Esther Díaz Martín
Assistant Professor
LALS and GWS
Contact
Building & Room:
1509 UH
Address:
601 S. Morgan Street
Office Phone:
Email:
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About
Esther Díaz Martín is an Assistant Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies and Gender and Women’s Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She was born in the state of Jalisco, Mexico and grew up in an agricultural community in California’s San Joaquin Valley during the Prop 187 era which led her to pursue a university education. She is a proud product of the California State University system having received her BA in Political Science at CSU Stanislaus and a MA and Teaching Credential in Spanish at San José State. Her Ph.D. is in Iberial and Latin American Languages and Cultures with a Graduate Portfolio in Mexican American and Latina/o Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Between degrees she has also worked as a gig musician (double bass), community organizer, migrant education instructor, high school Spanish Teacher, and Spanish/English translator in a therapy setting.
Her recently published book, Radiophonic Feminisms: Latina Voices in the Digital Age of Broadcasting, (UT Press 2025) centers the gender politics of commercial Spanish-language radio and Latinx podcasting offering a Chicana-oriented "nepantlera" critical listening methodology for tuning in to the intersectional dynamics of power as heard in Latinx soundscapes. Her scholarship, centering on the intersections of sonic, oral, and aural knowledge-making in Latinx popular culture and literature is published in Chicana/Latina Studies, Diálogo, and Spanish and Portuguese Review, and Sounding Out! Her writing on countering epistemic violence in academia is featured in Voices from the Ancestors: Xicanx and Latinx Spiritual Expressions and Healing Practices (ed. Medina and Gonzales) and Amplified Voices, Intersecting Identities: Vol 1 (ed. Van Galen).
Dr. Díaz Martín is a co-principal investigator of the Latinx Sound Cultures workgroup (www.soundinglatinx.com) through the Crossing Latinidades Humanities Research Initiative. The workgroup defines the emerging field of Latinx sound studies, exploring the sonic and aural dimensions of meaning making implicated in Latinx soundscapes across literature, queer spaces, music listening. Her ongoing digital humanities project www.latinxsoundmap.com is a sonic archive of Latinx Chicago developed with undergraduate students at UIC. She currently serves as liaison for the new Chicago area chapter of Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS).
Courses Taught
Introduction to Latino Studies, Gender in Latin America, Gender in Everyday Life, Contemporary Latina Narratives, Sound and Latinx Cultures, Latinx Futurity