Institution: University of California-Santa Cruz
Position: Graduate Student
Research: I am currently working on my dissertation project, tentatively titled "Crossing El Rio: Sexuality and Puerto Rican Migration." The premise of the thesis is that "El Rio", a queer bar in the Mission district of San Francisco, is the kind of hybrid meeting place where modern Latina/o identities are created and negotiated. What is it like to be Puerto Rican in this environment? How do we represent each other to ourselves, and ourselve to each other? This bar, a dive if there ever was one (by their own admission) is one of the most exciting places in the City, a place where straight and queer, Latina/o and others come together to plot, play, meet and dance to some of the best Salsa bands in town. The Sunday afternoon performances (4-8 pm) are an institution among various Latina/o communities... If I have to toil in the inherent poverty of Grad School, might as well have a fun and challenging project to make it bearable. My interests, which are rather varied, cover the areas of political action, identity formation and the role of sexuality and desire in women's (and men's) life choices. I am in a program that encourages, nay, demands, a high degree of theoretical sophistication, and it is a pain and a pleasure both to try to communicate in so many tongues at the same time. My theoretical leanings are hard to define, but the works that most influence my research are those that can address questions of colonialism and post-colonialism, like Homi Bhabha, political action and identity, like many Latina theorists do (ie, Anzaldúa, Emma Pérez, et. al.), and that is not afraid to raise questions about the place of sexuality, especially queeer sexuality, identity and desire, at the forefront of their research, like Lourdes Argüelles, Oliva Espín and others. I will update this text as soon as I finish developing this web page.
Publications: I don't have many publications, but I will add those I have soon. However, my upcoming activities include presentations of my work at the NACCS conference in Chicago this March, the AES in Puerto Rico in April, and the OHA in Philly this October.
Other: I was born and raised in Santurce, Puerto Rico. I have lived in the US since 1987, hold a BA in Women's Studies from Yale University and will be Dr. Isa sometime this millenium if all goes well.
Contact: If you're interested in my project, or have a job available for an underemployed, almost ABD Teaching Assistant, you can contact me at:
Snail Mail: 315 Spruce St. #3
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
isavelez@cats.ucsc.edu