Member Details

Marisa Alicea was named dean of the School for New Learning (SNL) in April of 2008 after serving as interim dean for the prior 10 months. Alicea began her tenure at DePaul as associate director of the Center for Latino Research and as a lecturer in DePaul’s sociology department. From there, she moved to SNL where she served in a variety of roles including associate professor, director of undergraduate programs for SNL at DePaul’s O’Hare Campus and associate dean for curriculum and instruction. Alicea is an authority on the migration and settlement patterns within Latino communities, immigration issues for Mexicans, Puerto Ricans and Cubans, as well as race and ethnic relations and gender studies. In 1989 she earned a Ph.D. in sociology from Northwestern University with a specialization in race ethnicity and immigration. A frequent guest lecturer, Alicea has been invited to present on a range of subjects, including the role of women in the social construction of a transnational communities and methadone use by women. She has lectured at such prestigious institutions as the University of Chicago, the University of Michigan and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For the past five years, she has served as Associate Editor of the Journal of Latino Studies. Her scholarship has been published in peer referred journals and in edited volumes. She also is the co-author of a book , “Women Surviving Heroin: Interviews With Methadone Users,” (2001, University Press) and co-editor of a text, “Migration and Immigration: A Global Perspective,” (2004 Greenwood Press). Living the DePaul mission has resulted in numerous community ties for Alicea. She has served as a board member and chairman of Mujeres Latinas en Acción, on the advisory committees of Amigas Latinas and of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund and as a board member of the Institute of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture’ s program committee.