Petra Rivera-Rideau

Petra Rivera-Rideau is an Associate Professor in the American Studies and Latin American Studies departments at Wellesley College. Her research focuses on the cultural politics of race in Latin America and Latinx communities in the United States, particularly through the lens of popular music.

• B.A., Harvard University
• M.A. & Ph.D., University of California-Berkeley

She has authored two books: Remixing Reggaeton: The Cultural Politics of Race in Puerto Rico (2015) and Fitness Fiesta!: Selling Latinx Culture through Zumba (2024). Her co-edited volume Afro-Latin@s in Movement (2024) examines blackness across the Americas. Her work explores themes like Latinidad, racial stereotypes, and resistance in reggaeton.

Her recent publications and media contributions include analysis of Bad Bunny's cultural impact, reggaeton's role in transnational identity, and critiques of structural inequality in Latinx popular culture. She has been featured in NPR, Washington Post, Rolling Stone, and the National Recording Registry.

• Blanca Silvestrini Prize (2019) for the article 'If I Were You: Tego Calderón’s Diasporic Interventions'