Gizella Meneses

Gizella Meneses is a Professor of Spanish and Latin American and Latinx Studies at Lake Forest College's Modern Languages and Literatures department. She specializes in Latinx immigration narratives, race and ethnicity in oral traditions, and crime fiction analysis. Her academic career includes a PhD from Arizona State University and degrees from Loyola University Chicago.

Education:

• PhD in Spanish, Arizona State University
• MA in Spanish, Loyola University Chicago
• BA in Spanish, Loyola University Chicago

Research Interests: Dr. Meneses explores Latinx immigrant testimonies in Chicago, colonial-era oral traditions, and Latin American film. She focuses on how marginalized voices challenge dominant narratives through mediums like crime fiction and cinema. Her work bridges cultural criticism with historical context, emphasizing identity formation in transnational spaces.

Recent Scholarly Trends: Her publications analyze violence representation in Colombian cinema, neo-noir adaptations in Argentine film, and intersectional narratives in women of color anthologies. These works highlight her commitment to decolonizing literary and filmic analysis.

Awards and Grants:

• William L. Dunn Award for Teaching Excellence (2011)
• ACM FaCE Grant (2012, 2008)
• ACM Collaborative Enhancement Grant (2010)

Advising & Grants: She leads innovative courses like 'Latino Identities in Chicago' (funded via 2007 Innovation Grant) and collaborates on projects like 'New Realities in Spanish Teaching' (2012 ACM Grant). Her pedagogy emphasizes community engagement through film screenings and oral history projects.

Labs/Teams: She produced documentaries like Intergenerational Stories: Abuelas, Madres y Niet@s (2016) and Second-Generation Stories: Growing Up Latino/a in Chicago (2010), screening at festivals and educational institutions nationwide.