she/her

Dr. Divana Olivas is an Inclusive Excellence Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Chicana/o/x Studies department through the Division for Equity and Inclusion. She received her Ph.D. in American Studies and Ethnicity, with a graduate certificate in Public Policy Advocacy from the University of Southern California. Her work has been recognized by the Western History Association, the Association for the Study of Food and Society, the New Mexico History Scholars’ Program, and the Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship. As a public scholar, Dr. Olivas works closely with community institutions, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the New Mexico Environmental Law Center. Previously, she collaborated with Three Sisters Kitchen on an innovative food storytelling project to disrupt damaging narratives about the root causes of poverty in New Mexico. Originally from New Mexico, Dr. Olivas was one of the first students to receive a B.A. from UNM’s Chicana/o/x Studies department in 2015. She was raised by Mexican-immigrant parents in El Cerro, and also considers Namiquipa, Chihuahua home.

Research Interests

Critical Food Studies I Colonial racial capitalism I Social movements I Food politics I Chicana/o/x history

Dr. Olivas’ research is situated at the intersections of Chicana/o/x studies, critical food studies, New Mexico regional history, and social movements in the 20th and 21st centuries. Her work is interdisciplinary, using archival research, oral histories, and visual and cultural analysis to explore the individual and collective expressions racialized communities express through food. Her forthcoming manuscript will explore these topics in further detail. With support from the Association for the Study of Food and Society’s Racial Justice Pedagogy Fellowship, Dr. Olivas is developing a syllabus for a course called, “Chile, Culture, and Critical Consciousness: Food Politics, and Power in the U.S. Southwest,” where she is excited to work with students on ways to deconstruct and theorize how everyday cultural objects like chile provide a fascinating microcosm to think critically about power in society.

Highlighted Publications

Olivas, Divana and Dr. Sofía Martinez. “Celebrating An Activist, Betita Martínez.” Commentary in the Santa Fe New Mexican. https://www.santafenewmexican.com/opinion/commentary/celebrating-an-activist-betita-martinez/article_ee4cba5c-f27c-11ec-9a56-4f38af53a75c.html Published June 23rd, 2022.

Olivas, Divana. “Problems of Place: Querencia and Environmental History from a Chicana’s Perspective.” Environmental History Now. https://envhistnow.com/2021/06/24/problems-of-place-querencia-and-environmental-history-from-a-chicanas-perspective/. June, 2021.

Olivas, Divana & Stefany Olivas. “Planting Seeds for Community Needs: Two Chicanas’ Story about Project Feed the Hood.” Edible New Mexico. https://www.ediblenm.com/planting-seeds-for-community-needs. January, 2021.