Biography
Prof. Romero was born in northern Mexico, and emigrated to San Antonio, Texas at the age of thirteen. Six years later he was enrolled at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he majored in Finance. He also finished all the coursework required for a major in the Spanish Department. Prof. Romero was a cohort of the original group of fifteen Chicano students who founded M.E.Ch.A (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán) at the University of Pennsylvania. Returning to San Antonio, he worked as a voting rights research analyst for the Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, and the Texas Rural Legal Aid, while finishing his master's at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He received his PhD from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Prof. Romero was hired by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as the first director of Latina/Latino Studies.
Research Interests
- US Latina/Latino Literature
- Mexican Literature and Culture
- Cultural Studies
- Film and Film Theory
Education
University of California at Santa Barbara
University of Texas at San Antonio
Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania
Additional Campus Affiliations
Associate Professor Emeritus, Latina/Latino Studies
Recent Publications
Romero, R. (Ed.), & Harris, A. N. (2005). Feminism, Nation and Myth: La Malinche. Arte Publico Press.
Romero, R. J. (2005). Foundational Motherhood: Malinche/Guadalupe in Contemporary Mexican and Chicana/Chicano Culture. In R. Romero, & A. N. Harris (Eds.), Feminisim, Nation and Myth: La Malinche (pp. 28-43). Arte Publico Press.
Romero, R. J. (2004). Legends of the Fall: Phallocentrism and Democracy in Mexico. Discourse: Journal for Theoretical Studies in Media and Culture, 26(1/2), 111-126. https://doi.org/10.1353/dis.2005.0021
Romero, R. J. (2002). The Alamo, slavery, and the politics of memory. In A. J. Aldama, & N. H. Quinonez (Eds.), Decolonial Voices: Chicana and Chicano Cultural Studies in the 21st Century (pp. 366-377). Indiana University Press.
Delgado, L. E., & Romero, R. J. (2000). "Imperial Disclosures". Discourse: Journal for Theoretical Studies in Media and Culture, 22(3), 4-5. https://doi.org/10.1353/dis.2000.0003