Faculty Profile for Dr. Ana Luisa Martinez

profile photo for Dr. Ana Luisa Martinez
Dr. Ana Luisa Martinez
Assistant Professor — Department of Theatre & Dance
THEA 101
phone: (512) 245-2147
Scholarly/Creative Work
Awards
Grants
Service

Biography Section

Biography and Education
Dr. Ana Martínez holds a doctoral degree in Theatre Studies from the City University of New York, an MA in Scenography from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London, and an Architecture degree from Universidad Anahuac in Mexico.

As a scholar, she integrates a knowledge of performance and spatial practices with socially grounded research. Her fields of specialization are theatre practices in Mexico, Latin American and Latinx drama, and site-specific performance. Her book, Performance in the Zócalo: Constructing History, Race, and Identity in Mexico's Central Square from the Colonial Era to the Present (University of Michigan Press, 2020), was selected as one out of six finalists for the Theatre Library Association's 2020 George Freedley Memorial Award. Performance in the Zócalo addresses the ways in which Mexico City's central square manifests and contests its symbolic power through performance practices. Her chapter "Scenographies behind the Scenes" in the edited collection The Stage's Glory: John Rich reconstructs some of Covent Garden's eighteenth-century scenographies through an inventory of sets, props, and costumes. Her chapter on the 2001 march by the Zapatistas to the Zócalo is included in "Performance and the Global City." Her current research focuses on Latin American and Latinx performance, migration, and environmentalism. Her recent article "Bodies of Corn, Maguey, and Water: Performing Latin American / Latinx Environmentalisms" (Critical Stages / Scènes critiques) studies Latin American ecological practices in performance as sources of decolonial knowledge and environmental values.

Selected Scholarly/Creative Work

  • Martinez, A. L. (2024). Relics, Effects, and Bones: Migrancy Material Traces in Performance. In Puppet and Spirit: Investigations in Material Performance and Bodiless Presence (Vol. 2). London, United Kingdom: Roudledge. Retrieved from https://www.routledge.com/Puppet-and-Spirit-Ritual-Religion-and-Performing-Objects-Volume-II-Contemporary-Branchings-Secular-Benedictions-Activated-Energies-Uncanny-Faiths/Orenstein-Cusack/p/book/9780367713799
  • Martinez, A. L., Martínez, V., & Ochoa, J. (2024). ¿Qué vamos a comer? Colombia’s  Mojojoy! Performance Research, 28. Retrieved from http://www.performance-research.org/current-issue.php
  • Martinez, A. L. (2023). Sancocho, teatro y pez Capitán: Entrevista con María Buenaventura y su lucha contra los  silencios bogotanos. Latin American Theatre Review, 91–100. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1353/ltr.2023.a917969
  • Martinez, A. L. (2023). “Performing and Decolonizing Food-Related Practices: First International Festival of  Gastroperformance in Bogotá, Colombia.” Latin American Theatre Review, 56. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1353/ltr.2023.a919125
  • Martinez, A. L. (2020). Performance in the Zócalo: Constructing History, Race, and Identity in Mexico’s Central Square from the Colonial Era to the Present. Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States: University of Michigan Press. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.10160834

Selected Awards

  • Award / Honor Recipient: Department Achievement for Excellence in Teaching, College of Fine Arts and Communication. 2023
  • Award / Honor Recipient: College Achievement for Excellence in Scholarly / Creative Activities, Texas State University. 2021 - 2022
  • Award / Honor Recipient: Mentor of the Year, Texas Association for Chicanos in Higher Education. 2021 - 2022
  • Award / Honor Nominee: George Freedley Memorial Award, Theatre Library Association. September 2021
  • Award / Honor Nominee: Presidential Awards for Excellence in Teaching (Assistant Professor), Texas State University. 2022

Selected Grants

  • Martinez, Ana Luisa. The Verena and Kenneth J. Wilson Latin American Award, Texas State University, $500. (Funded: 2024 - Present). Grant.
  • Martinez, Ana Luisa. University Lecturers Series Award, Faculty Senate, Texas State University, $2000. (Funded: 2024 - 2025). Grant.
  • Martinez, Ana Luisa. Performing the Goodlife: Latin American and Latinx Theatre and the Environment, Research Enhancement Program, REP, Texas State University, $8000. (Submitted: October 2023, Funded: January 2024 - May 2025). Grant.
  • Martinez, Ana Luisa. Performing the Goodlife: Latin American and Latinx Theatre and the Environment, American Society for Theatre Research, ASTR, Institutional (Higher Ed), $1500. (Submitted: July 2023, Funded: November 2023 - November 2024). Grant.
  • Martinez, Ana Luisa. University Lecturers Series Award, Texas State University, Texas State University, $2000. (Funded: August 2022 - May 2023). Grant.

Selected Service Activities

Undergraduate Advisor
Advocates for Neurodivergence at Texas State (A.N.T.S)
May 2022-Present
Graduate Advisor
Department of Theatre and Dance
January 2022-Present
Member
Diversity Scholars Network, National Center for Institutional Diversity, University of Michigan
January 2020-Present
Mentor
Texas Association for Chicanos in Higher Education (TACHE)
2021-2022
Conference Planning Committee
Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education (TACHE), Planning Committee, 2021 and 2022 Conference
September 2020-2022