Meet Our Faculty

Faculty- Department of Humanities

Annette Portillo, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of English/Ethnic Studies
Location: LAS Building, Office 145
Office Phone: (702) 992-2644
Email: Annette.Portillo@nsc.nevada.edu

Annette Angela Portillo was born and raised in San Diego, California. She received her BA in Literatures in English from the University of California, San Diego and her M.A. and Ph.D. in English Language and Literature from Cornell University.  Dr. Portillo’s interests are in Chicana/o and Native American Studies and her current research focuses on life stories, testimonios and autobiographies by women of color. She is currently working with other faculty to establish Ethnic Studies and Women’s Studies programs.  She has taught various interdisciplinary courses at Cornell University, Mt. Holyoke College and Oberlin College in the departments of Comparative American Studies, English, and Women’s Studies.  Dr. Portillo’s pedagogical approach is student-centered and she believes that in the classroom everyone’s lived experiences and stories should be validated as legitimate sites of specialized knowledge.  Her courses cover such themes as: the politics of cultural identity, social justice movements, practices of representation, “third world” or women of color feminisms, and activism.