Erik Bernardino

Assistant Professor of History

Associations

History

Pettengill Hall, Room 104

Latin American and Latinx Studies

207-786-6072ebernard@bates.edu

About

B.A., UCLA
Ph.D., UC Santa Cruz

I am a historian of the twentieth century United States specializing in Latinx, immigration, and borderlands histories. I am particularly interested in the intersection of immigration policy and labor migrations at the turn of the twentieth century. My current research questions why US federal-level immigration policies relied on local-level morals policing to enforce national-level policies of border control.

I am currently working on preparing a book manuscript on the California-Baja California borderlands. I focus on agricultural and sexual commerce workers at the turn of the twentieth century as they negotiated between US and Mexican state projects of labor policing.

When not teaching or conducting research I enjoy watching Dodger games and exploring Maine with my family.

Expertise

Current Courses

Winter Semester 2025

GSS 301D / HIST 301D / LALS 301D
Regulating Intimacy: Histories of the Labor of Sex in North America

HIST 268 / LALS 268
US Latinx History