Directors of the 2019–20 Andrew W. Mellon Sawyer Seminar, “Imagining Latinidades: Articulations of National Belonging,” have selected interdisciplinary scholar Dr. Lisa Ortiz-Guzmán as the Seminar’s Postdoctoral Fellow.

Ortiz-Guzmán earned her PhD in Educational Policy Studies with graduate minors in Latina/o Studies and Gender & Women’s Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and worked in administrative affairs at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, where she managed grant-related, outreach, and academic projects. Currently, she is an instructional assistant professor in the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at Illinois State University. Her scholarly work is grounded in Latina/x/o Studies, (im)migration, media, gender, ethnicity, race, and education.

Working out of the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, Ortiz-Guzmán will conduct research that juxtaposes media representations of Puerto Rican migration with narratives of intergenerational individuals engaging in rural-to-rural migration between Puerto Rico and the U.S. She will also provide project management support for the Seminar and participate in meetings with other Obermann Fellows-in-Residence to share work-in-progress.

“Imagining Latinidades” is generously funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Sawyer Seminar program, which supports research on the historical and cultural sources of contemporary developments. Co-directed by Darrel Wanzer-Serrano (Communication Studies, CLAS), Rene Rocha (Political Science, CLAS), and Ariana Ruiz (Spanish & Portuguese, CLAS) and operating in partnership with the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, the seminar will feature over 20 free presentations by renowned visiting scholars and artists, a film series, and public performances, all of which will engage questions of national identity; national belonging; intersectional identities related to race/ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and class; and Latina/o/x peoples.