Professor

About

  • Office Hours:

    WF 1:00 pm-2:00 pm (Fall 2024)

  • Role:

    Faculty

  • Position:

    • Professor

  • Department:

    • Ethnic Studies

  • Education:

    • B.A. in History of the Americas, University of Puerto Rico
    • M.A. in Latin American Studies, University of Florida
    • Ph.D. in Political Science, University of Florida

Biography

Dr. Ernesto Sagás is Professor of Ethnic Studies at Colorado State University. He has a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Florida with a concentration in Latin American studies. His research focuses on the politics of the Hispanic Caribbean, particularly issues of race, elections, and democratization. He is the author of Race and Politics in the Dominican Republic; co-editor of The Dominican People: A Documentary History, Dominican Migration: Transnational Perspectives, and Dominican Politics in the Twenty First Century: Continuity and Change; and author of several articles on race and politics, democracy and authoritarianism, and immigration policies, among other topics. At CSU, Dr. Sagás has also done research on Latinxs in Colorado, and he is the author of the forthcoming Latino Colorado: The Struggle for Equality in the Centennial State. He is also a political analyst for Univisión Colorado, commenting on issues ranging from U.S. domestic politics and elections to foreign affairs, and he is frequently interviewed by local, national, and international media outlets in both English and Spanish. In 2022, Dr. Sagás was a Fulbright U.S. scholar in La Paz, Bolivia. Currently, he is working on a book about democracy and authoritarianism in the Hispanic Caribbean.

Democracy is Like an Antique Vase

RESEARCH: Race/ethnicity/identity in Latin America and the Caribbean, democracy and authoritarianism in Latin America and the Caribbean, transnational politics, Latinx politics, Latinxs in Colorado, U.S. immigration policies, and race/ethnicity/identity in the American West.

TEACHING: ETST 261 Latinx Populations in the U.S., ETST 370 Caribbean Identities, ETST 371 The Modern Caribbean, ETST 503 Contemporary Ethnic Studies Issues, ETST 531 Latinx Politics in the U.S., ETST 540 Race in Latin America.

Publications

ORCID: 0000-0002-0622-5214

Selected Publications:

Books

Sagás, E. (2025). Latino Colorado: The Struggle for Equality in the Centennial State. Denver: University Press of Colorado. Forthcoming.

Jiménez Polanco, J., and E. Sagás (Eds.). (2023). Dominican Politics in the Twenty First Century: Continuity and Change. New York, London: Routledge.

Sagás, E., and S. E. Molina (Eds.). (2004). Dominican Migration: Transnational Perspectives. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.

Sagás, E., and O. Inoa (Eds.). (2003). The Dominican People: A Documentary History. Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener Publishers.

Sagás, E. (2000). Race and Politics in the Dominican Republic. Gainesville: University Press of Florida.

Refereed Journal Articles

Román, E., and E. Sagás (2025). Race and Empire: The United States Over Puerto Rico. Oregon Law Review 103(2). Forthcoming.

Román, E., and E. Sagás (2024). A Puerto Rico for Whom? Race, Neglect, and Empire. Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy, 20(1). Forthcoming.

Sagás, E., and E. Román (2024). The Mismeasure of Puerto Rico: Xenophobia and the Moral Bankruptcy of U.S. Colonialism. Journal of Law and Policy, 32(2), 54-76.

Sagás, E. (2023). Post-Authoritarian Transitions in the Dominican Republic and Haiti: Political Detours and Dead Ends in the Quest for Democracy. Caribbean Studies, 51(1), 3-38.

Román, E., and E. Sagás (2022). Rhetoric and the Creation of Hysteria. Cornell Law Review Online, 107(4), 188-248.

Sagás, E. (2022). NAFTA’s Legacy in the High Country: Mexican Migration to Colorado’s Western Slope. In The North American West in the Twenty-First Century, ed. Brenden W. Rensink. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

Román, E., and E. Sagás (2021). A Domestic Reign of Terror: Donald Trump’s Family Separation Policy. Harvard Latinx Law Review, 24(1), 65-109.

Sagás, E., and E. Román (2021). Fear, Loathing, and the Hemispheric Consequences of Xenophobic Hate. University of Miami International and Comparative Law Review, 29(1), 1-41.

Sagás, E., and E. Román (2020). Build the Wall and Wreck the System: Immigration Policy in the Trump Administration. Texas Hispanic Journal of Law & Policy, 26(1), 21-56.

Sagás, E. (2019). Political Geography in the Dominican Republic, 1978-2000: The Decline of Regional Cleavages. Revista Mexicana del Caribe, 3(24), 109-137.

Román, E., and E. Sagás (2019). Trump and Caribbean Xenophobia: The United States and the Dominican Republic. Rutgers Law Record, 46, 103-124.

Kim, J., E. Sagás, and K. Céspedes (2018). Genderacing Immigrant Subjects: ‘Anchor Babies’ and the Politics of Birthright Citizenship. Social Identities, 24(3), 312-326.

Román E., and E. Sagás (2017). Birthright Citizenship Under Attack: How Dominican Nationality Laws May Be the Future of U.S. Exclusion. American University Law Review, 66, 1383-1431.

Sagás, E., and E. Román (2017). Who Belongs? Citizenship and Statelessness in the Dominican Republic. Georgetown Journal of Law and Modern Critical Race Perspectives, 9, 35-56.

Sagás, E. (2014). Defending Pachamama: The Rights of Nature in Ecuador. Border-Lines, 8, 143-161.

Sagás, E. (2012a). Black—But Not Haitian: Color, Class, and Ethnicity in the Dominican Republic. In Comparative Perspectives on Afro‑Latin America, ed. Kwame Dixon and John Burdick. Gainesville, Fla.: University Press of Florida.

Sagás, E. (2012b). Environmental Justice in Chile: The Price of Success. Latin American Essays, 25, 5-19.

Sagás, E. (2012c). Race-ing Arizona: Latino Immigration, SB 1070, and the New American Nativism. Border-Lines, 6, 92-111.