🧵 It is the season for PhD program applications and as I work on letters of recommendation, reading over people's materials, I want to share some tips that I hope will be useful 🧵 The statement of purpose is not a personal statement.

I can't emphasize this enough.

🧵Qualitative researchers: honoring people’s experiences does not have to mean repeating exactly what they say, or using their analysis without further context
🧵 It is our job as scholars to analyze within the contexts we consider to be most relevant (we have to make a case for these contexts and frameworks)

Several of my graduate students are applying for grants and fellowships and I just sent them a message to help them think through their writing process. I thought I'd share here, as well, in case it's helpful 1. Use every piece of the application to fill in a different aspect of who you are or what your project is about. Think of all the pieces as complementing each other to create a more full picture of you and your project

State Department says US cutting off aid to El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras. Most of that $ was for military bases, police training, & failed policies anyway #CentAmStudies cnn.it/2FGFkrw It is just so frustrating to see how little they understand about how US-enforced policies are precisely what are driving people out

When I was in 7th grade, on our way to her house, my dear Mexican friend asked me not to tell her mother that I am Salvadoran. “If she finds out, she won’t let me be your friend anymore.” In college, my close Mexican friend got drunk one day and asked me, “why do we all hate Salvadorans?”

On the one hand, I'm grateful that people are finally outraged about violence against migrants/refugees/asylum-seekers/human beings. Thank goodness for human decency and solidarity. On the other hand, so many of the current narratives feel incomplete and, in a broader context of US-Mexico-Central American realities, it is painful to see this all playing out without recognition of a much longer history of violence against Central American peoples.

I held out as long as I could, but then listened to that recording of the children. They call out for their papá, respond to questions about where they're from. El Salvador. Guatemala. And they keep crying out for their fathers. #CentAmStudies I have written about families torn apart in other ways, mostly as a result of US foreign policy (military and economic intervention). Being unable to reside together for many years is soul-crushing for many who live that experience