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Claudia Milian is a Professor of Romance Studies at Duke University, affiliated with the Trinity College of Arts & Sciences. Her research focuses on literary and cultural studies, the Global South, transatlantic LatinX studies, migration, and Iberian contexts. She holds a Ph.D. from Brown University (2001) and a B.A. from Hampshire College (1994). Her work examines LatinX identities, diasporic movements, and the intersection of race, ecology, and globalization. Recent publications include LatinX (2019) and Latining America (2013), exploring LatinXness across transnational and historical frameworks. She directed the Latino/a Studies of the Global South (2019–2022) and has taught courses on LatinX literature, migration, and global cultural dynamics. Publications emphasize theoretical contributions to LatinX studies, migration narratives, and interdisciplinary approaches to cultural analysis. No scientific awards are listed, but her academic leadership includes roles as Mellon Assistant Professor (2009–2010) and prior faculty positions at Duke (2006–present). Her teaching spans undergraduate and graduate courses on US Latino/a literature, global Spain, and undocumented migration narratives. Research labs/teams include her directorship of the Global South initiative, fostering interdisciplinary dialogues on transnational studies.

• Literary and Cultural Studies
• Global South Studies
• Transatlantic LatinX Studies
• +3 more

Paloma Martinez-Cruz is a Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and Program Director for Latino/a Studies at The Ohio State University. She holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University and specializes in contemporary hemispheric cultural production, with a focus on performance, decolonial methodologies, and feminist theory. Her work bridges academia and activism through projects like the Taco Reparations Brigade and Onda Latinx Ohio. Key research areas include Latina/o Music and Sound Studies, Borderlands and Indigenous Studies, and Gender in Latino Cultures. Notable publications include Women and Knowledge in Mesoamerica (2011), Food Fight! (2019), and La Pocha Nostra: A Handbook for the Rebel Artist (2020). She has also translated Conceição Evaristo’s Ponciá Vicencio and edited Rebeldes: A Proyecto Latina Anthology . Prof. Martinez-Cruz leads initiatives such as the OSU Día de los Muertos Celebrations and serves as a faculty advisor for Sigma Delta Pi. Her scholarship intersects performance art, foodways, and radical pedagogy, emphasizing decolonial frameworks and community engagement. Her recent work explores topics like millennial mestizaje, culinary decolonization, and rebel artist methodologies in post-democratic contexts. She collaborates with artists like Guillermo Gómez-Peña to develop interdisciplinary performance practices.

• Latina/o Cultural Studies
• Performance and Popular Culture
• Borderlands and Indigenous Studies
• +6 more

Professor Francisco-J Hernandez Adrian holds dual roles as Professor and Deputy Director of Research (Impact) in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures at Durham University, and Associate Professor/Director of Postgraduate Studies in the Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience. He earned his PhD from New York University and previously taught at Duke University. His research focuses on Hispanic and visual culture studies, with emphases on Caribbean and Latin American cinemas, Surrealism, postcolonial theory, and Global South ecologies. Key projects include the UKRI GCRF Living Deltas Hub (2019–present) and the AHRC Open World Research Initiative (2016–2020). He is a co-editor of Cultural Dynamics and contributes to interdisciplinary initiatives like the Transnational Cinema research group. His work spans curatorial projects (e.g., film exhibitions in Tenerife and Cartagena), academic publications, and international conferences on topics such as island studies and environmental humanities. Education: PhD in Hispanic Studies, New York University (NYU) Research Interests: Caribbean and Latin American cinemas Surrealism and avant-garde movements Global South ecologies and environmental politics Island and insular studies Gender/queer and race theories Transnational visual cultures Grants & Collaborations: UKRI GCRF Living Deltas Hub (2019–present) AHRC Open World Research Initiative (2016–2020) Co-organized international conferences such as Delta Futures (2022) and Risking the Future (2016) Teaching & Mentorship: Convenes undergraduate modules on Latin American environmental politics and transnational cinema Supervises PhD students in Caribbean/Latin American visual culture Labs/Teams: Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience (IHRR) Zurbarán Centre for Spanish and Latin American Art MLAC-based Transnational Cinema research group

• Caribbean Studies
• Latin American Cinema
• Visual Culture Studies
• +7 more

Astrid Haas is an Associate Professor in American Literature and Culture at the University of Bergen, Norway. She holds a PhD from the University of Münster and a Habilitation from Bielefeld University (Germany). Her research focuses on North American literatures, cultures, and history from the 18th century to the present, with specialties in Early North American Studies, Transnational Migration, and Border Studies. She is a member of multiple research groups, including the Research Group 'Aesthetic and Cultural Studies' and the 'Black Americas: Transdisciplinary Dialogues' network. Education: PhD in English, University of Münster, Germany Habilitation in North American Studies, Bielefeld University, Germany Research Interests: Travel Writing and Autobiography Black and Latinx Diasporas Transnational Migration and Environmental Humanities US Popular Culture and Gender Studies Recent Publications: Lone Star Vistas: Travel Writing on Texas, 1821-1861 (University of Texas Press, 2021) Journal articles on African American captivity narratives, Mexican travel accounts, and transnational border studies Awards: Finalist for the Rodríguez Family Award for Most Significant Scholarly Book (2022) Marie Curie Research Fellowship (Horizon 2020 Grant) Current Project: Explores Black autobiographies and mobility in the Americas (1760-1860) under the EU-funded Horizon 2020 program. This interdisciplinary work bridges Black Atlantic Studies, Mobility Studies, and Autobiography Studies. Teaching: Covers American literature, Early American Studies, and Inter-American cultural histories.

• American Literature
• Cultural Studies
• Early North American Studies
• +14 more

John Maddox is a Professor of Spanish at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), focusing on Afro-Hispanic literature, the Caribbean, and transnational cultural comparisons. His research explores themes such as race, gender, and medicine through literary and interdisciplinary lenses. Maddox holds a PhD in Spanish and Portuguese from Vanderbilt University. Education: PhD in Spanish and Portuguese, Vanderbilt University Research Interests: Maddox’s work centers on African diaspora studies, postcolonial narratives, and the intersection of medicine and literature. He examines how literature reflects cultural identity, historical memory, and social justice issues across Latin America and the Caribbean. Teaching and Engagement: Maddox emphasizes inclusive pedagogy, incorporating guest speakers, international partnerships via Skype, and experiential learning through study trips (e.g., Puerto Rico, Spain). He founded the Latin American Film Club and teaches courses on Brazilian culture, Portuguese language, and medical humanities. Publications: His scholarship spans topics like decolonization, diaspora identity, and postcolonial theory. Recent works include analyses of Afro-Puerto Rican narratives, South African indigenous literature, and Brazilian slavery’s literary representations. Awards and Grants: No academic awards or grants are listed in the provided materials. Labs/Tribe: Maddox co-sponsors the Latin American Film Club, fostering cultural dialogue through cinema.

• Afro-Hispanic Literature
• Caribbean Studies
• US-Brazil Comparisons
• +4 more

Thomas F. Anderson is Professor of Spanish and Latin American Literature at the University of Notre Dame's Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, with a specialization in Hispanic Caribbean literature and culture. He holds dual fellowships at the university's Institute for Latino Studies and Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies. Anderson earned his B.A. from Bowdoin College and M.A./Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on Hispanic Caribbean cultural production, particularly Cuban and Puerto Rican literature, Afro-Cuban studies, human rights narratives, and U.S.-Latin American relations. His current book project examines representations of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement in Cuban poetry. Anderson's scholarly approach combines literary analysis with historical contextualization, emphasizing themes of national identity, racial dynamics, and revolutionary politics. Publications predominantly explore Cuban literary figures and cultural movements, with recurring focus on Virgilio Piñera, Nicolás Guillén, and Afro-Cubanismo poetry. His work shows consistent engagement with: Political dimensions of Caribbean literature Racial identity in cultural expression Revolutionary-era intellectual history Transnational literary connections Awards include: Kellogg Institute Faculty Fellowship (since 2000) Faculty Residential Fellowship, Helen Kellogg Institute Anderson has secured intramural grants for projects including the Chilean Film Festival (2011) and DIVEDCO art exhibitions. He co-curated major exhibits on Puerto Rico's Division of Community Education art, displayed at the Snite Museum, National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture, and internationally.

• Hispanic Caribbean Literature
• Afro-Cuban Studies
• Human Rights
• +7 more

Kathleen Lopez is an Associate Professor in the Department of Latino and Caribbean Studies and the Department of History at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, School of Arts and Sciences. She has been at Rutgers since 2009 and maintains an active research and teaching profile focusing on the intersections of Asian and Caribbean histories. Her educational background includes a Ph.D. in History from the University of Michigan, an M.A. in Asian Studies from Cornell University, and a B.A. in History from the University of Virginia. Professor Lopez specializes in Latin American and Caribbean History with particular focus on Asians in Latin America and the Caribbean, Race and Ethnicity in the Americas, Diaspora and International Migration, Latinx History, and Public Humanities. Her research examines transnational connections between Asia and the Caribbean, with special attention to Chinese migration to Cuba and other Caribbean societies. She explores how migration, race, and identity intersect in the formation of diasporic communities across national boundaries. Her scholarly work reveals consistent themes of transnational migration, cultural hybridity, and the formation of ethnic identities in the Caribbean and Latin America. Lopez's research demonstrates how Asian diasporas have shaped and been shaped by the societies they've joined, particularly through examination of Chinese migration to Cuba from the 19th century to the present. Her publications show an increasing focus on comparative approaches to diaspora studies, examining connections between different Caribbean societies and their relationships with Asia. 2014 Gordon K. and Sybil Lewis Prize of the Caribbean Studies Association for 'Chinese Cubans: A Transnational History' Professor Lopez serves as Co-Director of the Rutgers Latino Studies Research Initiative and is actively involved in collaborative projects recovering the history of Latinx people and organizations at Rutgers University and in New Jersey. She is engaged with multiple research initiatives including the SAS Global Asias Initiative, the Advanced Institute for Critical Caribbean Studies, and the Center for Latin American Studies. Her public history work includes co-producing exhibits on the 50 Years of Latino and Caribbean Studies at Rutgers University and the Lucy Stone Hall Murals. She is also an editor for two book series: 'Historical and Cultural Interconnections between Latin America and Asia' with Ignacio López-Calvo, and 'Critical Caribbean Studies' with Yolanda Martínez-San Miguel and Carter Mathes.

• Latin American and Caribbean History
• Asians in Latin America and the Caribbean
• Race and Ethnicity in the Americas
• +6 more

Dr. Ana-Maurine Lara is an Associate Professor and William and Susan Piché Faculty Fellow at the University of Oregon's College of Arts and Sciences, with cross-disciplinary appointments in Black Studies, IRES (Institutional Research and Evaluation Services?), Latinx Studies, and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Her scholarship centers on the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and decolonial resistance, particularly within Caribbean and Afro-Latinx contexts. Her research spans: Afro-Latino/a identity formation and cultural preservation Black Queer Aesthetics in art and literature Vudú's socio-religious significance in the Dominican Republic Anti-xenophobia movements and Afro-Dominican political struggles Decolonial methodologies in digital humanities and ethnography Lara's recent publications (2017–2024) demonstrate consistent engagement with Caribbean/Latin American LGBTQ+ activism, diasporic healing practices, and literary representations of marginalization. Her work blends theoretical rigor with narrative innovation, traversing fields like political anthropology, queer theology, and postcolonial literature while emphasizing community-centered knowledge production. She has received notable recognition including the William and Susan Piché Faculty Fellowship for academic excellence.

• Afro-Latino/a Identities
• Black Queer Aesthetics
• Vudú in the Dominican Republic
• +5 more

Kevin Glynn is an Associate Professor in the Geography and Environmental Sciences Department at Northumbria University, UK. His interdisciplinary work bridges cultural studies, media studies, and human geography, focusing on media-rich cultural environments, media-political intersections, and decolonial struggles. He holds a PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has taught globally across media, communication, and geography programs. Glynn leads the UKRI-funded £3.75M 'Ixchel' project exploring media convergence and decoloniality in Guatemala and the UK, and previously directed a Marsden Fund grant on media convergence geographies. Education: PhD in Media & Cultural Studies (University of Wisconsin-Madison), MA in Politics (same institution). His research has won awards including the Urban Communication Foundation’s Jane Jacobs Award. Key publications include Transmedia Geographies (2025), Tabloid Culture (2000), and co-authored works on Nicaraguan mediascapes and media-geography intersections. Glynn’s work appears in top journals like Cultural Studies , Gender, Place and Culture , and Antipode . Grants: UKRI Global Challenges Research Fund (2021-2025), Marsden Fund ($800k, 2013-2016). Collaborations include interdisciplinary teams at University of Edinburgh, UC Santa Barbara, and University of Texas-Austin. Recent projects include the feature film Cordillera de Fuego (2025) examining Guatemalan resilience through media.

• Cultural Studies
• Media Studies
• Critical Geography
• +3 more

Nancy Kang is an Associate Professor at the Women's and Gender Studies Program, Faculty of Arts, University of Manitoba. She currently serves as Acting Director of the Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture and holds the Canada Research Chair in Transnational Feminisms and Gender-Based Violence. Dr. Kang's interdisciplinary scholarship bridges African American, Asian American, and Latinx feminisms with creative writing practices. PhD in English from University of Toronto M.A. in English from Queen’s University B.A. (Honors) in English from University of Calgary Her research examines coalitional feminist politics across diasporic communities, focusing on violence against women of color, alternative mothering narratives, and intersections between spirituality and secular feminism. Current projects include a co-edited volume on Latinx diasporic politics and Dominican literary history with Dr. Michael Nieto Garcia. Dr. Kang's recent publications explore Chicana myth reinterpretation, queer care frameworks in graphic narratives, and diasporic trauma through botanical and sensory metaphors. Her creative writing has received the inaugural Elizabeth Alexander Creative Writing Award and CBC Poetry Prize longlisting. Teaching Excellence Award (2024) ASBC Award: Most Inspiring Racialized Professor (2023) UMSU Magnificent Women’s Award (2022) SSAWW Best Book Honorable Mention (2021) She supervises honors theses on topics spanning Africanfuturism, anti-trans legislation, and ancient myth violence, while collaborating with research groups including the Centre for Human Rights Research and CoSphere. Her work combines critical analysis with poetic experimentation to address contemporary gender justice issues.

• Transnational Feminisms
• Women of Color Feminisms
• African American Feminisms
• +7 more

Jessica Lanay (She/They) is Artist-in-Residence at Loyola University Chicago's Department of Fine and Performing Arts for the 2024-2025 academic year. An interdisciplinary writer, poet, and art journalist, Lanay engages with the Fine Arts Program through teaching, curating exhibitions, and organizing events including a colloquium featuring experimental performance artists Jefferson Pinder and Ayana Evans, and a solo exhibition of Denae Howard's work in the Ralph Arnold Gallery. Her research interests include: Black feminist interdisciplinary writing and poetry African Diasporan art and aesthetics West and Central African spiritual practices in diaspora Radical Black feminist performance art Epistemologies of Black aesthetics Multicultural interconnectivity and Black migration histories Lanay's creative trajectory demonstrates a consistent focus on how African diasporic aesthetics challenge Western conceptions of humanity. Her poetry collection "am•phib•ian" (2020), which won the Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Prize, exemplifies her experimental approach. Recent work increasingly features collaborations with major institutions like the Brooklyn Museum and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, often centering Black women's experiences through projects like the "Black Girl Altar" installation. Her notable awards include: Naomi Long Madgett Poetry Prize from Broadside Lotus Press (2020) Broadside Poetry Press award for "am•phib•ian" (judged by Toi Derricotte) Lanay actively mentors emerging artists as literary curator at The August Wilson African American Cultural Center, hosting the monthly LIT Friday program featuring artists like Nona Faustine and Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Her teaching practice connects directly with research, as evidenced by her upcoming African Art course at Loyola University Chicago, which will incorporate community collaboration with A Long Walk Home. Currently a PhD Candidate in Art History at Indiana University-Bloomington, her dissertation examines radical Black feminist performance art throughout the African diaspora, exploring how aesthetics of radicality contribute to cultural preservation and transformation.

• Black feminist interdisciplinary writing
• Poetry
• Art journalism
• +6 more

Dr. Melissa M. Valle serves as an Assistant Professor jointly appointed in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and the Department of African American and African Studies at Rutgers University-Newark. Her research centers on the intersection of structural inequality and representational violence within urban contexts. Her work investigates how race, ethnicity, gender, and class become encoded in urban space valuation through relational ethnography in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, examining criteria for determining worth across spatial scales. She explores race as relationally defined, strategically activated, and ideologically manifested in urban change processes. Current projects include a collaborative survey with the afrolatin@ forum to measure Afro-Latinx populations and document lived experiences, alongside prior research on Afro-descendant communities in Santiago, Chile analyzing mechanisms of reduced life chances and identity devaluation negotiation.

• Race and Ethnicity
• Urban Sociology
• Spatial Injustice
• +3 more

Elizabeth Pérez serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where her ethnographic and historical research centers on Afro-Diasporic religious traditions across the Americas including Cuban Lucumí, Brazilian Candomblé, and Haitian Vodou. Her work examines ritual practices, material culture, and the intersection of gender, race, and spirituality within the Black Atlantic world. Pérez earned her undergraduate degree at Hampshire College, where she completed a thesis titled 'Cosa Sabrosa: The Writing of Saint Teresa of Avila,' establishing early foundations in vernacular Catholic studies that would inform her later work on Black Madonnas and Latinx Christianities. Her research investigates the poetics of Caribbean altar displays, women's religious leadership, and the social life of religious objects—particularly chromolithographs of Black Madonnas. Current projects focus on transgender experiences within Afro-Diasporic traditions, exploring how gender-nonconforming practitioners navigate religious frameworks that simultaneously challenge and reinforce essentialist gender constructs. Recent publications reveal evolving methodological approaches blending ethnography, poetry, and critical theory to examine vernacular Catholic iconography, trans religious archives, and the alimentary metaphors in Afro-Atlantic cosmologies. Her work consistently centers marginalized voices while interrogating colonial legacies in religious scholarship. Pérez's scholarship has received significant recognition including the 2024 Leonard Norman Primiano Book Prize for The Gut: A Black Atlantic Alimentary Tract and the 2017 Clifford Geertz Prize for Religion in the Kitchen. She has also been honored with the 2022 LGBTQ-RAN Educational Resource Prize and multiple poetry award finalist positions. 2024 Leonard Norman Primiano Book Prize for The Gut 2017 Clifford Geertz Prize for Religion in the Kitchen 2022 LGBTQ-RAN Educational Resource Prize 2025 Alta California Chapbook Prize Finalist 2024 Cardinal Poetry Prize Finalist Her University of California President's Postdoctoral Fellowship (2010-2011) supported foundational research on transgender religious practitioners, while ongoing projects examine remittance economies and the 'social life of things' within diasporic communities. Pérez's teaching includes specialized courses like 'Dark Goddesses & Black Madonnas' and 'The Virgin of Guadalupe: From Tilma to Tattoo,' connecting historical analysis with contemporary identity negotiations. Though not explicitly structured around formal labs, Pérez's research emerges through sustained community engagement with religious practitioners in Chicago's South Side and transnational networks of Afro-Atlantic religious communities, emphasizing collaborative knowledge production with ritual specialists and marginalized religious actors.

• Afro-Diasporic Religions
• Gender and Sexuality in Religion
• Vernacular Catholicism
• +3 more

Dania E. Abreu-Torres is Associate Professor in Modern Languages and Literatures at Trinity University. Specializing in Hispanic Caribbean cultural studies, her research analyzes race, gender, and national identity in literature and film. Publications examine Afro-diasporic representation, including analyses of Mayra Montero's fiction. Leads digital humanities initiatives documenting Latinx community histories at Trinity. ACS Mellon Academic Leadership Fellow

• Hispanic Caribbean Studies
• Cultural Identity
• Gender Studies
• +1 more

Dr. John Mundell is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of African and African American Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. His research examines race, gender, and sexuality through cultural productions across Latin America, the Caribbean, and Lusophone Africa. Mundell is currently developing his dissertation into a monograph titled Longing for a Racial Democracy: Interracial Intimacies and Popular Culture in Brazil , which critically analyzes how Brazil's racial democracy myth evolves through literature, film, music, and digital media. His scholarship explores intersections of Black studies with Latin American/Caribbean studies through frameworks including Black Queer Studies and Critical Whiteness. Mundell co-directs the Blackness in Latin America and the Caribbean (BLAC) working group, supporting junior scholars. He holds a PhD from UC Berkeley with a designated emphasis in Women, Gender & Sexuality, and previously earned a master's in Ethnic and African Studies from Universidade Federal da Bahia.

• Afro-Latin America
• Lusophone Africa
• Black Popular Culture
• +3 more