Natalie Aikens

Natalie Aikens serves as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Transformation Studies at Kansas State University. Her academic foundation stems from English Departments, complemented by five years of teaching Latinx Studies.

Her research critically engages with plantation systems, racial formations, and Global South epistemologies. Key contributions include co-editing the 2023 special issue of The Global South journal titled 'The Plantationocene and/in the Global South,' and editing the forthcoming SUNY Press collection Marking the Plantationcene in the Americas: New Directions in the Critical Thought. This work intersects Critical Race Theory, decolonial studies, and environmental humanities to examine historical and contemporary power structures.

Outside academia, she maintains active personal interests including canine companionship, long-distance running, piano performance, and spectating tennis and football.