PhD Student

American Literary and Cultural Studies

Research Area(s):

Indigenous and Chicana feminisms, Southwest literature and cultures, coloniality and its afterlives, Gender studies

Contact Information

Email: dtenorio24@unm.edu 

Office: Parish Library

Biography

Deanna D. Tenorio is a PhD student in American Literary and Cultural Studies at the University of New Mexico, where she studies Chicana and Indigenous literatures, feminisms, and cultures of the U.S. Southwest. Her research examines the intersections of gender, coloniality, religion, cultural identity, and family, with particular attention to the ways historical and cultural structures shape women’s lived experiences and literary representation. Her emerging research focuses on New Mexican Hispanic women and the intersections of Catholicism, machismo, family, and colonial legacies. Tenorio holds an MA in English from the University of New Mexico, with a concentration in Language and Literature and a focus on Southwest Native and Chicana feminism. Her master’s portfolio, “Coloniality and the Affected in Ana Castillo’s So Far from God and Tsitsi Dangarembga’s Nervous Conditions,” explored the relationship between colonial structures and women’s experiences across distinct cultural contexts. She earned her BA in English and Interpersonal Communications from the University of New Mexico, graduating magna cum laude. In addition to her research, Deanna is committed to teaching writing and literature through culturally responsive, student-centered pedagogy. Her teaching interests include literacy, rhetoric, collaborative learning, and the use of Indigenous and Chicana women’s writing to help students examine language, identity, culture, and power.

External Links 

Personal Website