Esteban Gomez
Co-Director, Undergraduate Studies; Associate Professor, Museum & Heritage Studies
303-871-2472 (Office)
https://www.snapshotsofconfinement.com/
Sturm Hall, 2000 East Asbury Avenue Denver, CO 80208
What I do
Visual Ethnography, Digital Anthropology, Museum and Heritage Studies, Media Studies, ArchaeologyProfessional Biography
Professor Gómez is an award-winning filmmaker with a background in archaeology, museum and heritage studies, science and technology studies, and visual anthropology. He served as the producer and lead writer for his first feature-length film, Snapshots of Confinement. The film won a Telly Award for Social Responsibility and an award in the Race and Society category from the LA Press Club. The film has also been nominated for best film in the Culture/History category for the LA Area Emmys. Snapshots is based on an MA Thesis written by Whitney Peterson, a former graduate student in the department of anthropology at DU. Gómez worked with Peterson in the production and writing for the film.
Gómez was a co-host for season 1 of SAPIENS: A Podcast for Everything Human, and Senior Advisor for season 6 entitled, “The Problems with Coming of Age,” which received a Silver Honor from the 16th Annual Shortys. On SAPIENS, Gómez was responsible for story development, script writing, developing interview guides, and conducting interviews for the podcast.
He is currently working on three other media projects. Up in Smoke: A Human History with Fire is a collaborative project with Dr. Nicole Herzog on humanity's relationship with fire. Todo y Siempre: Portraits of the Promised Land is another documentary film on the immigrant experience in the city of Denver, and Echoes of El Movimiento is a docu-series on the Chicano movement in Colorado and New Mexico.
Gómez received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to teaching at the University of Denver, professor Gómez taught in the Department of Anthropology at Colorado College. He has done archaeological research in Central America, and more recently he did ethnographic research on the educational and environmental problems affecting youth and established residents in Denver’s gentrified neighborhoods.
Throughout his career, professor Gómez has worked to produce pluralistic histories that are inclusive of groups ands peoples whose pasts have been excluded and/or marginalized from larger national narratives.
Gómez was a co-host for season 1 of SAPIENS: A Podcast for Everything Human, and Senior Advisor for season 6 entitled, “The Problems with Coming of Age,” which received a Silver Honor from the 16th Annual Shortys. On SAPIENS, Gómez was responsible for story development, script writing, developing interview guides, and conducting interviews for the podcast.
He is currently working on three other media projects. Up in Smoke: A Human History with Fire is a collaborative project with Dr. Nicole Herzog on humanity's relationship with fire. Todo y Siempre: Portraits of the Promised Land is another documentary film on the immigrant experience in the city of Denver, and Echoes of El Movimiento is a docu-series on the Chicano movement in Colorado and New Mexico.
Gómez received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to teaching at the University of Denver, professor Gómez taught in the Department of Anthropology at Colorado College. He has done archaeological research in Central America, and more recently he did ethnographic research on the educational and environmental problems affecting youth and established residents in Denver’s gentrified neighborhoods.
Throughout his career, professor Gómez has worked to produce pluralistic histories that are inclusive of groups ands peoples whose pasts have been excluded and/or marginalized from larger national narratives.
Degree(s)
- Ph.D., Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, 2010
- BA, Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz , 2000
Professional Affiliations
- American Anthropological Association
Media Sources
Key Projects
- NCA's Veterans Legacy Program (VLP)
- Snapshot of Confinement
- This is My Denver
Featured Publications
. (2022). Memory in Analog: A Lens for Analyzing the Impacts of Rapid Urban Growth on Youth. Human Organization.
. (2023). Sustainable Education. EBSCO's Salem Press: Pathways to Research in Sustainability.
. (2023). 'Green vs. Concrete' and the Contradictions of Urban Sustainability. EBSCO's Salem Press: Pathways to Research in Sustainability.
. (2024). Artistic Explorations of Place: Creative Pragmatism in University Anthropology Museums. In C. F. Kreps (Ed.), Pragmatic Imagination and the New Museum Anthropology. New York: Routledge.
. (1969). Sites of Memory on the Colonial Frontier: Lenca Memory and Practice at Conchagua Vieja, El Salvador. Journal of Social Archaeology.
Performances
. (2017). Chains of Perception in Black America. Ronnie Boykin . University of Denver Museum of Anthropology, Denver, CO .
. (2018). Denver Through My Eyes. esteban gomez. Center for Community Engagement to Advance Scholarship and Learning, Denver, CO, USA.
. (2015). Our Culture is Our Resistance . University of Denver Museum of Anthropology, Denver, CO, USA.
Presentations
. (2025). Snapshots of Confinement . 14th Annual Films of Remembrance Festival . Los Angeles, California: Nichi Bei Foundation .
. (2021). No Kids on the Block: School Choice and Gentrification in New Transit Neighborhoods. CAHSS 2021 Livingston Lecturer. University of Denver : CAHSS.
. (2021). Policy Over People . Building Denver Speaking Series . History Colorado, Denver, CO: History Colorado.
Awards
- Certificate of Honor , Nichi Bei Foundation
- Faculty Career Champion, University of Denver, Career & Professional Development
- Service Learning Faculty of the Year , CCESL
