Department of Latino and Hispanic Caribbean Studies
Phone: 732-445-1335
E-mail: uberg@rci.rutgers.edu
I am a socio-cultural anthropologist working on communicative practices in the context of transnational migration between Peru and the US. I am interested in mobile livelihoods, the sociality of transnational connections, the performance of affect, and notions of belonging and membership, and the practicalities and ontologies of multi-sites fieldwork. I am currently working on a book manuscript on new media practices and transnational life among Peruvian migrants in the US. I am co-editor of El Quinto Suyo: Transnacionalidad y Formaciones Diaspóricas en la Migración Peruana (IEP, 2005) and my articles have been published in Revista Academia Diplomática Peruana, Latino Studies, and Journal for Ethnic and Migration Studies, among others. At Rutgers, I have taught courses including Latinos and Migration, Intro to Latino Studies, Anthropology of Media, and Latino Ethnography.
Ulla Berg accompanying US-based migrants in traditional indigenous clothing, visiting an annual festival - La Fiesta de Santiago - in the town of Sicaya, Central Highlands of Peru, August 2004
I am also a filmmaker and on the visual front, I am currently working on two projects: The first is a new documentary project on the Peruvian poet Domingo de Ramos, which I am directing and producing. This project has just entered the first stages of editing. The second project is a collaboration with Copenhagen-based filmmaker Marta Guetierrez titled Cineclub Waleker and explores the role of cinema in rehabilitation/re-socialization of prisoners in one of the most overcrowded and dangerous prisons in Caracas, Venezuela. I have also directed, produced and edited the documentary Waiting for Miracles (2003), which follows a Peruvian Catholic brotherhood in NYC as it prepares for its yearly procession honoring the Lord of Miracles.
Education
Ulla Berg with NJ-based Peruvian journalists, Luis Aranguren (left) and Roberto Bustamante (right) looking at a map of Paterson, NJ, and discussing/planning a survey on transnational practices among Peruvian migrants in Paterson (April, 2004)
2007 Ph.D. in Socio-cultural Anthropology, New York University.
2005 Certificate Program in Culture and Media, New York University.
2001 M.A. in Anthropology, University of Copenhagen.
1998 B.A. in Anthropology, University of Copenhagen.
Courses offered
595:298 Latinos and Migration (Fall 2008)
595:307 Latino Ethnography (Spring 2009)
595:101 Intro to Latino Studies (Spring 2009)
070:368 Anthropology of Mass Media (Fall 2008)
Ulla Berg with grandmother from the town of Urcumarca (pseudonym), who was brought to the US by her working migrant daughter to take care of the family's children. Silver Spring, Maryland, May 2005
- Cineclub Waleker. Documentary in development about cinema and social justice in prisons in Venezuela (producer)
- Domingo de Ramos. Documentary-in-progress on the Peruvian poet Domingo de Ramos (director)
- Waiting for Miracles (2003). Documentary that follows a Peruvian Catholic brotherhood as it prepares for its yearly procession honoring the Lord of Miracles in NYC. This film explores the power of faith in the lives of immigrants in New York City (Director, Producer, and editor. NYU, Culture and Media).