Saraí Blanco Martinez and Angie C. Bonilla joined the Department of Latina/Latino Studies this fall as the 2025-2026 Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Associates. The Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Research Associate Program provides junior scholars the opportunity to spend a year in the Department of Latina/Latino Studies to pursue their research and engage with academic peers and students at the University of Illinois. The research associates will also teach a course in their area of expertise during the program.
Saraí Blanco Martinez
Dr. Martinez is a first generation Latinx immigrant educator, who was raised in rural North Carolina. As an interdisciplinary scholar, she draws from the fields of psychology, education, and social work to better understand how systems of oppression contribute to the experiences of marginalization of Latinx immigrant families. Drawing on participatory action research methodologies, she partners with community organizations, families, and young people to examine the ways that families try to protect themselves and help one another heal from experiences of marginalization across social contexts (e.g. schools, home). Dr. Martinez will teach LLS 220: Latina/o Migration.
Angie C. Bonilla
Dr. Bonilla is a former visiting assistant professor at Pomona College. She is currently developing her first book, Migrant Figures: Visual Embodiments of Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Contemporary US Central American-Latinx Culture. The book examines how literature, film, and visual art represent Central American and Caribbean migration from the Reagan era to the present and highlights how cultural representation can open possibilities for imagining more just futures for undocumented and migrant communities in the United States. Bonilla also writes about portrayals of Latinx diasporas in contemporary literature and popular culture, including film and television. Her research engages environmental humanities, feminist theory, and biopolitical thought to illuminate the complexities of migration, diaspora, and belonging in today’s world. Dr. Bonilla will teach LLS 242: Intro to Latina/o Literature.
Several past research associates are now professors at the University of Illinois, including professors Gilberto Rosas, Isabel Molina-Guzmán, Natalie Lira, José A. de la Garza-Valenzuela, Yuri Ramírez, Elizabeth Velásquez Estrada, Sandra Ruiz, and Gabriela G. Corona Valencia. Others have gone on to gain tenure track faculty positions and other academic positions at institutions across the country.
“The Chancellor's Postdoctoral Research Associate Program is an excellent opportunity for us to provide resources, mentoring, and community to Latina/Latino studies scholars,” said department chair Gilberto Rosas. “As a former post-doc in the program my own career has benefitted from the opportunities I received here at Illinois and I am glad that we are able to continue that legacy. We look forward to the contributions that Dr. Martinez and Dr. Bonilla will make to our Department.”