Cristina Herrera

Cristina Herrera joins Portland State as professor and new director of Chicano/Latino Studies after 14 years at California State University, Fresno. There, she served as chair of the Department of Chicano and Latin American studies, faculty advisor for Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA), member of the Academic Senate and faculty rights representative for the union."Everyone I've met... has been incredibly kind, welcoming, and supportive," she says. "I can't wait to get to work."Herrera studies contemporary Chicana/Latina literature, most recently focusing on Chicana/Latina young adult (YA) literature. In her most recent book, "ChicaNerds in Chicana Young Adult Literature: Brown and Nerdy," she examines the reclamation and powerful acceptance of one's nerdy Chicana self. "ChicaNerds," as she calls them, unite their burgeoning sociopolitical consciousness as young nonwhite girls with their "nerdy" traits of bookishness, math intelligence, poetic talents and love of learning.