Part of the ECCE Speaker Series
"An Evening with Author Jillian M. Báez: In Search of Belonging: Latinas, Media and Citizenship"
In Search of Belonging: Latinas, Media, and Citizenship with author Jillian M. Báez | Jillian M. Báez | Recording Available November 15
Co-Sponsored by the Diversity Center, Women’s Center, Organization of Latin American Students, and Friends of Brookens Library
In Search of Belonging by Jillian M. Báez explores the ways Latina/o
audiences, but women in particular, understand and engage American
mainstream and Spanish-language media. The innovative ethnographic
analysis, informed by new evidence, that was done by Báez draws on the
experiences of a diverse group of Latinas in Chicago. Through in-depth
interviews, the women reveal their search for recognition and belonging
through representations of Latinas in films, advertising, telenovelas,
and TV shows. In Search of Belonging answers important questions about
the ways Latinas see themselves and citizenship in today’s America. Báez
gives voice to U.S. Latinas as they enact cultural citizenship,
offering important insights on how Latinas consume media for a sense of
affirmation, belonging, and empowerment. This book is part of the
Latinos in Chicago and the Midwest Book Series from University of
Illinois Press.
Jillian Báez is an assistant professor of Media
Culture at CUNY Staten Island, specializing in Latina/o media, audience
studies, transnational feminisms, and media literacy. Dr. Báez is
General Editor of WSQ (formerly Women’s Studies Quarterly). Her research
has been supported by the Ford Foundation and Social Science Research
Council. She teaches a variety of courses , including : Theories of
Communications, Media Audiences, Media and the Margins, Media
Industries, History of Print Media, Latina/o Media, Film and Media
Research Analysis, and Introduction to Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality
Studies. Prior to her appointment at the College of Staten Island, Dr.
Báez was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Michigan and a
Visiting Assistant Professor at Williams College. Báez earned her Ph.D.
from he Institute of Communication Research at UIUC and her B.A. from
Hunter College in Media Studies and Black Puerto Rican Studies.