Daniel Arreola is a cultural geographer who specializes in the study of the Mexican American borderlands and Hispanic/Latino/a populations in the United States.
He is an AAG Fellow, recipient of the Paul P. Vouras Medal from The American Geographical Society for his studies in regional geography, and the Carl O. Sauer Distinguished Scholarship Award and the Preston E. James Eminent Latin Americanist Career Award from the Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers for his Mexican borderland studies. He is also the recipient of Ethnic Geography Distinguished Scholar from the Ethnic Geography Specialty Group of the AAG, and Distinguished Lecturer from the Historical Geography Specialty Group of the AAG.
Arreola is the author of seven books, including "The Mexican Border Cities: Landscape Anatomy and Place Personality" (with James R. Curtis); "Tejano South Texas: A Mexican American Cultural Province"; "Hispanic Spaces, Latino Places: Community and Cultural Diversity in Contemporary America"; "Postcards from the Rio Bravo Border: Picturing the Place, Placing the Picture, 1900s-1950s"; "Postcards from the Sonora Border: Visualizing Place through a Popular Lens, 1900s-1950s"; "Postcards from the Chihuahua Border: Revisiting a Pictorial Past, 1900s-1950s"; and "Postcards from the Baja California Border: Portraying Townscape and Place, 1900s-1950s."
Two of his books--"Tejano South Texas" (2002) and "Postcards from the Baja California Border" (2021)--have received awards from the American Association of Geographers.
- Ph.D. Geography, University of California-Los Angeles 1980
- M.A. Geography, California State University, Hayward 1975
- B.A. Geography, University of California-Los Angeles 1972
Landscapes, cultural identity, place-making; Mexican-American borderlands; Hispanic/Latino Americans
Books
Arreola, D. D. 2013. Postcards from the Rio Bravo Border: Picturing the Place, Placing the Picture, 1900s-1950s. University of Texas Press.
Arreola, D. D. 2004. Hispanic Spaces, Latino Places: Community and Cultural Diversity in Contemporary America. University of Texas Press.
Arreola, D. D. 2002. Tejano South Texas: A Mexican-American Cultural Province. University of Texas Press.
Arreola, D. D. and J. R. Curtis. 1993. The Mexican Border Cities: Landscape Anatomy and Place Personality. University of Arizona Press.
Journal Articles
Arreola, D. D. 2012.Chiricahua Apache Homeland in the Borderland Southwest. Geographical Review 102, 1: 111-131.
Arreola, D. D. 2012.Placemaking and Latino Urbanism in a Phoenix Mexican Immigrant Community. Journal of Urbanism 5, 2-3: 159-172.
Price, P. L., C. Lukinbeal, R. N. Gioioso, D. D. Arreola, D. J. Fernández, T. Ready, M. de los Angeles Torres. 2011. Placing Latino Civic Engagement. Urban Geography 32, 2: 179-207.
Arreola, D. D. 2010.The Mexico-US Borderlands through Two Decades. Journal of Cultural Geography 27, 3: 331-351.
Arreola, D. D. 2010. Personality, Geographic Art & Lessons from Sauer’s Mexico. Geographical Review 100, 3: 291-294.
Arreola, D. D. and Nick Burkhart. 2010. Photographic Postcards and Visual Urban Landscape. Urban Geography 31, 7: 885-904.
Lukinbeal, C., D. D. Arreola, D. Lucio. 2010. Mexican Colonias in the Salt River Valley. Geographical Review 100 (1): 12-34.
Arreola, D. D., W. E. Doolittle, L. Sutton, A. Fernandez, J. Finn, C. Smith, C. Allen. 2009. Huépac Revisited: Cultural Remapping of a Sonoran Townscape. Journal of the Southwest 51 (2) (Summer): 1-28.
Finn, J., A. Fernandez, L. Sutton, D. D. Arreola, C. Allen, C. Smith. 2009. Puerto Peñasco, Fishing Village to Tourist Mecca. Geographical Review 99 (4): 575-597.
Visual History of the Mexican Border Cities investigates how border cities have been represented in popular media using a personal archive of postcard imagery to analyze views of towns over time. For more information, see Border Town Postcard Views: Historic Postcard Imagery from Mexican Border Cities.
- Arreola, D.D. Photographic Postcards and Visual Urban Landscape. University Lecture (Oct 2010).
- Arreola, D.D. Landscape and Cultural Sustainability in a Phoenix Mexican Immigrant Community. Race, Ethnicity and Place Conference (Oct 2010).
- Arreola, Daniel D. Plaza Spaces, Rediscovering the Townscape Heritage of the Rio Grande/Río Bravo Valley. Old Valley, New Valley Symposium (Nov 2009).
- Arreola, Daniel D. Sonoran Journey, Reflections on Townscape Change. Annual Meeting of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers (Oct 2009).
- Arreola, Daniel, Youngs, Yolonda, Burkhart, Nick, Dorn, Zachary, Allen, Casey. Environmental Impacts of Border Crossers in the Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona. Annual Meeting of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers (Oct 2008).
- Arreola, Daniel. Tejano South Texas: How Regional Culture Expands Our Horizon. Latinos and Higher Education in Texas (Mar 2007).
- Arreola, Daniel. The Picture Postcard Mexican Housescape: Visual Culture and Domestic Identity. Third International Race, Ethnicity, and Place Symposium (Nov 2006).
- Arreola, Daniel. The Picture Postcard Mexican Housescape: Visual Culture and Domestic Identity. Annual J. B. Jackson Lecture (Oct 2006).
- Arreola, Daniel. Comparative Civic and Place Engagement in Three Latino Neighborhoods in Transition. President's Plenary Session, Annual Meeting of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers (Sep 2006).
- Arreola, Daniel. Garfield Project, A Geographical and Cultural Context. Annual Meeting of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers (Sep 2006).
- Arreola, Daniel. Mexican Border Cities Repeat Photography Project. Annual Meeting of the Association of Borderlands Studies (Apr 2006).
- Arreola, Daniel. Garfield, A Latino Community in Transition: Preliminary Survey Results. Annual Meeting of the Latin American Studies Association (Mar 2006).
- Arreola, Daniel. Forget the Alamo: Place as Cinematic Space in John Sayle's Lone Star. Annual Meeting of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers (Sep 2004).
- Arreola, Daniel. Commercial Landscapes as Indicators of Latino Generations in Phoenix, Arizona. International Geographical Union, Commission 30: The Cultural Approach in Geography (Feb 2004).
- Arreola, Daniel. Methodology, Technique, Method: A Contemplation of Meanings. Association of Pacific Coast Geographers (Sep 2003).
- Arreola, Daniel. Hispanic Spaces, Latino Places: Community and Cultural Diversity in Contemporary America. Second Annual Chauncy Harris Lecture
- Fernandez, Arianna, Finn, John, Arreola, Daniel, Sutton, Lindsey, Smith, Claire, Allen, Casey. Puerto Peñasco: From Fishing Village to Tourist Mecca. Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers
2016 - Preston E. James Eminent Latin Americanist Career Award, Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers
2012-2013 - Picturing the Past through Popular Media: Photographic Postcard Views of Sonora Mexican Border Towns, 1900s-1950s. Comparative Border Studies, School of Transborder Studies, Arizona State University, $5000 to support fieldwork and archival research.
2010-2011 - Bill and Rita Clements Research Fellowship for the Study of Southwestern History, William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies, Southern Methodist University to enable fieldwork and writing for book project Picturing the Mexican Border Towns along the Lower Rio Grande.
2007 - Institute for Humanities Research, Arizona State University, "Nature and Culture in the Sky Islands Borderlands" Department of History and School of Geographical Sciences, $9,875 to support Border Field Institute in May 2007 (co-PI Paul Hirt).
2005 - Distinguished Service Award, Association of Pacific Coast Geographers.
2004 - National Geographic Society, Committee for Research and Exploration, $5,000 grant to support project "Mexican Border City Landscape Change: An Analysis Using Repeat Photography."
2003 - John Brinckerhoff Jackson Prize from the Association of American Geographers, for Tejano South Texas.
2003 - Distinguished Scholar Award, American Ethnic Geography Specialty Group, Association of American Geographers.
2003 - Carl O. Sauer Distinguished Scholarship Award, Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers.
- Phoenix College, Department of Foreign Languages, Invited Public Lecture "Resurgent Mexican Phoenix" (2009 - Present)
- Phoenix Art Museum, Invited Lecture, "Landscape Images as Primary Sources" (2009 - Present)
- Phoenix History Museum, Invited Public Lecture "Resurgent Mexican Phoenix" (2009 - Present)
- Journal of Cultural Geography, Editorial Board (2008 - Present)
- Journal of Cultural Geography, Editorial Board (2008 - Present)
- Association of Borderlands Studies, Board Member (2008 - Present)
- Sigma Lambda Beta/Hispanic Fraternity, Faculty Advisor (2008 - Present)
- H-Borderlands Listserv, Editorial Advisory Board (2006 - Present)
- H-Borderlands Listserv, Editorial Advisory Board (2006 - Present)
- H-Borderlands Listserv, Editorial Advisory Board (2006 - Present)
- Department of Transborder Latina/o Chicana/o Studies, Affiliated Faculty (2006 - Present)
- Department of Transborder Latina/o Chicana/o Studies, Affiliated Faculty (2006 - Present)
- Department of Transborder Latina/o Chicana/o Studies, Affiliated Faculty (2006 - Present)
- North American Center for Transborder Studies, Affiliated Faculty (2006 - Present)
- North American Center for Transborder Studies, Affiliated Faculty (2006 - Present)
- North American Center for Transborder Studies, Affiliated Faculty (2006 - Present)
- Mexican American Undergraduate Scholarship Committee, Association of Pacific Coast Geographers, Chair (2006 - Present)
- Mexican American Undergraduate Scholarship Committee, Association of Pacific Coast Geographers, Chair (2006 - Present)
- Geographical Review, Editorial Advisory Board (1993 - Present)
- Geographical Review, Editorial Advisory Board (1993 - Present)
- Sigma Lambda Beta/Hispanic Fraternity, Faculty Advisor (2008 - 2010)
- Association of Borderlands Studies, Board Member (2008 - 2010)
- Association of Borderlands Studies, Board Member (2008 - 2010)
- American Council of Learned Societies, Member, Review Panel (2008 - 2009)
- School of Geographical Sciences/Personnel, Chair (2008 - 2009)
- Sigma Lambda Beta/Hispanic Fraternity, Faculty Advisor (2008 - 2009)
- Journal of Cultural Geography, Editorial Board (2006 - 2008)
- Mexican American Undergraduate Scholarship Committee, Association of Pacific Coast Geographers, Chair (2006 - 2008)
- AULA: Architecture and Urbanism in Las Americas, Editorial Advisory Board (1999 - 2008)
- American Geographical Society, Editorial Advisory Board (1993 - 2008)
- School of Geographical Sciences/Executive Committee, Member (2007 - 2008)
- Hispanic Division, Library of Congress, Contributing Editor (2000 - 2008)
- Louisiana State University, Department of Geography and Anthropology, External Reviewer, Promotion and Tenure (2007 - 2007)
- Sigma Lambda Beta/Hispanic Fraternity, Faculty Sponsor (2006 - 2007)
- North American Geographer, Editorial Board (1999 - 2007)
- Promotion and Tenure Committee, Member (2006 - 2007)
- Faculty in Justice Studies, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Mentor (2006 - 2007)
- School of Geographical Sciences/Graduate Program Committee, Member (2006 - 2006)
- Editor Search Committee, American Geographical Society/Geographical Review, Member (2006 - 2006)
- Journal of Cultural Geography, Editorial Advisory Board (2003 - 2006)
- Political Science/Strategic Planning Committee, Member (2005 - 2006)
- Graduate Program Committee, Member (2005 - 2006)
- Strategic Plan Committee, Political Science, Member (2005 - 2006)
- Personnel Commitee, Member (2004 - 2006)
- Regional Geography Teaching Program, Department of Geography, Arizona State University, Coordinator (1998 - 2005)
- Local Arrangements, Association of Pacific Coast Geographers, Chair (2004 - 2005)
- Chair Search Committee, Chicano/a Studies, Member (2004 - 2005)
- Graduate Program Committee, Chair (2004 - 2005)
- University of Kansas, Department of Geography, External Reviewer, Promotion and Tenure (2004 - 2004)
- Cultural Geographies, Manuscript Reviewer (2004)
- Rio Bravo: A Journal of Borderlands, Manuscript Reviewer (2004)
- Southwestern Geographer, Manuscript Reviewer (2004)
- Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers Meeting [Tucson], Field Trip Co-Organizer (2003 - 2003)
- University of Oregon, Department of Geography, External Reviewer, Promotion (2003 - 2003)
- World Geography (Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell), Senior Consultant (2003 - 2003)
- Human Geographer/Information Technologist Search Committee, Chair (2002 - 2003)
- Southwest Borderlands Initiative Search Committee, Member (2001 - 2003)
- Latin American Center Advisory Board, Member (2003)
- Portland State University, Department of Geography & Environmental Studies, External Reviewer, Promotion (2002 - 2002)
- Region y Sociedad: Revista de El Colegio de Sonora, Editorial Board (1996 - 2002)
- New Mexico State University, Department of Geography, External Reviewer, Promotion (2001 - 2001)
- Nominating Committee, Association of American Geographers, Member (2001 - 2001)
- Assistant Professor Search Committee, Center for Latin American Studies, Member (2000 - 2001)
- Lecturer Search Committee, Department of Geography, Chair (2000 - 2000)
- Executive Advisory Council, Center for Latin American Studies, Member (1999 - 2000)
- Scholarship Committee, Department of Geography, Arizona State University, Chair (1999 - 2000)