Dr. Silvia Soto (CALS/NAMS)

"Engaging the Indigenous Americas: Stories, Languages, and Discourse of Race in the Americas"  

Short bio:

Silvia Soto is the associate chair in Native American Studies and an assistant professor in Chicano and Latino Studies at Sonoma State University (SSU). Prior to joining SSU, she was a visiting assistant professor and postdoctoral research fellow in American Indian Studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She received her Ph.D. in Native American Studies from the University of California, Davis and M.A. in Latin American Studies from the University of New Mexico. Her research focuses on the contemporary Maya literary movement of Chiapas, Mexico, more specifically on concepts of identity formation, gender relations, and Maya cosmovisions. Her first book, tentatively titled Caracoleando Among Worlds: The Re-construction of Maya Worlds in Chiapas, is currently under contract with the University of Arizona Press.