About
I am a sixth-year Ph.D. candidate in the Department of History at the University of California, Irvine, specializing in twentieth-century Latin American and U.S. history, with a focus on labor, law, and democracy in Guatemala. My dissertation, “Workers, Labor Rights, and Democracy during the Guatemalan Revolution, 1944–1954,” is under the direction of Professor Heidi Tinsman and is on track for filing in June 2027.
I hold an M.A. in History of Labor in Latin America from California State University, Los Angeles, and a B.A. in History with a minor in Labor Studies from UC Santa Barbara. I was born in Guatemala and raised in San Bernardino, California, and I am the first person in my family to attend college.
Research
Dissertation
My dissertation examines how Guatemala’s 1947 Labor Code and the labor tribunals of the Ministry of Labor and Social Prevision reshaped power relations between employers and workers — urban and rural, Ladino and Indigenous — during the democratic opening known as the “Guatemalan Spring” (1944–1954). Drawing on labor-tribunal case files, government ministry records, and national and student newspapers gathered during fieldwork in Guatemala City, San Marcos, and Izabal, I argue that labor law and workplace conflict were a central and underexamined arena of democratic struggle — one that both advanced and ultimately helped undermine popular support for Guatemala’s democratic experiment. The project contributes an original framework to Central American history, Latin American labor history, and the broader study of law and democratic development.
Archival fieldwork is complete and the research is closed. The dissertation is drafted in full — roughly 460 pages, built on a corpus of 103 digitized labor-tribunal case files, several hundred pages of Ministry of Labor correspondence, U.S. State Department despatches, and the contemporary Guatemalan press — and is on track to file in June 2027.
Committee
Heidi Tinsman (chair) · Kevan Aguilar · Rachel O’Toole · Alex Borucki
Teaching
I am committed to making rigorous historical thinking accessible to students from all backgrounds, informed by my own experience as a first-generation, working-class Guatemalan immigrant. My teaching is built around scaffolded course design, multiple modes of engagement with difficult material, and writing instruction grounded in historical-thinking pedagogy.
- Instructor of Record, Department of Composition, UCI (2025–2026) — introductory writing course applying historical-thinking pedagogy to foundational academic writing.
- Course Designer & Instructor, History 70D, UCI (Summer 2025) — “Latin America Beyond the Archives,” an asynchronous course on archives, memory, and historical production, developed with faculty mentor Dr. Rachel O’Toole through UCI’s Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation.
- Teaching Assistant, UCI (2021–present) — Departments of History, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Spanish, and Composition.
Publications
Amado, Josthin. “Framing Resistance.” Review of Beyond Norma Rae: How Puerto Rican and Southern White Women Fought for a Place in the American Working Class, by Aimee Loiselle. Contingent Magazine, April 26, 2025.
Read online →
“A New Guatemalan Spring.” UCI School of Humanities, 2023. Commentary on Guatemala’s 2023 presidential election.
Read online →
Amado, Josthin. Review of China’s Environmental Challenges, by Judith Shapiro. Perspectives: A Journal of Historical Inquiry 47 (Spring 2020).
Consulting & Professional Services
Alongside my academic work I take a limited number of professional engagements. Each of the following draws directly on the research and teaching described above. Inquiries are welcome at jamadohe@uci.edu.
Historical & Legal Spanish Translation
Spanish-to-English translation of historical, legal, and governmental documents, including handwritten and typewritten material from the early and mid-twentieth century. My dissertation research required transcribing and verifying 103 labor-tribunal case files and several hundred pages of ministry correspondence, and all translations in that work are my own. Well suited to scholars working with untranslated sources, attorneys with Spanish-language records, archives, and family collections.
Scholarly Editing
Developmental and line editing for academic authors, with particular attention to Latin Americanist scholarship and to researchers writing in English as a second or additional language. Former Editor-in-Chief of Perspectives: A Journal of Historical Inquiry, where I directed peer review, revision, and production.
Instructional Design & Curriculum Development
Course and materials design for higher education, professional development, and grades 8–12 — including fully asynchronous online courses, differentiated inquiry materials, rubrics, and assessment design. Formal course-design training through UCI’s Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation. Materials development available in English and Spanish. A portfolio is available on request.
Program Evaluation & Impact Reporting
Qualitative synthesis of reflective responses, participant artifacts, and survey data into evaluation reports, impact maps, and funder-facing summaries. Most recently, the Year 1 evaluation for a grant-funded teacher institute serving 29 fellows across nine districts and agencies in three counties.
Archival Digitization & Research Consultation
Design of digitization and transcription workflows for small archives and private collections — OCR, AI-assisted transcription with systematic human verification, indexing, and searchable catalogs — with particular capability in Spanish-language holdings. Also available for commissioned historical research on Guatemala and Central America.
Curriculum Vitae
A full CV, including fellowships, grants, teaching experience, and conference presentations, is available on request or by downloading below.
Download CV (PDF)Contact
Department of History, University of California, Irvine
Email: jamadohe@uci.edu