Luz María de la Torre

Luz María de la Torre is a Continuing Lecturer in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), a position she has held since 2009 with additional affiliation at the Latin American Institute. An Indigenous Kichwa woman from Ecuador, she brings lived experience to her academic work centered on Andean indigenous epistemologies and language preservation.

Her educational foundation includes:

• BA in Languages and Applied Linguistics from the Catholic University of Ecuador (1997), thesis on Indigenous Bilingual Education
• Master’s degree in Political Sciences from FLACSO (2006), research on Indigenous Movement relations with Ecuadorian government since the 1990s

Dr. de la Torre’s research traverses the Andean Indigenous Cosmovision, Kichwa Literature, Gender from Andean perspectives, and Alternative Economies. Her work examines how indigenous communities navigate colonial legacies while revitalizing knowledge systems, with particular focus on women’s roles as cultural keepers and political agents. She investigates Sumak Kawsay (Buen Vivir) principles as frameworks for ecological and social justice.

Her scholarly trajectory (1999-2022) reveals consistent engagement with indigenous resurgence, gendered resistance, and epistemic sovereignty. Publications analyze Otavalo Kichwa migration patterns, decolonial economic models, and indigenous feminist paradigms that challenge Western binaries. The evolution from documenting cultural practices (1999-2003) to contemporary political analyses (2017-2022) demonstrates deepening theoretical contributions to decolonial studies.

Dr. de la Torre has advised graduate students through UCLA’s MESTER journal and developed significant curricular materials including a Kichwa language teaching manual. Her consultancy work with national/international institutions extends academic impact into policy realms, particularly regarding indigenous rights and bilingual education frameworks.

She actively disseminates knowledge through global lectures on indigenous women’s perspectives, Andean cosmology, and Sumak Kawsay principles, bridging academic and community spaces through presentations at institutions from Yale to Oaxacan immigrant organizations.