Director and Assistant Lecturer for Latina/o Studies and Adjunct for English Department
Hoyt 237/Ross 118, mpignata@uwyo.edu
Biography
Margarita Pignataro joined the faculty at the University of Wyoming in 2016. In 2023, she assumed the position as Latina/o Studies Program Director. Dr. Pignataro teaches courses in Latina/o Studies and English Department. Her courses are cross listed with American Studies, African American Diasphora Studies, Gender and Women’s Studies and Native American Indigenous Studies. Undergraduate and graduate courses in Chicano Folklore, Mexican American Literature, Latina/o Theatre and/or Film, U.S. Women of Color and U.S. Latino Literature are some courses offered during the year. Her research interests include Latinos in the diasphora, Mujerista theology and U.S. Latino/Chicano/Afro-Caribbean philosophy and Literatura Latina. Current projects and research include Literatura Latina in the Classroom: When? Why? By Whom?, Sephardic Jews and Latino communities in Israel and a collection of short stories.
Education
Ph.D., US Latino/Chicano Literature and Spanish, Arizona State University
M.A., Spanish Literature and Culture; US Latino Literature, Arizona State University
B.A., Spanish, Florida State University
Recent and Upcoming Courses
Chicano Folklore
Introduction to Latina/o Studies
Mexican American Literature
Perspectives in Chicana History
U.S. Latino Film and Theater
Selected Publications/Awards
“Chicanidad, Querencia and A Voice of Justice: Margarita Cota-Cárdenas, ¡Presente!” La Plonqui: The Literary Life and Work of Margarita Cota Cárdenas. Eds. Jesús Rosales and Vanessa Fonseca-Chávez. Arizona: University of Arizona Press, 2023.
https://uapress.arizona.edu/book/la-plonqui
“Following the Manito Trail: My Wall in the Pat Guthrie Special Exhibitions Teaching Gallery.” Blog. July 22, 2021.
“Artist Interview: Rachel Smith.” Journal of Latino/Latin American Studies (JOLLAS) Art of the Latinx Diaspora University of Nebraska, Omaha. Online. 2019.
“U.S. Latino Religion: Virgin of Guadalupe Adoration and the Concept of the Guadalupe Image in Cherríe Moraga’s Theatrical Works.” Border-Lines: Journal of the Latino Research Center at University of Nevada, Reno IV (2010): 95-118.
