Carlos Ulises Decena

Carlos Ulises Decena serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Women's and Gender Studies and Chair of Latino and Hispanic Caribbean Studies at Rutgers University's School of Arts and Sciences. He joined the Rutgers faculty in 2004 and holds a Ph.D. from New York University and a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.

Professor Decena's research program centers on transnationalism and diaspora in the Americas, with a focus on US Latin America and the Caribbean, queer of color critique, and critical public health. As an interdisciplinary scholar, his work bridges critical ethnic, queer, and feminist studies to address social justice concerns. His book Tacit Subjects: Belonging and Same-Sex Desire among Dominican Immigrant Men (Duke University Press, 2011) is a significant contribution to the field, and he is currently developing two additional book projects: Body Portals: Embodiment in Early 21st Century Caribbean and Latinoamerican Artivism and Re-membered Country: Sexuality, Television, and Dominican Transnational Cultures.

His scholarly articles have appeared in diverse venues such as the Journal of the National Medical Association, Social Text (where he co-edited a special issue titled "The Border Next Door"), Journal of Urban Health, Papeles de Población, AIDS Care, and GLQ, reflecting his engagement with critical public health, transnational cultural studies, and queer theory across medical, urban, and Caribbean contexts.

At Rutgers, Professor Decena has designed and taught innovative courses including Introduction to the Critical Study of Masculinities, The Color of AIDS: The Politics of Race during the AIDS Crisis, Dominican Transnational Cultures, Gender and Sexualities in the Caribbean, and Immigrant States: Jersey's Global Routes, providing students with interdisciplinary perspectives on gender, sexuality, race, and transnationalism through both theoretical frameworks and regional case studies.