Rodrigo Renteria-Valencia

Dean of Graduate Education, Research, and Strategic Initiatives

Rodrigo F. Renteria Valencia

Profile

I am an anthropologist with over twenty years of experience conducting ethnographic and multidisciplinary research in the US-Mexico borderlands. As an associate professor in the Anthropology and Museum Studies Department at CWU, my teaching as an instructor of record includes over seventy courses and seminars at both the undergraduate and graduate level. My service, encompassing institutional, regional, and state levels, is characterized by articulating and implementing critical frameworks for social progress.

Building on a teacher-scholar model, and seeking to advance CWU’s mission and vision, my identity as the Dean of Graduate Education, Research and Strategic Initiatives is at the service of academic excellence and societal transformation; principles I stand for which define my leadership as transformative in nature, relational in praxis, and mission-driven while attentive to the social and institutional realities that inform who we are and can become.

CV

  • Professional Experience

    Degrees

    • Ph.D. School of Anthropology, University of Arizona. 2016. Doctoral Dissertation: Hunting Cartographies: Individualism, Expertise and Wildlife Conservation among the Concaac.
    • M.A. School of Anthropology, University of Arizona. 2009. Master’s thesis: Hunting on the slopes of Tiburon, market-oriented conservation in Northern Mexico.
    • B.A. Department of Ethnology, ENAH, Mexico, 2006. Bachelor Thesis: Los borders indomables, etnografía del ritual y la identidad étnica entre los Concaac—national winner for Best Bachelor Thesis in Cultural Anthropology (INAH-Fray Bernardino de Sahagún award).

    Professional Appointments

    • 2025-present. Dean of Graduate Education, Research and Strategic Initiatives, CWU.
      • Member, Executive Leadership Team—Office of the President
      • Member, Academic Affairs Council—Office of the Provost
      • Facilitator, Adaptive University Council
      • Ex-officio Member, Academic Affairs Committee, Faculty Senate
    • 2023-present. Associate Professor. Anthropology & Museum Studies, CWU.
    • 2023-2025. Interim Associate Dean for the School of Graduate Studies and Research, CWU.
    • 2016-2023. Tenure-track Assistant Professor, Anthropology & Museum Studies, CWU.
    • 2015-2016. Lecturer, Anthropology & Museum Studies, CWU.
    • 2001-2006. Assistant Research Anthropologist, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (Mexico).

    Professional Development 

    • 2025. American Association of Collegiate Registrar and Admission Officers (AACRAO); Strategic Enrollment Management Design workshop. 
    • 2025. Slate (CRM) Certificate.
    • 2024. Association for Graduate Enrollment Management (NAGAP); Advanced Graduate Enrollment Management Career Track.
    • 2023-2025. Council of Graduate Schools (CGS); pre-conference workshops and New Dean’s Institute.
    • 2023-2024. Society for Research Administrators International (SRAI); Practice of Research Administrations and Management (PRAM) certificate.
    • 2023. Equity-based Professional Development for Practitioners in Hispanic Serving Institutions (ESCALA); Moving Towards Serving Leadership certificate.
    • 2023-2024. Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU); National Science Foundation Grant Writing Symposium.
    • 2017, 2021. Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU); Leadership Institute and pre-conference workshops.
    • 2020. Xicant Institute for Teaching and Organization (XITO)
    • 2017-2018. Equity-based Professional Development for Practitioners in Hispanic Serving Institutions (ESCALA); Certificate of College Teaching & Learning

  • Papers & Publications

    Peer-reviewed Publications

    Journal Articles

    • Renteria-Valencia, Rodrigo, McKenzie Stinson, and Jazmin Gonzalez. 2021. “The Social Mechanics of Hop Production: The Relationships Between People and Machines in the Yakima Valley Hops Fields.” Journal of Northwest Anthropology 55 (2): 341–351.
    • Renteria-Valencia, Rodrigo, N.E. Narchi, A. Búrquez, and S. Trainer. 2015. “Social Constructs, Identity, and the Ecological Consequences of Carne Asada.” Journal of the Southwest 57 (2/3): 305–336.
    • Renteria-Valencia, Rodrigo. 2015. “Ethics, Hunting Tales and the Multispecies Debate: The Entextualization of Nonhuman Narratives.” Visual Anthropology Review 31 (1): 94–103.
    • Renteria-Valencia, Rodrigo. 2014. “Colonial Tensions in the Governance of Indigenous Authorities and the Pima Uprising of 1751.” Journal of the Southwest 56 (2): 345–364.

    Book Chapters

    • Renteria-Valencia, Rodrigo, and Natalia Martínez-Tagüeña. 2020. “Social Cohesion and Environmental Governance among the Concaac of Northern Mexico.” In Stewardship of Future Drylands and Climate Change in the Global South: Challenges and Opportunities for the Agenda 2030, edited by S. Lucatello, E. Hube Sannwald, I. Espejel, and N. Martínez-Tagüeña, 321-335. New York: Springer.
    • Renteria-Valencia, Rodrigo. 2017. “Is Monoculture a Viable Strategy?: The Case of Guayaibi Unido.” In Cooperatives, Grassroots Development, and Social Change: Experiences from Rural Latin America, edited by M. Vásquez-Léon, B. Burke, and T. Finan. Tucson: University of Arizona Press.
    • Renteria-Valencia, Rodrigo. 2011. “El canto de los Espíritus.” In Los dioses, el evangelio y el costumbre: Ensayos de pluralidad religiosa en las regiones indígenas de México, vol. IV, edited by E. Quintal, A. Castilleja, and E. Masferrer, 66-80. México DF: INAH-CONACyT.
    • Renteria-Valencia, Rodrigo, A. Aguilar, G. Conde, and R. Ramírez. 2011. “Con el diablo en el rostro y la cruz por dentro: Yaquis de Hermosillo.” In Los dioses, el evangelio y el costumbre: Ensayos de pluralidad religiosa en las regiones indígenas de México, vol. IV, edited by Quintal, A. Castilleja, and E. Masferrer, 106-122. México DF: INAH-CONACyT.
    • Renteria-Valencia, Rodrigo. 2006. “Los navegantes del desierto: Bordes, signos e identidades en la nación Concaac.” In Visiones de la diversidad: Relaciones interétnicas e identidades indígenas en el México actual, vol. I, edited by Bartolomé, 119-138. México DF: INAH-CONACyT.
    • Renteria-Valencia, Rodrigo, A. Aguilar, and G. Conde. 2006. “Los Yaquis de Hermosillo: La cuaresma como símbolo de resistencia étnica en un contexto urbano.” In Visiones de la diversidad: Relaciones interétnicas e identidades indígenas en el México actual, vol. I, edited by M. Bartolomé, 159-178. Mexico DF: INAH-CONACyT.

    Monographs

     

    Professional Meetings

    Panels Organized

    • Renteria-Valencia, Rodrigo, and Iván Sandoval. 2017. “The Nonhuman Borderlands.” Panel organized for the 116th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Washington, DC. Discussants: Mark Auslander and Thomas E. Sheridan.
    • Renteria-Valencia, Rodrigo, and Peter Taber. 2014. “Ethics and Affects of Environmental Government.” Panel organized for the 114th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Washington, DC. Discussant: Valerie A. Olson.

    Papers Presented

    • Renteria-Valencia, Rodrigo. 2024. “An Edgeless River: Longitudinal Data Analysis in the Administration of Higher Education.” In Flying like a Bird or Focusing like a Frog: Reflections on Applying Longitudinal Qualitative Research Designs. Paper presented at the Society for Applied Anthropology 84th Annual Meeting, Santa Fe, NM.
    • Renteria-Valencia, Rodrigo. 2022. Panel discussant: “Towards Disruptive Anthropology: Just Representation, Scaled Impact and Transcending Platitudes in Environmental Decision-Making Society.” Paper presented at the Society for Applied Anthropology 82nd Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT.
    • Renteria-Valencia, Rodrigo. 2019. Panel discussant for “The Americas Ablaze.” Paper presented at the 118th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Vancouver, Canada.
    • Renteria-Valencia, Rodrigo. 2017. “Hunting for Meaning: The Semiotic Ontologies of Nonhumans.” Paper presented at the 116th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Washington, DC.
    • Renteria-Valencia, Rodrigo. 2016. “The Edge of the Horizon: Political Ecology’s Semiotic Fields.” Paper presented at the Society for Applied Anthropology 76th Annual Meeting, Vancouver, Canada.
    • Renteria-Valencia, Rodrigo. 2014. “The Affective Effects of Environmental Conservation.” Paper presented at the 123rd Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Washington, DC.
    • Renteria-Valencia, Rodrigo. 2014. “Ejidos, Wildlife and Two Smoking Barrels: Sport Trophy Hunting Conservation in Mexico.” Paper presented at the 32nd International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, Chicago, IL.
    • Renteria-Valencia, Rodrigo. 2013. “Hunting Sheep: Assembling Ethnographic Visions from Tiburón Island.” Paper presented at the 122nd Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Chicago, IL.
    • Renteria-Valencia, Rodrigo, and Marcela Vásquez-Léon. 2013. “Fishing Mythologies: Marine Reserves, Narco-Traffic and Small-Scale Fisheries in the Upper Gulf of California, Mexico.” Paper presented at the 122nd Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Chicago, IL.
    • Renteria-Valencia, Rodrigo. 2012. “The Margin, Represented: Semiotic Rides between Yaquis and Cholos in the Alleys of El Coloso, Mexico.” Paper presented at the 111th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, San Francisco, CA.
    • Renteria-Valencia, Rodrigo. 2011. “Enacting Ecological Expertise: Iterations between Language and Matter in Seri Society.” Paper presented at the 110th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Montreal, Canada.
    • Renteria-Valencia, Rodrigo. 2010. “The Attire of the General: Semiotic Ideologies of the Pima Revolt of 1751.” Paper presented at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the Association for Documentary Editing, Philadelphia, PA.
    • Renteria-Valencia, Rodrigo. 2008. “Fronteiras para a Conservação: A Transformação de Territórios Indígenas no Norte do México.” Paper presented at the 28th Reunião Brasileira de Antropologia, São Paulo, Brasil.
    • Renteria-Valencia, Rodrigo. 2007. “Mojet: Market-Oriented Conservation in Northern Mexico.” Paper presented at the Rocky Mountains Council for Latin American Studies, Flagstaff, AZ.
  • Courses Taught

    • ANTH 130 Cultural Worlds
    • ANTH 130 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
    • ANTH 137 Race, Power and the American Dream 
    • ANTH 346 Cultures of Latin America and the Caribbean 
    • ANTH 347 Native Peoples of North America
    • ANTH 352 Anthropology of Environmental Issues 
    • ANTH/COM 380 Non-verbal Communication
    • ANTH 444 Ethnographic Methods
    • ANTH 451 History and Theory of Anthropology 
    • ANTH458 Senior Comprehensive Survey
    • ANTH/GEO 440-CERM 540 Ecology and Culture  
    • CERM 501 Introduction to Resource Management 
    • CERM 562 Environmental Issues and Conflicts  

Contact

Barge Hall 103C