Betsabeth Monica Lugo

Betsabeth Monica Lugo received her PhD in Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin in 2015. Monica was a Visiting Scholar in the Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Houston from 2016 to 2018. Monica brings a wide range of experience in higher education, sociological analysis, qualitative research and advocacy. A sociologist by training, Monica’s research focuses on the ways race, gender, class and citizenship status intersect to shape the lived experience of Latino/a immigrants in the United States. She particularly focuses on the lived experience of Mexican immigrant mothers to illustrate the pervasive power of the nation-state to shape intimate life. Dr. Lugo’s work is foregrounded in a discussion of historical and socio-political processes of illegalization that have rendered Mexican immigrants as illegal subjects. During her professional training, she developed and fine-tuned her methodological and analytical skills rooted in ethnographic research, including in-depth interviewing and
participant observation.

Based on her research findings Monica has several publications. She has an article titled “What Does It Mean to Return Home? Mexican Women’s Narratives of Hope and Uncertainty” published in Challenging Inequalities: Readings in Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration (2017). Another article written in collaboration and entitled “When Researching the ‘Other’ Intersects with the ‘Self’: Women of Color Intimate Research is published in Departures in Critical Qualitative Research (2020). She also contributed the chapter entitled “The Everyday Religion of Mexican Immigrant Women” to an edited volume titled The Latinx Experience: Interdisciplinary Perspectives (2023). Her paper “Mothering at the Intersection of Immigrant Illegality: How Race, Class, Gender, and Citizenship Status shape the Work of Mothering” is under review.

Monica has also conducted qualitative research and fieldwork for Culture Concepts, a strategic consultancy focused on ethnographic research, cultural analysis and storytelling. Currently, she is a program coordinator for the Senior Programs at the North Texas Food Bank.

Monica was thrilled to be approached by the Texas Jail Project to join their board because it felt like a great fit with her values, beliefs, and experience. Throughout her academic and professional work, Monica has focused on the lived experience of those who have seen their lives impacted by the power of the law and the institutions of the state. Her ability to be an active listener and a powerful storyteller makes her a great addition to the Texas Jail Project. Monica currently lives in Dallas, Texas.