Executive Council
Member Profiles
President
Marisol LeBrón
Why did you join PRSA? What do you envision for its future?
“I joined PRSA to find a community of scholars interested in better understanding the conditions of Puerto Ricans in the archipelago and diaspora. PRSA was one of the first conferences I went to as a grad student and it remains a valuable intellectual space for me. As the PRSA continues to grow, I hope that junior scholars continue to find a supportive and enriching community within the organization.”
Vice-President
Maura Toro-Morn
Research Interests
Latinx/a/o immigration to the Midwest, globalization and migration, and Puerto Rican studies, gender, qualitative studies.
Secretary &
Membership Officer
Jessica Pabón-Colón
Research Interests
Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies; Cultural Studies (Subcultural, Urban, Youth, Digital); Performance Studies/Theories; Black and Latina/o/x Performance and Visual Culture Studies/Theories (specialization in Hip-Hop Studies); Women of Color Feminisms; LGBT & Queer Studies/Theories; and Digital Humanities.
Why did you join PRSA? What do you envision for its future?
“I joined PRSA to network with other folks interested in examining the conditions of life in Puerto Rico and its diaspora. I envision PRSA as a network of individuals, from within and without the academy, engaged in producing theoretical insights and tools, as well as community initiatives, to help ameliorate the effects which constitute life in Puerto Rico and its diaspora (even if minimally).”
Treasurer
Michael Staudenmaier
Research Interests
I research and write about the history of Chicago’s Puerto Rican community, about the roles of nationalism and the radical left in the racial formation of US Latina/o/xs, and about grassroots anti-racist movements, all focused on the second half of the 20th century.
Why did you join PRSA? What do you envision for its future?
“I joined PRSA as a graduate student, when it became clear that my research focus was the Puerto Rican diaspora, initially in Chicago specifically. Being a member of PRSA has helped broaden and deepen my knowledge as well as my intellectual, pedagogical, and political commitments. In and through PRSA I’ve met some of the sharpest thinkers and dedicated teachers I know. I want the Association to be a vibrant and dynamic space for engaged scholarship that can transform the world.
Before I entered graduate school, I obtained my Certified Public Accountant (CPA) credential and worked as a non-profit accountant in the education sector for more than a decade. I’m happy to put those skills to work on behalf of PRSA. Finally, as a white, non-Puerto Rican scholar of the Puerto Rican diaspora, I believe that solidarity is a crucial value in both politics and scholarship.”
Communications Officer
Karrieann Soto Vega
ksotovega@uky.edu
Research Interests
Anticolonial, DiaspoRican Feminist Rhetoric, Sound Studies, Multimodal Composition, Digital Media.
Why did you join PRSA? What do you envision for its future?
“My first time at a PRSA conference was in 2008 in San Juan, Puerto Rico. One of my main goals in the academy is to visibilize and amplify Puerto Rican studies in Rhetoric, Writing, and Digital Studies. It’s a pleasure to use my digital skills to advance Puerto Rican studies and its peoples. I envision a radical social justice turn in our organization and general discipline, striving towards accessibility and the creation of broader mentorship networks, as I’ve learned from and with many of my colleagues here in this council.”
Member at Large
Monica A. Jiménez
Research Interests
Histories and legacies of race, law, debt, and empire in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.
Why did you join PRSA? What do you envision for its future?
“I first joined PRSA in 2014 as a graduate student in search of community. I was the only Caribbeanist or Puerto Ricanist in my program and I felt isolated from the work of other scholars in those areas. I found mentors and friends in PRSA. I am happy now to help usher in the newest iteration of the organization -- one that is diverse and inclusive of individuals, ideas and intellectual traditions.”
Member at Large
Pedro Lebrón
plebron.upr@gmail.com
Research Interests
Marronage; Latin American, Africana, and Caribbean Philosophy; racial capitalism; colonialism; philosophy of technology; ethics, social, and political philosophy
Why did you join PRSA? What do you envision for its future?
I joined PRSA to network with other folks interested in examining the conditions of life in Puerto Rico and its diaspora. I envision PRSA as a network of individuals, from within and without the academy, engaged in producing theoretical insights and tools, as well as community initiatives, to help ameliorate the effects which constitute life in Puerto Rico and its diaspora (even if minimally).
Member at Large
Mirelsie Velázquez
Research Interests
Latina/o/x Studies, Puerto Rican Studies, History of Education, Critical Race Theory, Oral History
Graduate Student Representative
Daniel Vázquez Sanabria
dvazquezsanabria@utexas.edu
Research Interests
Disability Studies, Trans/Queer Studies, Raciolinguistics, Racialization, and Performance
Why did you join PRSA? What do you envision for its future?
I joined PRSA because I felt heard and seen as a student. I think the future of PRSA is very queer (in every sense of the word!). I really see us going into a new space where academic work is less invested in pleasing institutions and more interested in expanding the reach our work can have through collaborations with anybody whose passion guides them.
Graduate Student Representative
Andrea Pimentel Rivera
Research Interests
Critical transportation geographies, mobility justice, politics of mobility of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.
Why did you join PRSA? What do you envision for its future?
I recently joined PRSA because I felt it was the space where talking about the geographies and scales from which I work from are not a mere footnote but the point of departure for dialogue. I am excited to think of the organization beyond the institutional constraints of academia, in particular through bridging together the voices of Puerto Ricans on the island and the diaspora.