Biography
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 and the Unit for Criticism and Interpretative Theory at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Her research interests include Latina and Latinx decolonial feminisms, critical theory, feminist theory, and critical philosophy of race. Her work stages dialogues across disciplines and traditions in order to consider Latina and Latinx decolonial 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.
Research Interests
Latina/x Feminisms
Latin American and Latinx Decolonial Theory
Latin American and Latinx Philosophy
Critical Philosophy of Race
Continental Philosophy (esp. critical phenomenology, critical theory)
Education
Philosophy and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University
Philosophy, M.A., Suny at Stony Brook
B.A., Philosophy and Political Science, Oklahoma City University
Courses Taught
GWS 395/LLS 396 Latinx Feminisms
Additional Campus Affiliations
Gender & Women's Studies
The Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory
Recent Publications
Tuana, N., & Velez, E. D. (Eds.) (2020). Toward Decolonial Feminisms. Critical Philosophy of Race, 8(8-1). https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5325/critphilrace.8.1-2.issue-1-2
Velez, E., & Tuana, N. (2020). Editors' introduction tango dancing with maría lugones: Toward decolonial feminisms. Critical Philosophy of Race, 8(1-2), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.5325/critphilrace.8.1–2.0001
Velez, E. D. (2020). Toward a “Care-ful Geopolitics” of La Frontera in the Era of Trump. Journal of Speculative Philosophy, 34(3), 339-352. https://doi.org/10.5325/jspecphil.34.3.0339
Velez, E. D., & Tuana, N. (2020). Toward Decolonial Feminisms: Tracing the Lineages of Decolonial Thinking through Latin American/Latinx Feminist Philosophy. Hypatia, 35(3), 366-372. https://doi.org/10.1017/hyp.2020.26
Velez, E. D. (2019). Decolonial feminism at the intersection: A critical reflection on the relationship between decolonial feminism and intersectionality. Journal of Speculative Philosophy, 33(3), 390-406. https://doi.org/10.5325/jspecphil.33.3.0390