I graduated Summa Cum Laude with my BA in History, International Affairs, and Spanish from Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN. During my time in undergrad, I served as an intern for the Office of Intercultural Development on campus and studied abroad in both Italy and Spain. These experiences pushed me to pursue my degree in the humanities and social sciences rather than medicine as I initially planned. The majority of my work focused on how patriarchal societies exploited even powerful women to ensure the continuity of male dominance. I combined my studies of History and Spanish to complete my thesis on the methods through which Indigenous women in the Andes resisted Spanish colonization, particularly in Peru.
Upon graduation, I served as an English Teaching Assistant in Neiva, Colombia as a Fulbright Fellow. This experience solidified my interest in researching the effects of colonialism and learning the Indigenous language of Quechua.
I am excited to begin classes in Quechua this year through the FLAS. I have always been interested in feminist history, but I am now eager to expand my focus to queer history through my graduate research. I plan to examine the ways in which colonization in Latin America destroyed parallel gender roles and suppressed queer sexualities and identities. I hope to look at how feminist and queer movements in this and other formerly colonized areas have embraced Indigenous views and attempted to decolonize the discourse around gender and sexuality.
