Dr. Perez Bio

Me and Dr. Teresa McKenna on the day of my Ph.D. hooding.

Me and Dr. Teresa McKenna on the day of my Ph.D. hooding.

I am a native of Los Angeles and grew up all over LA. For the past 10 years I’ve lived in Santa Monica. My BA, MA and PhD are in English, with a specialization in Chicana/o literature. I work on Chicana feminist texts from the 1960s and 70s.

My favorite thing to do used to be calligraphy but I don’t do very much of it anymore. Now I love reading and working with all things digital, especially ways that show off my students’ research and writing the way this blog will. I love looking at pictures of pets and very much want a dog of my own. Sadly my landlord says no. Boo.

This picture was taken on one of the happiest days of my life — the day my PhD advisor hooded me, making me a “doctor.”

The thing I most want you to know about this class and why I do what I do:
There are not enough voices engaged in Chicana/o studies in this university, in this state, in this country, in this world. Our artists, our people are under attack and it has pretty much ever been so. Yet there is so much that is significant in Chicana/o thought, in literature, art and in our own lives. I teach what I do the way I do because I want us to see it and talk about it together. I want my classes to add to and be part of this collection, to hear the voices from our past and amplify them. I want your voices to be amplified, your word to be read, your art seen. And so there is a lot of for us to look at, to read, to watch, to uncover. It is work and it is amazing.