Lorraine J. Affourtit

Curriculum vitae

208 Alderly Circle
Blowing Rock, NC 28605
(415) 690-6590 • laffourt@ucsc.edu
contact@lorraineaffourtit.com • lorraineaffourtit.com

EDUCATION

Ph.D., Visual Studies

September 2020

Department of History of Art & Visual Culture
University of California, Santa Cruz
Dissertation: Visualizing Decolonial Democracy in the Oaxaca Commune
Committee: Martin Berger (Chair), Jennifer González, Julia Bryan-Wilson (UC Berkeley), Leonard Folgarait (Vanderbilt)

M.A. Visual Studies

2017

Department of History of Art & Visual Culture
University of California, Santa Cruz

M.A. Interdisciplinary Humanities

2011

San Francisco State University
Thesis: The Obstructed View (Advisor: Dr. Sandra Luft)

B.F.A. Fine Arts

2004

School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Focus: Print Media, Visual & Critical Studies
SAIC Graduate Thesis Show: May 2004

PROFESSIONAL APPOINTMENTS

Pre-doctoral Visiting Fellow

2017-18

Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies
University of California, San Diego

Lecturer       

2012

Department of Liberal Studies
San Francisco State University

Lecturer       

2011-12

Department of Humanities
San Francisco State University

PUBLICATIONS

Peer-reviewed Journal Articles

2019. “Televising the Revolution: Oaxacan Women on CORTV,” Third Text, Special Issue: Amateurism, forthcoming November, DOI: 10.1080/09528822.2019.1657290.

2019. “Visualizing decolonial democracy: The teachers’ union and the People’s Guelaguetza in Oaxaca, Mexico,” Journal of Labor and Society, vol 22, issue 1, March 2019, DOI: 10.1111/wusa.12385.

2015. “Paradoxes of Trace and Erasure: Reading Derrida Through Kentridge,” Semiotics 2014: “The Semiotics of Paradox,” Yearbook of the Semiotics Society of America, September 2015, DOI: 10.5840/cpsem201418.

Manuscripts in Preparation

“Comunitarian Feminism and Decolonial Democracy in Latin America” preparing submission to emisférica.

“The House that ‘El Maestro’ Built: Francisco Toledo and Spaces of Art Activism in Oaxaca” preparing submission to Field: A Journal of Socially Engaged Art (solicited by editor).

Web-based Publications and Non-academic Press

2014. “ransom,” peer-reviewed fiction publication, Anamesa Journal, New York University

2005. “Strange Silence: Portraits from Women’s Prisons,” exhibition review, Indymedia.org

2003. “Marginalia,” small edition artist book, Anti-Reading #8, Loudmouth Collective, Brooklyn, NY

2002. “Scout’s Report: Ugly Duckling Presse and Loudmouth Collective,” Frigate E-zine: The Transverse Review of Books, Issue No. 4

1997-99. Monthly book review column, Windy City Times, Chicago, IL

FELLOWSHIPS, SCHOLARSHIPS, GRANTS AND AWARDS

2019. Graduate Research Fellowship in Poverty, Inequality, and Democracy, Blum Center for Global Poverty Alleviation and Sustainable Development, University of California, Santa Barbara

2019. Lionel Cantú Memorial Award, Research Center for the Americas, Department of
Sociology, and Department of Latin American and Latino Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz

2019. Graduate Division Dissertation Fellowship, University of California, Santa Cruz

2018. Pre-doctoral Residential Fellowship, Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, University of California, San Diego

2017. Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad (DDRA) Fellowship

2016. Richard E. Greenleaf Visiting Scholar Fellowship, University of New Mexico

2016. Chicano-Latino Research Center Graduate Student Mini-Grant, University of California, Santa Cruz

2015. Chancellor’s Graduate Teaching Fellowship, University of California, Santa Cruz

2015. History of Arts and Visual Culture Arts Dean and Porter College Research and Conference Travel Grant, University of California, Santa Cruz (also awarded 2014, 2013)

2014. Arts Dean’s Excellence Grant, University of California, Santa Cruz (also awarded 2013)

2013. Teaching Assistant of the Year Award, University of California, Santa Cruz

2012. Chancellor’s Fellowship, University of California, Santa Cruz

2011. College of Humanities Hood Scholar, Distinguished Award for Academic Excellence, San Francisco State University

2011. Edward B. Kaufmann Humanities Scholarship, San Francisco State University (also awarded 2010, 2009)

INVITED TALKS

2019. “Televising the Revolution,” visiting scholar lecture for Creative Ecologies and Decolonial Futurities residency program, Grupo de Investigación en Arte y Política (GIAP), San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, July 28.

2016. “Resistance is Fertile: Graphic Art, Collective Identity, and Public Space in the Oaxaca Commune,” visiting scholar lecture, Center for Southwest Research, University of New Mexico, September 22.

2014. “Nikki S. Lee in Your Pocket,” introductory lecture for public screening of “AKA Nikki S. Lee,” University of California, Santa Cruz, March 11.

GUEST LECTURES

2015. “The Oaxaca Commune,” guest lecture for “Visual Activism,” Department of History of Art, University of California, Berkeley, February 4.

2014. “Artist Talk: Swoon,” guest lecture for “Modern Art: Pop to Present,” Department of History of Art & Visual Culture, University of California, Santa Cruz, Spring.

2013. “Swoon: Prints & Social Change,” guest lecture for “Introduction to U.S. Visual Culture,” Department of History of Art & Visual Culture, University of California, Santa Cruz, Fall.

2013. “Who is Niki S. Lee?,” guest lecture for “Modern Art: Pop to Present,” Department of History of Art & Visual Culture, University of California, Santa Cruz, Spring.

2013. “Who is Niki S. Lee?,” guest lecture for “Photography Now,” Department of History of Art & Visual Culture, University of California, Santa Cruz, Winter.

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

2020. “Visualizing Decolonial Democracy: The Women’s Media Takeover in Oaxaca, Mexico,” for the panel, Feminisms and Democracy: Feminist Art Changing the Game, The Feminist Art Project Affiliated Society Session, College Art Association Annual Conference, forthcoming, February 12-15.

2019. “APPO, the Teacher’s Union, and the Guelaguetza Popular in Oaxaca,” Panel 4, Patrimonio cultural, identidad y movimiento social: del día del muertos a la Guelaguetza, Fulbright García-Robles U.S. Scholars Midyear Conference, Comisión México-Estados Unidos para el Intercambio Educativo y Cultural (COMEXUS), Mexico City, Mexico, January 8-10.

2018. “Graphic Art Collectives and the Assembling of Popular Democracy in the Oaxaca Commune (Oaxaca, Mexico, 2006),” for the panel, The Collective as a Model for Practices in Diversity and Inclusion, Committee on Diversity Practices, College Art Association Annual Conference, Los Angeles, CA, February 21-24.

2016. “Resistance is Fertile: Graphic Art, Collective Identity, and Public Space in the Oaxaca Commune,” Latin American Art Association Fourth Triennial Conference, San Francisco, CA, March 18-20.

2015. “Indigeneity, Televisuality, and Performativity in the 2006 Takeover of Canal 9 (Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico),” Roundtable discussion on Human Rights, Political Action, and Performance in the Americas, American Society for Theatre Research Conference, Portland, OR, November 5-8.

2015. “Can the Subaltern be Seen?: Indigeneity, Televisuality, and Performativity in the 2006 Takeover of Canal 9 (Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico),” XIX Juan Bruce-Novoa Mexican Studies Conference, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, May 14-16.

2014. “Paradoxes of Trace and Erasure: Reading Derrida Through Kentridge,” Semiotics Society of America 39th Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, October 2-5.

UNIVERSITY TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Instructor of Record

Graduate Teaching Fellow
HISTORY OF ART & VISUAL CULTURE, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ
Activist Art in Mexico – Spring 2016
Approaches to Visual Studies – Summer 2015, Winter 2016

Lecturer
LIBERAL STUDIES, SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY
Liberal Studies Senior Seminar – Spring 2012

Lecturer
HUMANITIES, SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY
Outsider Narratives, Outsider Voices – Spring 2012
Identity and its Connection to Place – Fall 2011, Spring 2012
Academic Writing for the Humanities – Spring 2011

Graduate Teaching Associate
HUMANITIES, SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY
Values in American Life: American Identity on the Margins – Fall 2010
Values in American Life: Adventures in Anti-Narrative – Fall 2009, Spring 2009

Teaching Assistant
HISTORY OF ART & VISUAL CULTURE, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ

West African Visual Culture – Spring 2019
Climate Justice Now! Art, Activism, Environment Today – Spring 2017
Introduction to U.S. Art and Visual Culture – Fall 2013, Fall 2016
Greek Myths Antiquity to the Present – Spring 2014
Colonial Histories and Legacies: Africa, Oceania, and Indigenous Americas – Winter 2014
Modern Art: Pop to Present – Spring 2013
Photography Now – Winter 2013
Museum Cultures: The Politics of Display – Fall 2012

Other Teaching Experience (selected)

Teaching Artist
OPERA PICCOLA, OAKLAND, CA – 2011
Art project facilitation for Oakland middle school students with little or no access to arts education

Art Major Instructor 

GALILEO LEARNING, INC., OAKLAND, CA – 2010-11
Clay animation, digital photography, and magazine making instruction for 5th – 8th graders

Lead Teaching Artist
IMAGINE BUS PROJECT, SAN FRANCISCO, CA – 2006-08
Visual arts instruction for K-12 at-risk youth in after-school programs and community organizations

ArtReach Instructor 

HABITOT CHILDREN’S MUSEUM, BERKELEY, CA – 2006-08
Parent-child facilitation for low-income families and teen parents in arts, nutrition, and reading

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Graduate Student Researcher
HISTORY OF ART & VISUAL CULTURE, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ
Research and editing for a book manuscript on Ethiopian religious iconography – 2016
Co-curriculum writing with department Chair for core HAVC course – 2015
Research for a book manuscript on critical race visual studies – 2013

Graduate Research Assistant
SAN FRANCISCO STATE UNIVERSITY
Research for a book manuscript on literary criticism – 2010

ACADEMIC SERVICE

Inclusive Teaching Certificate Program, UCSC – Spring 2019
Diversity and Inclusion Certificate Program, UCSC – Fall 2015-Spring 2016
Co-coordinator, Visual and Media Cultures Colloquia, UCSC – Fall 2013-Spring 2015
Series coordinator, Graduate Teaching Assistant Workshop, UCSC – Fall 2013
Once & Future Visual Studies Journal Editorial Core, UCSC – Winter 2013
Writing Across the Curriculum and in the Disciplines Colloquium, SFSU – Spring 2011
Humanities Graduate Symposium Journal Editorial Committee, SFSU – Spring 2009
Humanities Graduate Symposium Committee, SFSU – Spring 2009

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

College Art Association
Latin American Art Association
Latin American Studies Association
Research Center for the Americas (UCSC)
Center for Latin American Studies Art & Literature Working Group (UC Berkeley)
California Council for the Humanities
Semiotics Society of America
Semiotics Circle of California
Visual Thinking Strategies Partner Network

LANGUAGES

English – Native
Spanish – Advanced (reading, writing, speaking)
German – Intermediate (reading, writing, speaking)

TEACHING AREAS

Survey of Art History I & II
Topics in Contemporary Art
Introduction to Modern Art
U.S. Art & Visual Culture
Visual Culture of Latin American Social Movements
Mexican Graphic Art & Politics
Theories & Methods in Art History & Visual Studies
Art & Activism Post-1968
Indigenous Visual Cultures in the Americas
Visual Politics of Latin American Feminisms
Research & Writing for the Humanities
American Literature, Media, and Visual Culture