Dr. Divana Olivas, Chicana and Chicano Studies

Name:

Dr. Divana Olivas

Title:

Assistant Professor

Department:

Chicana and Chicano Studies

Describe your research in about 200 words.

As an assistant professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies at the University of New Mexico, my research examines food, land, and memory as central sites of struggle and imagination in Chicanx histories and futures. My work bridges environmental justice, cultural politics, and archival research to understand how communities articulate belonging, sovereignty, and resistance—particularly in New Mexico and the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. I focus on the concept of querencia as both a decolonial ethic and an embodied relationship to place, and I explore how foodways function as political expression in both historical and contemporary movements. My current book project, Homegrown Politics, traces revolutionary food imaginaries in the Chicanx movement through print culture, oral history, and community-based research. I am committed to interdisciplinary, public-facing scholarship that engages students, community partners, and broader audiences.

What’s the most interesting thing you have learned from a student?

In a community class I helped organize in L.A., a student asked me, “What’s capitalism?” I launched into a full academic monologue, trying to explain Marx’s science full of jargon and theory. They stopped me mid-sentence, looked at me plainly and said, “See, this is why people don’t understand what we’re saying.” That moment shifted something in me. I felt embarrassed, but also grateful. I learned that students don’t want instructors who hide behind theory; students want clarity, connection, and care. Now, I’m committed to speaking with more heart and humility, and with deep respect for everyone’s lived knowledge.