory Committee member of the Contested Histories Initiative at the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation, The Hague, The Netherlands. She is also the co-founder of the Western Wisconsin COVID-19 Archive, awarded the 2021 Wisconsin Historical Society Governor’s Award for Archival Innovation, and Voces Del Campo/Rural Voices, an oral history project dedicated to documenting the stories and experiences of Latinx populations across rural western Wisconsin. She sits on the board of the Chippewa Valley Museum and the Wisconsin Federation of Museums, and is an active scholar in both academic and public spheres, often reaching out to public audiences through media, public forums, and podcasts. She has participated in podcasts discussing subjects including monument controversies and music and collective memory.
Her research and public history collaborations with UWEC students and community partners include a partnership with the Keweenaw National Historic Park, a unit of the U.S. National Park Service located in Calumet, MI; exhibit research, design, and implementation in the Irvine Park Welcome Center in Chippewa Falls, WI; oral history and digital archive work for Voces del Campo and the Western WI COVID-19 Archive; and a bilingual Spanish/English digital exhibit on the history of public health crises in rural Wisconsin.
Dr. Jiménez Frei is currently working on a book manuscript titled “Carved, Cast, and Contested: Monuments, Memory, and Identity in Argentina,” under contract by the University of Nebraska Press. She is fascinated with all things Latin American, and leads annual student immersion/service learning experiences to Puerto Rico and Argentina.
Teaching Interests
- Public History
- Modern Latin America
- Museums
- Collective Memory & Identity
- Cultural history
Research and Creative Activities
- Memory and the Built Environment
- Argentina and the Southern Cone
- Visual culture
- Oral history
- Digital history
Education
Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara (Public History)
M.A., University of California, Santa Barbara (Latin American & Iberian Studies)
B.A. Northern Michigan University (International Studies & Journalism)
Published Research
- “Surviving, Learning, and Striving in the Times of Pandemic: Teaching with a Journal of the Plague Year: a COVID-19 Archive,” Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals, December 2020.
- “Adapting and Finding Meaning in Uncertain Times: Teaching the JOTPY Archive,” History@Work, The National Council on Public History blog, Sept. 24, 2020.
- “Columbus, Juana, and the Politics of the Plaza: Battles over Monuments, Memory, and Identity in Buenos Aires,” Journal of Latin American Studies, vol. 51, (3) August 2019, pp. 607-638.
- “Towards Memory, Against Oblivion: A Comparative Perspective on Public Memory, Monuments, and Confronting a Painful Past in the US and Argentina," The Public Historian, Special Digital Issue, Sept. 2017.
- "Down Argentine Way," in Race and American Film: Voices and Visions that Shaped a Nation,Daniel Bernardi and Michael Green (ABC-Greenwood, 2017), 242-244.
Public History Activity & Scholarship
- Digital exhibit, curator and lead: "Marching Beyond the Kitchen: SPAM and the Women Behind the Can" (2022)
- Exhibit curator & lead: "Our Natural Wealth: Civic Pride, Conservation, and Irvine Park in the National Story,” Irvine Park & Zoo Welcome Center, Chippewa Falls, WI (2022)
- Digital Edition, project co-lead: ¡Presente!: Documenting Latinx History in Wisconsin through a Collaborative Digital Edition (2020-present)
- Project lead, in collaboration with the Chippewa Valley Museum: Artes Latinas oral history project (2022)
- Bilingual digital exhibit, curator and project lead: "The Individual, the Collective, and the Crisis: Public Health in rural Wisconsin"/"El individuo, el colectivo y la crisis: la salud pública en las zonas rurales de Wisconsin"(2021)
- Founder and project lead, Voces del Campo/Rural Voices oral history & digital archive project (2020-present)
- Founder and project lead, Western WI COVID-19 Digital Archive (2020-present)
Honors and Recognitions
-
National Archives and the Mellon Foundation Start-Up Grant for Collaborative Digital Editions, Fall 2021. Awarded for digital history project: ¡Presente!: Documenting Latinx History in Wisconsin.
- Wisconsin Historical Society Governor’s Award for Archival Innovation, 2021. Awarded for the Western Wisconsin COVID-19 Archive
- University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Student-Faculty Research Collaboration grant, 2021 & 2022. Awarded for Voces del Campo/Rural Voices oral history and digital archival project.
-
Albert Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest project grant, Villanova University, 2020. Awarded for "Documenting the Undocumented: Covid-19 Oral Histories & Immigrant Workers in Rural Wisconsin" oral history project.
Professional Memberships
- National Council on Public History
- International Federation for Public History
- Latin American Studies Association
- Association of Latin American Art
- Conference on Latin American History
- Rocky Mountain Council for Latin American Studies
- American Historical Association
- World History Association
- Society of Architectural Historians
- Coordinating Council for Women in History