Ana-Maurine Lara, associate professor of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of Oregon, has been invited to the Scholarly Advisory Committee of the Smithsonian Museum of the American Latino. This is the newest addition to the Smithsonian complex in Washington D.C.

The goal of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Latino is to advance the representation, understanding and appreciation of Latino history and culture in the U.S. Drawing from Lara’s rich scholarship on Afro Latino/a identities, black queer aesthetics, Vudú in the Dominican Republic, and Afro-Dominicanidad and the struggle against xenophobia in the Dominican Republic, her knowledge and perspectives will be assets to her role in steering the museum's newest addition.

The Museum of the American Latino relies on the advisory committee to guide the museum on relevant matters and give input on the preservation, documentation, display and promotion of knowledge of U.S. Latino history, art and culture. Lara’s research and teaching across the Anthropology, Indigenous, Race and Ethnic Studies, Latinx and Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies departments, along with her expansive portfolio of creative work and awards, has made her an ideal member to serve on the museum advisory council. 

In addition to being a professor at the UO since 2015, Lara is a Dominican-American poet, longtime LGBTQ human rights activist, novelist and Black feminist scholar. Her work and research focus on questions of Black and Indigenous women’s freedom, love and ancestors.

Most recently, Lara won the 2021 Gregory Bateson Book Prize from the Society for Cultural Anthropology for her book “Queer Freedom: Black Sovereignty” as well as the 2021 Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art Black Lives Matter grant. Lara, alongside UO professor Alaí Reyes-Santos and UO Libraries, is also leading a digital humanities project, The Healers Project, that highlights and validates the healing traditions and knowledge of women across the Caribbean. 

By Victoria Sanchez, College of Arts and Sciences Communications