Tinker Dissertation Completion Fellows

J. Rubén Díaz Vásquez is an interdisciplinary scholar of race, immigration, coloniality, performance, and literature in Chicanx and Mexican culture, with a specialization in Indigeneity. He is currently a PhD Candidate in the Modern Thought & Literature Program at Stanford. His current dissertation studies the ubiquitous representations of Indigeneity—Indigenous history, aesthetics, and identity—in late 20th century poetry and cultural performances by Mexican-origin people on both sides of the border. His dissertation is tentatively titled, “Between Tenochtitlan and CalifAztlan: Making Mexicanidad and the Poetics of Indigeneity, Performance, and Culture.” It juxtaposes analyzes of Chicanx and Mexican poetry with ethnographic observation of...

Olavo Passos de Souza is a PhD Candidate at Stanford’s History department in the field of Latin American History as well as Transnational, International and Global History (TIG). His primary line of research focuses on early 19th century Brazil and the development of national identity and political structure within the nascent Brazilian nation. He is particularly interested in the history of ideas and the formation of new forms of governance. His ongoing dissertation, tentatively titled “Imagining an Empire: Constitutional Government and Federalism in Brazil, 1822-1842” discusses the failed liberal project for Brazil in the wake of independence, and the alternative...