Emma Velez

Emma Velez received her Ph.D. in Philosophy and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Penn State. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Gender and Women’s Studies and affiliate faculty in Latina/Latino Studies, the Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies, and the Unit for Criticism and Interpretative Theory at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Her research interests include U.S. Latina and Latinx feminisms, Latin American decolonial theory, critical theory, feminist theory, and critical philosophy of race. Her work stages dialogues across disciplines and traditions in order to consider Latina and Latinx feminist contributions to decolonial theory as well as questions of identity, cross-cultural communication, and political marginalization particularly as they intersect with issues of race, gender, and sexuality.

Velez has published her work in The Journal of Speculative Philosophy and has co-edited special issues on the topic of decolonial feminisms in Hypatia and Critical Philosophy of Race. She is also currently working on a book project tentatively titled, Orienting Historias: Unraveling the Coloniality of Gender through Las Tres Madres.