I am very pleased to announce that Inés Valdez, Associate Professor of Political Science at OSU, is the new Director of the Latina/o Studies Program. In this capacity she will be part of the Executive Committee of the Center for Ethnic Studies (CES) and work with both the Director of CES, Namiko Kunimoto, and the Director of the Humanities Institute, where CES is located.

 

 

Valdez's research focuses on political theory. Her 2019 book Transnational Cosmopolitanism: Kant, Du Bois, and Justice as a Political Craft was published by Cambridge University Press. She has also published numerous scholarly articles on the questions of migration/immigration, race, hemispheric political landscapes, immigration detention and punishment, freedom and the French full veil ban, Latinas in film, and sovereignty. She just completed a residency at the Hanse Institute for Advanced Study as a Humboldt Stiftung Fellow in Spring 2019, and a Summer 2019 Faculty Fellowship from the Migration, Mobility, and Immobility Project at OSU. In 2017-2018, she was appointed as Rockefeller Visiting Faculty Fellow at the Princeton University Center for Human Values. In the past six years, her invited talks include presentations at the University of Chicago, Göttingen Institute for Advanced Study, University of Virginia, Universidad Torcuato di Tella, University of Pennsylvania, Cambridge University, Florida International University and Cornell University, among others. She has also participated in community outreach with presentations at the Westland Area Library, Worthington Kilbourne High School and to groups of Ohioans interested in learning more about immigration rights.

 

 

She regularly teaches in Political Science on Feminist Political Theory, Radical Cosmopolitanism, Human Rights, and Immigration Politics. She has held roles in the American Political Science Association and in the Midwest Political Science Association. At OSU, she is an active participant in department and university service and has or is currently serving on five PhD committees.

 

 

Valdez has been at OSU since 2012, first as a postdoctoral fellow in Political Theory in the Department of Political Science, and then from 2013 - 2019 as an Assistant Professor in that department. She was recently awarded tenure and promotion to Associate Professor for her outstanding record of research, teaching, and service.

 

 

Valdez has been active in Latina/o Studies since her arrival at OSU, collaborating with peers across several departments to host speakers and events, and to organize events to advance faculty and student success. Her dedication to our interdisciplinary program has been evident in her service on the Latina/o Studies Faculty Council in two different years. She has also provided important informal mentorship to OSU students and to Latina graduate students in her field. In 2019, she received the Latina/o Studies Faculty Award for Service for her many outstanding contributions to building our interdisciplinary program. Please welcome Inés Valdez as Director of Latina/o Studies!

 

-Theresa Delgadillo