Judith Sierra-Rivera

Judith Sierra-Rivera is an Associate Professor of Spanish and Latina/o Studies and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Pennsylvania State University, serving as Director of Graduate Studies. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and degrees from the University of Puerto Rico. Her research explores intellectual thought, emotions, and body politics in Latin America, the Caribbean, and U.S. Latinx communities, with a focus on marginalized groups such as indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants, and LGBTQ+ communities. Current projects include Mongo Heroes: Vulnerable Masculinities in the Puerto Rican Anti-Colonial Struggle and an oral history project documenting Latinas in central Pennsylvania.

Her book Affective Intellectuals and the Space of Catastrophe in the Americas (2018) examines how emotional discourses shape community resilience during crises. Recent publications analyze documentaries, literature, and cyberfeminism across multiple regions. She contributes to interdisciplinary fields like queer studies, postcolonial theory, and cultural memory.

• Education: Ph.D. (Romance Languages, UPenn), M.A. (Comparative Literature, UPR), B.A. (Latin American Studies, UPR)
• Awards: None listed
• Grants/Advising: Mentors research on Latin American literature and cultural politics
• Labs/Teams: Engages in oral history initiatives and collaborative intellectual projects