Paula M. L. Moya

Paula M. L. Moya is the Danily C. and Laura Louise Bell Professor of the Humanities and Professor of English at Stanford University. She holds courtesy appointments in Iberian and Latin American Cultures and African and African American Studies. As a 2019-20 Fellow at the Center for the Study of Behavioral Sciences and a Burton J. and Deedee McMurtry University Fellow in Undergraduate Education, she bridges literary scholarship with interdisciplinary social inquiry.

Education

• Ph.D., Cornell University (1998)
• M.A., Cornell University (1995)
• B.A., University of Houston (1991)

Research Focus spans comparative race studies, feminist theory, narrative theory, and Chicanx/Latinx cultural analysis. Her work examines how literature interacts with social justice movements and epistemological frameworks for understanding race and ethnicity.

Leadership Roles

• Director, Program of Modern Thought and Literature
• Vice Chair, Department of English
• Founding Director, Research Institute of Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity
• Director, Undergraduate Program at Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity

Scientific Awards

• Dean’s Award for Distinguished Teaching
• Ford Foundation postdoctoral fellowship
• Outstanding Chicana/o Faculty Member award
• Clayman Institute Fellow
• CCSRE Faculty Research Fellow

Her publications analyze race, gender, and cultural representation through literary theory and social critique frameworks, with a focus on interdisciplinary methodologies connecting literature to broader societal questions.