Public History

immigration

transnational history

citizenship

southwestern borderlands

Education

• Ph.D. History, Columbia University 2016
• M. Phil. History, Columbia University 2012
• M.A. History, Columbia University 2011
• B.A. History, University of Chicago 2008

Research Interests

Daniel Morales is co-director of Migration Studies Lab and assistant professor of History. His fields are public history, United States history, immigration, and Latino history. He is from Azusa California. He held previous appointments as an assistant professor at James Madison University and a post-doctoral scholar at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

In his research, he focuses on the social, economic, and political history of migration between Latin America and the United States. He is the author of "Between Here and There: Creating the Political Economy of Mexican Migration 1900-1942" with Oxford University Press 2024. The book analyzes the interplay between the US and Mexican governments, civic organizations, and migrants on both sides of the border and offers a revisionist and comprehensive view of Mexican migration as it was established in the early twentieth century and reproduced throughout the century as a socio-economic system. 

When teaching the history of our politics and democracy, he emphasizes the importance of critical thinking, and seeking understanding of difficult sociopolitical issues in our time. He is also co-director of the Latino Virginia Public History Project. 

Select Publications

• "Between Here and There: Creating the Political Economy of Mexican Migration 1900-1942" Oxford University Press, 2023
• “Tejas, Afuera de México: Newspapers, the Mexican Government, Mutualistas, and Migrants in San Antonio 1910–1940” Journal of American Ethnic History, 2021
• “Hicks Camp: A Mexican Barrio” in East of East: The Making of Greater El Monte, editors Guzman, Fragoza, Cummings, (Rutgers University Press, 2020)
• “Operation Wetback” in 50 Events That Shaped Latino History, editor Lilia Fernández (CLIO, 2018)
• “Imaginary Dangers, Real Victims” Co-Author, Tropics of Meta, 2017

Affiliations

• American Historical Association
• Organization of American Historians
• National Council on Public History
• Immigration and Ethnic History Society
• Western Historical Association
• Latin American Studies Association
• Southeastern Council of Latin American Studies
• Sin Barreras

Courses

• Graduate, Public History: Theory and Practice
• Graduate, Oral History
• Graduate, Digital History
• History of the United States II
• Introduction to Public History
• Public History: Oral History
• Immigration to the United States
• Latinos in the United States

Awards

• Career Enhancement Fellowship, Institute of Citizens and Scholars (formerly-Woodrow Wilson Foundation) 2021-2022
• Visiting Scholar at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 2016-17

Public History Projects

• Migration Studies Lab
• Latino Virginia Project
• Immigrant Harrisonburg Project
• East of East: Mapping Community Narratives