New CALS Faculty
The department is thrilled to welcome Dr. Silvia Soto and Dr. Natalia Villanueva-Nieves!
Silvia Soto
Dr. Soto earned her doctoral degree from the University of California, Davis in Native American Studies and her master’s degree from the University of New Mexico in Latin American Studies. Her research focuses on the contemporary Mayan literary movement of Chiapas, Mexico, more specifically on concepts of identity formation, gender relations, and Mayan cosmovisions as articulated in the literature. Her book manuscript entitled, Unstoppable Clamor: The Reconstruction of a Mayan World in Chiapas, is currently under press review. Prior to joining Sonoma State, she was a visiting assistant professor and a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in American Indian Studies where she also taught courses on Indigenous knowledge systems.
Natalia Villanueva-Nieves
Dr. Natalia Villanueva-Nieves earned her doctoral degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara in Chicana and Chicano Studies and her master’s degree from Utrecht University in Comparative Literary Studies. Her research focuses on the relationship between contemporary systems of power and affect in Latina literary and cultural representations via a trans-Americas feminist approach. Her hemispheric perspective is reflective in her professional talks and publications. Her articles and collaborations have been published in Latin America, Europe and the United States. In addition to her research agenda, Dr. Villanueva-Nieves has several years of experience as instructor of Latina/o/x and Chicana/o/x literature, culture and critical thought.