Isabel Cordova

Isabel Cordova is a Professor and Chair in the Department of History, Politics, and Law at Nazareth University. Born in Spain to Puerto Rican parents and raised between Brooklyn, N.Y., and Puerto Rico, she brings a rich transnational perspective to her teaching and research.

• Education: B.A. from Macalester College; M.A. from University of Puerto Rico; Ph.D. from University of Michigan

Her research focuses on Latin America, the Atlantic world, Latinx communities, and intersections with medicine, reproduction, gender, and cultural studies. She has authored the book Pushing in Silence: Modernizing Puerto Rico and the Medicalization of Childbirth (2018), which earned the National Women’s Studies Association's Gloria Anzaldúa Book Prize for transnational feminist scholarship.

Córdova actively engages students through interactive methods, teaching courses such as Atlantic World, Disability Studies, and ¡Presente! Histories of Latinos in the U.S.. She emphasizes hands-on learning via primary sources and oral history projects, including collaborations with the Rochester Public Library and Geva Theatre Center.

• Scientific Awards: National Women’s Studies Association 2018 Gloria Anzaldúa Book Prize

She contributes to community initiatives as a board member for ¡Soy Unica! ¡Soy Latina! Rally and the Anti-Racist Curriculum Project, while also serving on the editorial board of the Rochester History Journal. Her work bridges academia and public history to amplify Latinx narratives in regional cultural projects.