Dr. Amanda Cortez

Biography

Amanda Daniela Cortez is a postdoctoral research associate at the Center for Indigenous Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She earned her BA in Anthropology from the University of Washington, followed by an MA and PhD in Anthropology from the University of Notre Dame. Prior to joining UIUC, she was a full-time faculty member at Clatsop Community College in Astoria, Oregon, where she taught courses in anthropology, sociology, and women's gender studies. Amanda's research focuses on the intersection of Indigenous studies and animal studies, addressing issues of Indigenous sovereignty and human-animal relationships. She is currently working on a book project that explores ethnography and the politics of Indigeneity, gender, and multispecies relations through the lens of Cusco, Peru's photography tourism industry, with a particular emphasis on the lives of Quechua women and their interactions with animals. Her research has been published in various academic journals such as the Journal of Social Archaeology and Human Genetics and Genomics Advances.

Research Interests