Biography
Emma Velez (she/they) is a settler Chicanx Okie, decolonial feminist, & transdisciplinary philosopher. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Gender & Women’s Studies at the University of Illinois.
Dr. Velez is interested in the role that our social imaginaries play both in shaping and reimagining our ethical commitments, geopolitical responses to racialized and gendered colonial violence, as well as the politics of knowledge production. Centering the philosophical genealogies and embodied knowledge of Black, Indigenous, and Latinx communities, their scholarship is rooted in storytelling and speculative theorizing and bridges conversations in philosophy, critical ethnic studies, and feminist theory. Velez is currently working on a book project titled, Orienting Historias: for a Decolonial Latinx Feminism, under contract with Duke University Press.
To learn more about Dr. Velez's work check out these interviews:
- Humanities Research Institute Inquiry Blog
- College of LAS 940 Feet
Research Interests
Latina/x feminisms, Decolonial feminisms (esp. Latin American and Latinx traditions), Latin American and Latinx philosophies, critical phenomenology, aesthetics, critical theory
Education
2020 Ph.D. in Philosophy & Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Penn State University
2015 M.A. in Philosophy, SUNY Stony Brook
2013 B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science, Oklahoma City University
Courses Taught
GWS 100: Intro to GWS
GWS 378: Fairytales, Myths, Legends & Gender Formation
GWS/LLS 496: Latinx Feminisms (grad/undergrad seminar)
GWS 498: Senior Seminar
GWS 550: Feminist Theory & Methods (grad seminar)
Additional Campus Affiliations
Latina/Latino Studies
Center for Caribbean & Latin American Studies
Unit for Criticism & Interpretative Theory
Philosophy Department
Recent Publications
Gallegos, L., & Velez, E. (2024). Self-Creation in Chicana Feminism. In K. Aho, M. Altman, & H. Pedersen (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Existentialism (pp. 129-142). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003247791-14
Velez, E. D. (2024). The Colonial Contract and the Coloniality of Gender: Decolonial Feminist Reflections on Charles Mills's Racia-Sexual Contract. Critical Philosophy of Race, 12(2), 366-381. https://doi.org/10.5325/critphilrace.12.2.0366
Velez, E. (2022). Latina/o/x Feminist Philosophers. In I. Stavans (Ed.), Latino Studies (Oxford Bibliographies). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780199913701-0270
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). 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