Biography
I’m Breanna Escamilla (she/her), and I am a Doctoral Candidate in Anthropology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with Graduate Minors in Latina/Latino Studies and Queer Studies. As an interdisciplinary scholar, my research centers around Latina feminist practices and politics, language and identity, and digital media studies. In addition to my scholarly work, I care deeply about how teaching and mentoring shapes the student experience and prepares them to lead fulfilling careers and lives.
Before graduate school, I earned my B.A from Michigan State University in 2018 with undergraduate minors in African American and African Studies and Chicanx/Latinx Studies.
Research Interests
Latina feminisms, Language, Race and Ethnicity, Gender and Sexuality, Latina/x Studies, Digital Ethnography, Media and Culture, Visual Aesthetics, Data Governance.
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
Additional Training & Certificates
- In Progress. Certificate in Foundations of Teaching. Center for Innovation in Teaching and Learning. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
- 2024. Master Course in Online Teaching Certificate. Center for Innovation, Teaching and Learning. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
- 2023. Mentoring Certificate. Graduate College. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
- 2023. Disability Ally Program Training. Disability Resources and Education Services (DRES).
- 2022. Writing Across the Curriculum Seminar. The Center for Writing Studies.
Awards and Honors
2024: Charles and Janet Keller Fellowship. Department of Anthropology. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
2023 – 2024: Summer Dissertation Fellowship. Center for Critical Internet Inquiry, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).
2023: Zora Neale Hurston Scholarship. Zeta National Educational Foundation.
2023 – 2018: 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.
2022: LIST OF TEACHERS RANKED AS EXCELLENT BY THEIR STUDENTS. Center for Innovation, Teaching and Learning. University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
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.
2018. Maximillian Monroy-Miller Award for Academic Excellence & Community Service. The Chicano/Latino Studies Program. Michigan State University.
Courses Taught
Instructor of Record of ANTH 103: Anthropology in a Changing World during Summer 2024, Fall 2024, Spring 2025, and Summer 2025.
Instructor of Record of Race-Making in the Americas: From Columbus to the 1893 World’s Fair at The Newberry Library during Summer 2024.
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, Fall 2023.
Teaching Assistant for ANTH 101: Introduction to Anthropology during Fall 2022, Fall 2023.
Research Assistant for the Diaspora and Border Racial Justice Youth Project during the 2021 - 2022 Academic Year.
Additional Campus Affiliations
Breanna is affiliated with the Department of Latina/Latino Studies as a LLS graduate minor.
Breanna is affiliated with the Department of Gender and Women's Studies as a Queer Studies graduate minor.
Breanna is a first-generation college graduate and affiliated with the UIUC First Generation Student Unit.
Since fall 2020, Breanna has been a peer-mentor through the UIUC Doctoral Research Support Program.
From fall 2019 through May 2023, Breanna mentored through the Illinois Promise Scholars Program.
Highlighted Publications
2024. Escamilla, Breanna. “On Language, Belonging and Being a #NoSaboKid.” Anthropology News website.
2023. Escamilla, Breanna (Managing Author), Fleischmann, Adam, Gupta, Kristin, Quinn, Hannah, Ross, and Lachlan Summers. Being @culanth: Social Media and Academic Practice Series. Member Voices, Society of Cultural Anthropology.
2020. Escamilla, Breanna, and Robyn Taylor-Neu. “Digitally Mediated Relations: An Interview with Molly Hales”. Supplemental, Society of Cultural Anthropology.