We talked with Dr. Emma Velez, assistant professor of Gender and Women's Studies, about her recent research and teaching experiences in Aotearoa New Zealand! (Pictured here, Prof. Velez with the "once a panther always a panther" mural in Auckland.)
How did you come to have this opportunity, and what was the context of your trip?
During the fall 2024 semester, I traveled to Aotearoa New Zealand for eight weeks as an invited scholar-in-residence at Waipapa Taumata Rau (Auckland University). In collaboration with Dr. Krushil Watene (Ngāti Manu, Te Hikutu, Ngāti Whātua o Orākei, Tonga) and Dr. Esme Murdock, during the residency I co-facilitated a graduate seminar on Indigenous Political Philosophies, gave guest lectures in undergraduate courses on Environmental Philosophy and Indigenous Philosophies, and presented research from my book project Orienting Historias for a Decolonial Latinx Feminism. I was generously hosted by Dr. Watene and I received support for this opportunity from the School of Humanities at Auckland University as well as through Humanities Release Time at the University of Illinois.
What is your current research focused on? How did this residency connect to your areas of expertise?
My current research is focused on storytelling as a central mode of decolonial feminist philosophical praxis (theory + practice) in Black, Indigenous, Latinx and other communities of color. The idea for this residency took shape through conversations with Dr. Murdock and Dr. Watene around our shared interest in Indigenous and decolonial philosophies, intergenerational justice, as well as our own community-rooted practices of storytelling. The residency was an exciting and special opportunity to deepen our relationships and learn from one another about research and pedagogy.
While in Auckland, I had opportunities to share my research about La Llorona, one of the Latinx cultural stories I take up in my book project, with students in the classroom as well as in a talk for the Philosophy Department. While I have presented my work with audiences outside of the U.S. (in Canada and Mexico), this was my first time sharing this work beyond Turtle Island and Abya Yala (the Americas). I never dreamed that my work as an academic would truly connect me with people across the world in places as far away (to me) as Aotearoa New Zealand!
Through my experience with this residency, my work is carrying a deeper conviction of how central waters and lands are to our global interconnectedness and struggles for collective liberation. This insight is at the heart of my thinking on La Llorona (her story is deeply connected to water). Since leaving Aotearoa, I’ve been reflecting on the insights of Fijian scholar Epeli Hau'ofa, whose work I was introduced to by Dr. Murdock during the residency. Hau’ofa’s essay “Our Sea of Islands” (1994) challenges the idea that the islands and peoples of Oceania are small and disconnected from one another writing,
"We are the sea, we are the ocean, we must wake up to this ancient truth and together use it to overturn all hegemonic views that aim to ultimately confine us again, physically and psychologically, in the tiny spaces that we have resisted accepting our role in appointed places, and from which we have liberated ourselves."
In our current moment that is rife with settler-colonial violence – from Turtle Island to Abya Yala, from Aotearoa to Palestine – I take heart in the lesson of these words that those of us invested in our collective liberation are rising up together and our transnational and intergenerational struggles for justice are connected by the currents and waves that flow between us.
Did this opportunity also intersect with your teaching practices? Are there any experiences or new approaches that you're excited to bring back to your GWS classes?
Yes, some of the most exciting parts of the residency were the opportunities to be in conversation with students in ways that have stretched and grown my teaching practice. Coordinated by Dr. Watene, Dr. Murdock and I co-facilitated the inaugural offering of a graduate seminar on Indigenous Political Philosophies in the Philosophy Department at AU. The first half of the seminar, led by Dr. Murdock, focused on Joanne Barker's Red Scare: The State's Indigenous Terrorist and the second half, led by me, engaged Jessica Hernandez's Fresh Banana Leaves. Throughout the course, we explored ideas about Indigenous place thought, settler-state constructions of Indigenous terror(ism), Indigenous feminisms, and Indigenous futurism and resurgence. I learned so much from my conversations with Dr. Murdock, Dr. Watene, and our students!
One thing I’m bringing back is definitely a commitment to incorporating more experimentation and play in my classrooms through storytelling! I'm looking forward to continuing to teach Hernandez's work in my Latinx Feminisms class this spring, especially around her theorization of ecological grief. I’m also excited to introduce students to Māori scholars like Leonie Pihama, Hana Pera Aoake, and Whiti Hereaka as well as Aotearoa-based artivists like the collective The Killing whose work takes up topics of queerness, self-determination, and liberation.
What was most rewarding about your time there?
This whole experience was incredibly rewarding! It was truly an honor to receive the gift of this time to learn from Māori philosophies, stories, and contemporary struggles for sovereignty and decolonization in Aotearoa -- Toitū te Tiriti!
I have so much gratitude for Dr. Watene’s vision, invitation, and generosity that brought Dr. Murdock and I across the Pacific. I’m also incredibly thankful for the opportunity to build connections with people who are doing brilliant community-engaged work like Balamohan Shingade and Erena Shingade who recently launched the independent press Spoor Books. As someone in the middle of writing a book, I was deeply inspired by our conversations regarding the politics of knowledge production and the importance of independent presses in our current geopolitical moment. I’m so excited about their vision for the press and I’d love to have a reading group with GWS faculty and students that discusses Balamohan and Erena’s beautiful co-edited book Past the Tower, Under the Tree: Twelve Stories of Learning in Community.
These connections and the new friendships that came through them were the most rewarding gifts of my time in Aotearoa -- I am looking forward to staying connected with everyone for future collaborations!