J. Rubén Diaz Vasquez

2019: B.A. Sociology & Minor in Literature/Creative Writing, Emory University 

2023: M.A. Sociology, Stanford University 

J. Rubén Díaz Vásquez is an interdisciplinary scholar of race, immigration, coloniality, performance, and literature in Chicanx and Mexican culture, with a specialization in Indigeneity. He is currently a PhD Candidate in the Modern Thought & Literature Program at Stanford. His current dissertation studies the ubiquitous representations of Indigeneity—Indigenous history, aesthetics, and identity—in late 20th century poetry and cultural performances by Mexican-origin people on both sides of the border. His dissertation is tentatively titled, “Between Tenochtitlan and CalifAztlan: Making Mexicanidad and the Poetics of Indigeneity, Performance, and Culture.” It juxtaposes analyzes of Chicanx and Mexican poetry with ethnographic observation of Aztec Dance in the Bay Area and Mexico City. This interdisciplinary and transnational methodology allows for understanding Indigeneity as it is localized in the body, the body’s rehearsal of identity and heritage, and the body’s experiences of racial structures across/crossing borders. Rubén's research areas include Critical Latinx Indigeneities, Chicanx and Latinx Literary and Cultural Studies, Nahuatl studies, Community-Based Ethnography & Fieldwork Methods, and Decolonial Thought & Theory. 

Rubén practices community-engaged, collaborative scholarship in research and teaching practices. He works with Aztec Dance practitioners in the Bay Area and in Mexico City. He is also student of the Instituto de Docencia e Investigación Etnologica de Zacatecas (IDIEZ), which is an Indigenous-led non-profit organization that supports language revitalization of Nahuatl language and cultures. At Stanford, Rubén has mentored, taught, and collaborated with the Centro Chicano y Latino, the Center for Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity, the English Department, the Division of Literatures, Cultures, and Languages, and the Center for Latin American Studies. Currently, Rubénis a Tinker Dissertation Completion Fellow with the Center for Latin American Studies. 

As a scholar, he combines interdisciplinary research training, community-engaged experience, and a passion for teaching to develop curricula and research agendas that advance education’s power to transform communities from the ground-up. 

Languages: 

• Spanish (Native)
• English (Fluent)
• Nahuatl (Advanced)
• French (Beginner)