About

Robert Irwin is a Professor of Spanish at UC Davis, serving as the primary undergraduate advisor in the department. His research interests encompass Mexican and Mexican American studies, migration and border studies, gender and sexuality studies, cultural and media studies, and digital storytelling through community-based participatory audiovideo production. He is currently the Principal Investigator of the project 'Humanizando la Deportación/Humanizando el Asilo' and serves as Deputy Director of the Global Migration Center at UC Davis. Irwin has contributed extensively to the fields of Latin American and border studies, with a focus on migration, deportation, and community narratives, and has authored and edited numerous publications on these topics. He teaches courses related to Mexican, Latin American, and Chicanx culture, cultural theory, and Latinx studies, and advises students engaged in research on migration, border issues, and cultural studies.

Research topics

• Political Science
• Sociology
• Law
• Humanities
• History
• Philosophy

Selected publications

• Bad Guys at the Border: Migrant Perspectives

  2025-01-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Effects of Pandemic Containment and Migration Deterrence Policies: Migrant’s Perspectives

  Migraciones internacionales · 2025-04-29

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  During the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic, experts warned of asylum seekers’ and migrants’ increased vulnerability to contagion, particularly those detained in the United States, traveling north toward the U.S.-Mexico border, or waiting at the border to cross. Despite United States deterrence policies aimed at reducing border crossings during the pandemic, migrants continued their attempts to reach the U.S., facing heightened obstacles. Analyzing digital stories recorded by migrants for the Humanizando la Deportación archive reveals that while pandemic containment actions caused substantial harm, neither these measures nor the disease itself—which appears as a background factor in many narratives—significantly reduced migratory flows in the region.

  PublisherDOI

• Humanizing Deportation

  2025-11-06

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Navigating U.S. Healthcare: Monolingual Latino Immigrant Families Raising Children with Developmental Disabilities

  2025-08-30

  reportOpen accessSenior author

  While research on healthcare access among immigrant and disabled communities is growing, few studies examine the unique barriers that individuals at the intersection of these identities face. However, the limited existing research strongly underscores the need for further investigation and increased

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Under Western Eyes: A History of Mamluk Studies

  2024-10-08 · 3 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Al-Maqrīzī and Ibn Khaldūn, Historians of the Unseen

  2024-10-08

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Ibn Zunbul and the romance of history

  2024-10-08

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Futuwwa: Chivalry and Gangsterism in Medieval Cairo

  2024-10-08

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• The Image of the Byzantine and the Frank in Arab Popular Literature of the Late Middle Ages

  2024-10-08 · 1 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• The Impact of the Early Crusades on the Muslim World

  2024-10-08

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Faye Tan

  American Association of Sensory Electrodiagnostic Medicine

  13 shared

• S. Adkins

  American Association of Sensory Electrodiagnostic Medicine

  13 shared

• Dianna Quan

  University of Minnesota Rochester

  13 shared

• Mónica Szurmuk

  11 shared

• Maricruz Castro Ricalde

  8 shared

• Arturo Chacón Castañón

  Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juárez

  6 shared

• Michelle Rocío Nasser

  5 shared

• Sylvia Molloy

  5 shared

Labs

• Spanish and Portuguese - Robert IrwinPI