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Jessennya Hernandez

Profile picture for Jessennya Hernandez

Contact Information

3059 Lincoln Hall
702 S Wright Street
Urbana IL 61801
MC-454

Office Hours

Graduate Instructor

Biography

Jessennya is a brown Xicana PhD candidate from Southern California, first generation college/ grad student, and is in her 7th year in the Sociology Department with a minor in Gender and Women Studies. Her larger goals are to highlight alternative knowledge production, elevate queer BIPOC voices, and increase resources and access to higher education for black and brown communities through research, teaching, and mentorship.

Research Interests

Sexuality and Gender; Race; Latino/a Studies; Women of Color Feminisms; Queer of Color Theory; Intersectional Feminism; Transnationalism; Political Economy; Artivism; Resistance; Urban Sociology

Research Description

Her current dissertation research focuses on people of color, primarily working-class queer Latinx feminist communities, in greater LA and how they produce alternative forms of knowledge and counterspaces through artistic and creative practices.

Education

M.A. Sociology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

B.S. Anthropology and Sociology, California State Polytechnic University Pomona

 

Courses Taught

SOC 225 Race and Ethnicity 

SOC 101 Intro to Gender

Highlighted Publications

Hernandez, Jessennya. 2021. “Foster Youth Perspectives: How Foster Youth Navigate and Mobilize Their Rights within the Foster Care System.” Humanity and Society. DOI: 10.1177/0160597621991546