Biography
Breanna Escamilla is a Doctoral Candidate in Linguistic and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). She has also completed the graduate coursework requirments for the Graduate Minor in Latina/Latino/x Studies from the Department of Latina/o Studies and the Graduate Minor in Queer Studies from the Department of Gender and Women's Studies. Prior to UIUC, Breanna earned her B.A in Anthropology with double minors in African American and African Studies and Chicanx/Latinx Studies at Michigan State University in 2018.
Her current research interest seeks to understand the ways in which queer latinas use social media spaces in enacting the self and cultural production through a feminist analytical lens.
Research Interests
Latina feminisms, Women of Color Feminisms, Ethics, Language, Gender and Sexuality, Race and Ethnicity, Digital Ethnography, Media and Culture, Latinx Studies, and Visual Aesthetics
Education
Graduate Education | University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
- PhD Anthropology | In Progress
- Graduate Minor in Latina/Latino Studies | Department of Latina/o Studies
- Graduate Minor in Queer Studies | Department of Gender and Women's Studies
Undergraduate Education | Michigan State University
- Bachelor of Arts, Anthropology | May 2018
- Minor in African American and African Studies | Department of African American and African Studies
- Minor in Chicano/Latino Studies | Department of Chicano/Latino Studies
Awards and Honors
2018 – 2023: Graduate College Fellowship. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
2022: Humanities Without Walls Summer Bridge Experience. Humanities Research Institute, Graduate College of Illinois, and We CU. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
2022: Lambda Theta Alpha Foundation Scholar.
2021: National Humanities Without Walls Pre-Doctoral Career Diversity Workshop Fellowship. Humanities Research Institute. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
2021: Summer Research Award. Department of Anthropology. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Courses Taught
Teaching Assistant for ANTH 270: Language in Culture during Spring 2022.
Teaching Assistant for ANTH 103: Anthropology in a Changing World during Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Spring 2023.
Teaching Assistant for ANTH 101: Introduction to Anthropology during Fall 2022.
Research Assistant for the Diaspora and Border Racial Justice Youth Project during the 2021 - 2022 Academic Year.
