Jojo Galvan

Jojo is a Museum and Exhibition Studies alumni. He earned his undergraduate degree in History and Religious Studies at North Central College in Naperville, IL. 

His academic focus is centered around public history, particularly around the dialogues of immigration, deindustrialization, and religiosity in communities of color. As a first generation immigrant who lived in our 15 different cities by the time he was eighteen, Jojo’s commitment to museums and their practice centers around equitable inclusivity, radical accessibility, and the telling of often excluded narratives within the walls and archives of the institution. His thesis project is centered aroung interrogating the meaning and power of monuments in changing urban settings. To do this, he is focusing on the temporarily removed Cristopher Columbus monument in Little Italy's Arrigo Park. Collecting oral histories along with extensive historiography, Jojo looks to critically examine how the passage of time really impacts the meaning of monuments as the communities around them change. He is currently the Curator and Archivist for the Midwest Nursing History Research Center at UIC’s College of Nursing.