Latin American and Border Studies

Our Faculty

The Latin American Studies program is interdisciplinary, drawing on faculty from across a wide range of academic departments including Anthropology, Art History, History, Philosophy, Political Science, and Sociology.

    • NAME

      Michael Bray

    • TITLE

      Professor of Philosophy

    • Specialty

      Political Philosophy; Critical Theory

    • NAME

      Raquel De Souza Moreira Portilho

    • TITLE

      Assistant Professor of Communication Studies

    • Specialty

      Feminist and queer of color critique; performance studies; normative and marginalized femininities in media

    • NAME

      Abby Dings

    • TITLE

      Associate Professor of Spanish

    • Specialty

      Second Language Acquisition, Sociolinguistics, Interactional Competence

    • NAME

      Rebecca McWilliams Evans

    • TITLE

      Assistant Professor of English

    • Specialty

      Twentieth and twenty-first century American literature and culture, African-American and comparative ethnic American literature, the environmental humanities, social and environmental justice, speculative fiction and SF film, American studies, genre theory

    • NAME

      Patrick Thomas Hajovsky

    • TITLE

      Associate Professor of Art History

    • Specialty

      The Art and Archaeology of Mesoamerica and the Andes

      The Art History of the Spanish Colonial Period in Latin America

      Ancient and Colonial Aesthetics and Embodiment in the Americas

    • NAME

      Jethro Hernandez Berrones

    • TITLE

      Associate Professor of History

    • Specialty

      Modern Mexico, Latin America, Medicine, Science, Pubic Health, Medical Education, Homeopathy, Global Scientific Networks, Traditional/Popular Healing, Popular Science, Spiritualism/Spiritism

    • NAME

      Joseph E. Hower

    • TITLE

      Assistant Professor of History

    • Specialty

      U.S. History, Labor and Politics in Modern America, Social Movements, Urban History, Policy History

    • NAME

      Melissa Johnson

    • TITLE

      Professor of Anthropology

    • Specialty

      Topical: Nature, the more than human and the human; Race, Racism, Critical Race Theory; Environment and Place; Conservation; Social Theory; Environmental History; Racial History; Tourism; Gender. Area: Belize; Caribbean; U.S.-Mexico Borderlands; Central Texas

    • NAME

      Jorge M. Lizarzaburu

    • TITLE

      Assistant Professor of Philosophy

    • Specialty

      Political Philosophy, Latin American Philosophy, Philosophy of Biology, 

    • NAME

      Joshua Long

    • TITLE

      Professor of Environmental Studies

    • Specialty

      Climate Justice, Urban Studies, Environmental Politics and Policy, Spatial Theory and Place-Based Studies, Sustainability Discourses.

    • NAME

      María de los Ángeles Rodriguez Cadena

    • TITLE

      Associate Professor of Spanish

    • Specialty

      Contemporary Mexican and Latin American Literature and Culture, Cultural memory, Cultural complexes, Historical fiction in literature, film and television, Mexican television and film female directors, Feminist Studies, Race and Ethnicity Studies, Nature and Culture, Environmental Humanities.

    • NAME

      Eric Selbin

    • TITLE

      Professor of Political Science

    • Specialty

      Comparative Politics (Comparative Revolutions; Contentious Politics; Latin American and Caribbean Politics; Ideologies); International Politics (Peace and Conflict; IR Theory); Political Sociology.

    • NAME

      Brenda Sendejo

    • TITLE

      Associate Professor of Feminist Studies

    • Specialty

      Anthropology of religion, Mexican American spiritualities and indigenous heritage, gender and racialization, and Chicana feminisms. Geographic specialization: U.S. - Mexico Borderlands, Central and South Texas.

    • NAME

      Laura Senio Blair

    • TITLE

      Professor of Spanish

    • Specialty

      20th and 21st Century Hispano American Narrative and Drama. Chilean Narrative, Drama and Film. Hispanic Film.