Karma R. Chávez, Ph.D.
Ph.D., Arizona State University, 2007  Office: Room 235	Assistant Professor Communication

Research:

My current research generally explores the rhetorics of marginalized groups in contexts of neo-liberalism. Particularly, my work meets at the intersections of queer theory, feminist post-structuralist theory, and critical race theories. My most recent work examines social movements and coalition building, and I am most interested in the relationships between sexuality and immigration.

Sample Publications:

• Griffin, Cindy L. and Karma R. Chávez, Eds. Special Issue: “Power Feminism: Exploring Agency, Oppression and Victimage.” Women’s Studies in Communication, Forthcoming, 2008.

• Chávez, Karma R. “Embodied Translation: Dominant Discourse and Communication with Migrant Bodies-as-Text.” Howard Journal of Communications, Forthcoming.

• _____. “Re-Mapping Latinidad: A Performance Cartography of Latina/o Identity in Rural Nebraska.” Text and Performance Quarterly, Forthcoming.

• _____. “Breaking Trances and Engaging the Erotic: The Search for a Queer Spirituality.” Liminalities: A Journal of Performance Studies. 4.2 (2008)

• _____. “Beyond Complicity: Coherence, Queer Theory, and the Rhetoric of the ‘Gay Christian Movement.’” Text and Performance Quarterly 24.3/4 (2004): 255-75.

Methods: I use critical/cultural qualitative methods including rhetorical criticism, field methods, personal narrative and performative writing.

Authors: Judith Butler, Gloria Anzaldúa, Eithne Luibhéid, Aimee Carrillo Rowe, Lauren Berlant, Gayatri Spivak, Aiwha Ong, Michel Foucault, Patricia Hill Collins.

Teaching Style: I am all about deep, reading-based discussions that connect theory to our lives inside and outside the classroom.