معرفی
Diana Denham is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability at the University of Oklahoma. Her research focuses on how Indigenous and subaltern communities assert autonomy through struggles over environmental and cultural resources, with particular attention to how environmental sustainability initiatives manifest within contexts of settler colonialism and global capitalism.
Dr. Denham received her PhD in Urban Studies from Portland State University in 2020, along with master's degrees in Latin American Studies and Urban Planning from UCLA. She completed her undergraduate studies at Brown University with a BA in Development Studies and Latin American Studies, graduating magna cum laude and as a Phi Beta Kappa.
Her research trajectory is defined by more than a decade of collective knowledge production with communities on the frontlines of struggles against inequality. She has worked extensively in Mexico, Brazil, and with Indigenous communities, documenting social movements and producing documentary films on migration and grassroots mobilization. Her current book project, The Struggle for Food Sovereignty in Urban Mexico, examines precolonial Mesoamerican urban markets known as tianguis and their role in contemporary urban struggles for self-determination. She has coordinated participatory action research with Chinantec youth researchers in Mexico's cloud forest on food sovereignty initiatives.
Dr. Denham's scholarly work demonstrates a consistent focus on food sovereignty, Indigenous markets, environmental justice, and the intersection of urban development with cultural preservation. Her publications span interdisciplinary journals in geography, environmental studies, and Latin American studies, reflecting her commitment to transdisciplinary approaches to complex socio-environmental issues. She has developed innovative methodologies that blend participatory action research with critical pedagogy, examining how Indigenous markets persist amid corporate food systems and urban modernization.
Her scientific achievements have been recognized with numerous awards including the ACSP/Lincoln Institute of Land Policy Curriculum Innovation Award (2020), the P.E.O. International Scholars Award (2020), and the Mabel M. Otis Endowed Scholar Award (2019), among many others.
Dr. Denham has secured significant research funding from organizations including the National Science Foundation, Inter-American Foundation, and Wenner-Gren Foundation. Her teaching philosophy is inspired by Freirean critical pedagogy, emphasizing learner-centered environments that position students as agents of change. She teaches courses on qualitative methods, community development, and environmental sustainability, often incorporating community-engaged learning approaches. She recently co-designed a transdisciplinary undergraduate class on urban sustainability that won the Curriculum Innovation Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning and the Lincoln Land Institute.
She has coordinated participatory action research with Chinantec youth researchers in Mexico, trained community researchers, and facilitated international exchanges focused on urban sustainability and food systems. Her professional development includes specialized training in Decolonial Methods in Social and Solidarity Economies through El Cambalache in Chiapas, Mexico.
