Episode Ten: A conversation with Dr. Karma Chávez
In this episode hosts Pritha Prasad, PhD student in English, and Dr. Jennifer Suchland (SEELC and WGSS) speak with University of Texas, Austin professor Dr. Karma Chávez. Dr. Chávez is author of Queer Migration Politics (U of Illinois Press, 2013) winner of the Book of the Year by the LGBTQ Communication Studies Division of the National Communication Association, and is Co-editor of Text + Field (Penn State Press, 2016) as well as Co-editor of Standing in the Intersection (SUNY Press, 2012).
Dr. Chávez is the co-founder of the Queer Migration Research Network, an interdisciplinary research initiative that critically examines how migration processes fuel the production, contestation, and remaking of sexual and gender norms, cultures, communities, and politics. Dr. Chávez is part of activist endeavors, including with the group Against Equality and produced the radio show, “A public affair” for six years on 89.9 FM WORT in Madison, Wisconsin.
In their conversation, they discusses the practice of coalitions, the importance of intersectional politics, and the struggle structural change working within institutions such as academia.