By Rose Steptoe, Graduate Writer
Welcome, Geovani Ramírez! Ramírez joined the faculty this fall as a postdoctoral fellow. A recent graduate of the ECL’s Ph.D. program, his research is in Multiethnic and Latinx literatures.
Ramírez is currently working on his first monograph, which uses “ecocritical, disability studies, and ecofeminist theories to investigate Mexican-heritage women writings that offer conceptual frameworks for understanding Mexican-heritage people’s relationships to labor and laboring spaces, the environment, and health.”
Because of his “expertise in Latina/o studies and personal connections to Latinx communities,” Ramírez’s “life, via research, teaching, and outreach, is centered around promoting and continually learning from Latinx epistemologies, histories, and cultural productions as well as theories and literature.”
One course Ramírez is teaching this semester is Introduction to Latina/o Studies. He has personally enjoyed “learning about Latinx sci-fi and fantasy literary pieces,” while preparing the course. He has particularly enjoyed Latin@ Rising, an anthology of science fiction and fantasy pieces by Latinx authors. “It was my first encounter with Latinx literature in these genres of speculative fiction,” says Ramírez, “and I certainly plan to explore these genres in more depth.”
Another text Ramírez is currently interested in is ECL graduate student emilio taiveaho’s chapbook, landskips (words are a hard look). The recently published book is “a latinX exploration of the sonics and optics of our contemporary American Landscapes” and “an American Lyric dedicated to all the freeways in Texas.” Ramírez is teaching selections from the book in one of his courses.
When it comes to Latinx studies, Ramírez stresses: “I always encourage people not only to learn about Latinx people but rather to take opportunities to learn from them.”
To learn more about the Latina/o Studies faculty, courses, events, and more, visit the Latina/o Studies Program page.
