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

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. (2023). “Performing and Decolonizing Food-Related Practices: First International Festival of  Gastroperformance in Bogotá, Colombia.” Latin American Theatre Review, 56.
  • Martinez, A. L. (2022). Bodies of Corn, Maguey, and Water: Performing Latin American Environmentalisms. Critical  Stages / Scènes Critiques, (Special Issue: Theatre and Ecology / Théâtre et écologie). Retrieved from https://www.critical-stages.org/26/bodies-of-corn-maguey-and-water-performing-latin-american-environmentalisms/
  • Martinez, A. L. (2022). “Making Borderization Visible: Susan Harbage Page’s Performative Works in and about the  U.S.-Mexico Border.” In Embodied Cartography in Territorial Disputes. Davidson, North Carolina, United States: Davidson College, Van Every/Smith Galleries.
  • Martinez, A. L. (2021). Teatro Línea de Sombra durante la pandemia: Entrevista con Alicia Laguna y Jorge A. Vargas. Latin American Theatre Review (Vol. 55, p. 169¬ – 178). Lawrence, Kansas, United States: Center of Latin American Studies, University of Kansas. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1353/ltr.2021.0022
  • 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. Retrieved from https://www.press.umich.edu/10160893/performance_in_the_zocalo/?s=description

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. University Lecturers Series Award, Texas State University, Texas State University, $2000. (Funded: August 2022 - May 2023). Grant.
  • Martinez, Ana Luisa. Research Enhancement Program, REP, Texas State University, $8000. (Funded: May 2022 - May 2023). Grant.
  • Martinez, Ana Luisa. New Faculty Startup Fund Request, University Libraries, Texas State University, $1000. (Submitted: 2021). Grant.
  • Martinez, Ana Luisa. Library Research Grant, $700. (Submitted: 2020, Funded: 2020). Grant.
  • Martinez, Ana Luisa. Scholarship and Teaching Excellence Program, Texas State University, $600. (Funded: June 1, 2020 - August 31, 2021). 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