Mayra Cortes

Mayra Cortes is a Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, San Diego. Her research bridges literature, sound studies, and colonial transatlantic narratives, with a focus on race, empire, and Indigenous resistance. She earned her A.A. in English and French from Cerritos College (2013), B.A. in English from UCLA (2015), and a combined M.A./Ph.D. in Literature from UCSD (2024).

• A.A.: Cerritos College, 2013
• B.A.: University of California, Los Angeles, 2015
• M.A./Ph.D.: University of California, San Diego, 2024

Her work intersects Shakespearean drama, Early Modern literature, and Indigenous cosmologies, with a particular emphasis on racialization, labor, and speculative environmental futures. She has contributed to journals like Early Theatre and her dissertation expands on colonial travel writings.

Mayra’s research trends highlight soundscapes in colonial contexts, transatlantic literary exchange, and intersectional analysis of race and empire. Her work on Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and Shakespeare underscores her interdisciplinary approach.

• UC-HSI Doctoral Diversity Fellowship
• Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship
• Bouchet Graduate Honor Society Scholar
• Best Interpretative Essay Award (Early Theatre, 2022)
• Andrew W. Mellon Grant for Speculative Environmental Futures

She is currently affiliated with UCSD and has received significant grant support. Her scholarship on Shakespeare’s New World soundscape and colonial travel narratives reflects her focus on marginalized voices and ecological themes.