Jason De León

Jason De León is Director of the Cotsen Institute of Archaeology, Lloyd E. Cotsen Endowed Chair of Archaeology, and Professor of Anthropology and Chicana, Chicano, and Central American Studies at the University of California Los Angeles. He is also Executive Director of Undocumented Migration Project, a non-profit research, arts, and education collective that seeks to raise awareness about migration issues globally. Through a mixed-methods approach that includes ethnography, forensic science, archaeology of the contemporary, and photoethnography, De León’s research focuses on issues of clandestine movement, border security, materiality, violence, and empathy. He is the author of two award-winning books The Land of Open Graves: Living and Dying on the Migrant Trail and Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling. The latter won the 2024 National Book Award for Nonfiction. De León’s has recently launched ¡Listen Up!, a DIY storytelling and music program for migrant, immigrant, and indigenous youth around the world.