Dr. Ruth Gomberg
Professor & Director, Fellowship Office
Ruth Gomberg is a sociocultural anthropologist with research and teaching interests in political economy, migration, Latinos/as in the U.S., race and class, applied anthropology, and urban ethnography. Her first research project explored how undocumented workers in Chicago negotiated perceptions of their labor as they struggled to attain autonomy, security, and dignity. Her second study followed undocumented people and their family members as they undertook immigration processing in an attempt to gain legal permanent residency. Her current research is with deportees' rights organizers in Mexico City. Dr. Gomberg has also been an advocate for Chicago’s immigrant rights movement since 2006.
Resources for Undocumented Students
Loyola is committed to providing accurate information and resources for current and prospective undocumented students, their families, and allies. For details, please visit Loyola's page for non-citizen students at: http://luc.edu/diversity/resources/undocumentedstudentresources.
Research Opportunities for Students
Dr. Gomberg loves to work with students! She often has opportunities for undergraduate student research, internships, public policy work, and other community-engaged projects. Dr. Gomberg's students often get fellowships or other awards to support this work, and most also earn college credits in independent study or internships. Interested students should reach out!
Courses Taught
- ANTH 216 - Cultures of Migration
- ANTH 304 - Anthropological Theory
Publications/Research Listings
Books
2022 - Bolles, A. Lynn, Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz, Bernie Perley, and Keri Vacanti-Brondo, eds. Anthropological Theory for the 21st Century: A Critical Reader. Toronto: Toronto University Press.
2019 - Gomberg-Muñoz, Ruth. Labor and Legality: An Ethnography of a Mexican Immigrant Network, 10th Anniversary Edition. New York: Oxford University Press.
2016 - Gomberg-Muñoz, Ruth. Becoming Legal: Immigration Law and Mixed Status Families. New York: Oxford University Press.
2011 - Gomberg-Muñoz, Ruth. Labor and Legality: An Ethnography of a Mexican Immigrant Network. New York: Oxford University Press.
Selected Journal Articles and Book Chapters
2021 - Gomberg-Muñoz, Ruth. The Mexico City Runaround: Temporal Barriers to Deportee Acclimation. In Stealing Time: Migration, Temporalities, and State Violence, Monish Bhatia and Victoria Canning, eds. New York: Palgrave.
2020 - Gomberg-Muñoz, Ruth and Reyna Wences. Fight for the City: Policing, Sanctuary, and Resistance in Chicago. Geographical Review.
2020 - Gomberg-Muñoz, Ruth. Knowing Your Rights in Trump’s America: Paper Trails of Migrant Community Empowerment. Paper Trails: Migrants and Documents in an Era of Legal Insecurity, Sarah Horton and Josiah Heyman, eds. Durham: Duke University Press.
2020 - Gomberg-Munoz, Ruth, Esmeralda Flores Marcial, Ana Laura Lopez, Magdalena Loredo, Adriana Sandoval, Reyna Wences, Dolores Unzueta, Rosi Carrasco, and Martin Unzueta. Deportees in Mexico City. Research Report. June, 2020.
2018 - Gomberg-Muñoz, Ruth. Come to Terms: The Complicit Anthropologist. Journal of the Anthropology of North America 21(1): 35–37.
2018 - Gomberg-Muñoz, Ruth. Resources for Migrant Returnees in Mexico. Editors' Forum: Hot Spots, Cultural Anthropology website, January 31, 2018.
2016 - Gomberg-Muñoz, Ruth. The Juárez Wives Club: Gendered Citizenship and U.S. Immigration Law. American Ethnologist 43(2): 339–352.
2016 - Mena Robles, Jorge and Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz. Activism after DACA: Lessons from Chicago's Immigrant Youth Justice League. North American Dialogue 19(1): 46-54.
2016 - Wheatley, Abby C. and Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz. Keep Moving: Collective Agency Along the Migrant Trail. Citizenship Studies 20 (3–4): 396–410. DOI: 10.1080/13621025.2016.1158351.
2015 - Gomberg-Muñoz, Ruth. The Punishment/El Castigo: Undocumented Latinos and U.S. Immigration Processing. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies.
2011 - Gomberg-Muñoz, Ruth and Laura Nussbaum-Barberena. Is Immigration Policy Labor Policy?: Immigration Enforcement, Undocumented Labor, and the State. Human Organization 70(4): 366–375.
2010 - Gomberg-Muñoz, Ruth. Willing to Work: Agency and Vulnerability in an Undocumented Immigrant Network. American Anthropologist 112(2):295-307.