Vicente Diaz

Vicente Diaz is a Professor and Core Faculty member in the Department of American Indian Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He also serves as Associate Director for Engagement at UCLA’s American Indian Studies Center. His interdisciplinary work spans Critical and Comparative Indigenous Studies, focusing on North America and Oceania. Key research areas include Indigenous Canoe Culture Revitalization, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, and Indigenous cartography. Diaz has held tenured positions at institutions like the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and University of Guam.

He founded and directs The Native Canoe Program, which integrates traditional Indigenous watercraft with advanced visualization technologies (Virtual/Augmented Reality) in collaboration with the University of Minnesota’s Interactive Visualization Lab. This program emphasizes community-engaged research, particularly in Indigenous nation-building and environmental advocacy. His work has been showcased in exhibitions such as the Tenth Asia Pacific Triennial of Art in Australia.

Recent publications include contributions to Open Rivers: Rethinking Water, Place & Community (2023) and forthcoming work on Indigenous seafaring heritage. His research bridges environmental science, cultural preservation, and Indigenous epistemologies, addressing colonial legacies and climate change impacts.