Sonya Alemán

Sonya Alemán is an Associate Professor at the University of Texas, San Antonio, affiliated with the Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Department and the Mexican American Studies Program. Since 2022, she serves as Director of UTSA’s Women’s Studies Institute and was Editor of Chicana/Latina Studies from 2017–2022. A Chicana scholar from South Texas, her work focuses on media representations of communities of color and educational equity for Latino students.

• Ph.D., Communication, University of Utah (2009)
• M.A., Journalism, University of Texas, Austin (1999)
• B.A., English/Communications, St. Mary's University (1995)

Her research integrates critical race theory and Chicana feminism to analyze:

• Race, racism, and whiteness in mainstream media
• Alternative media produced by marginalized communities
• Pedagogical innovations for student-of-color engagement
• Chicano cultural identity in television and film

Recent publications examine racial dissonance in TV reboots, critical race heuristics in education, and intersectionality in pedagogy. She received the MALCS Tortuga Award (2024) and UTSA Mellon Faculty Fellowship (2021-2025) for her contributions to racial justice scholarship.

• MALCS Tortuga Award (2024)
• UTSA Mellon Faculty Fellow (2021-2025)

Alemán developed Texas’ first course on Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla and teaches Intro to Chicano Studies and Latino Cultural Expressions. Her editorial work with Chicana/Latina Studies (2017-2022) advanced critical race and feminist scholarship.