Ethnic Studies - Department Hero
Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies
Profile picture of Ernesto Javier Martínez

Ernesto Javier Martínez

IRES Department Head & Associate Professor
Black Studies, IRES, Latinx
ejm@uoregon.edu
Phone: 541-346-5523
Office: Alder Building
Office Hours: Fall '23: Monday 3-5pm | https://outlook.office.com/bookwithme/user/99a354e2978a49318fc9c59eeafc0309@uoregon.edu/meetingtype/WdNveLBqDkOCnbyRRZxt0w2?anonymous&ep=mlink
Research Interests: Comparative Ethnic Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Latinx Studies, Feminist Theory, Literary Studies
Website: http://www.ernestojaviermartinez.com

Education

  • Ph.D., English, Cornell University (2005)
  • M.A., English, Cornell University (2003)
  • B.A., English, with Honors, Stanford University (1998)

Statement

I was born in East Oakland, California and raised bi-nationally, moving back and forth between Jalisco, México and the states. I was raised in a Mexican and Puerto Rican working-class household where I learned the value of solidarity, earned rage against injustice, and above all a hopefulness about what tomorrow can bring. I studied literature at Stanford and Cornell, and I’ve been teaching here in the Department of Indigenous, Race, and Ethnic Studies since 2006. I’m an activist-scholar primarily working in the fields of queer studies, Latinx studies, feminist theory, and comparative ethnic studies. I am also a children’s book author and a filmmaker. I’m eager to support students in finding their own path, contributing to the vibrancy of our communities, and creating mentorship-rich networks.

Publications

BOOKS

  • WHEN WE LOVE SOMEONE WE SING TO THEM, illustrated by Maya Christina González (Reflections Press,  2018).​

  • THE TRULY DIVERSE FACULTY: NEW DIALOGUES IN AMERICAN HIGHER EDUCATION, co-edited with Stephanie Fryberg (Palgrave Press, 2014).

  • ON MAKING SENSE: QUEER RACE NARRATIVES OF INTELLIGIBILITY, (Stanford University Press, 2012).

  • GAY LATINO STUDIES: A CRITICAL READER, co-edited with Michael Hames-García (Duke University Press, 2011).

   

SCREENWRITING & INDEPENDENT FILM

  • LA SERENATA. [Feature Film Screenplay | 107 pages]. Co-written with Adelina Anthony. * Awards: Diverse Voices Screenwriting Lab Semifinalist (2022).

  • DANIEL VISITS A NEW NEIGHBORHOOD. [Animated Feature | 44 min.]. Co-written with Jill Turner. (9 Story Media, 2021 | PBS Broadcast, June 20, 2022). 

  • LA SERENATA SHORT FILM. [Short Film | 13 min.]. Written and co-produced by Ernesto Martínez. Dir. by Adelina Anthony. (Aderisa Productions, 2019 | HBO Broadcast 2020-22). * Awards: 8 “Best Film” Awards, 20+ Film Festivals

Episodes (Digitial and TV)

  • THE BOY WHO BECAME A RIVER. [Animated Pilot | 20 pages.| Unproduced]. Written and co-produced by Ernesto Martínez. * Contracted (“ROFR”) by Sesame Workshop, 2020-21. Finalist, Ojalá Ignition Lab, 2021.

  • "Musical Show and Share." [Live Action Episode | 3 min.] Sesame Street - Ready for School, Ready for the World (RSRW). Written by Ernesto Martínez. (Sesame Street, 2021 | Digital Broadcast, April, 2022).

  • "Cantar." [Live Action Episode | 3 min.] Sesame Street - Spanish Word of the Day. Written by Ernesto Martínez. Digital Series (Sesame Workshop 2021| Sesame Youtube Broadcast 2021).

SELECTED ESSAYS

  • “Con quién, dónde, y por qué te dejas? Reflections on Joto Passivity,” Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies. 39:1 (2014)

  • “Constructed Strugglers: The Impact of Diversity Narratives on Junior Faculty of Color,” co-written with Stephanie Fryberg. In The Truly Diverse Faculty: New Dialogues in American Higher Education, co-edited with Stephanie Fryberg. Palgrave Macmillan Press. 2014.

  • “Foreward,” Amorcito Corazón: Poems. By Lorenzo Herréra y Lozano. Kórima Press, 2014.  

  • "Officially Advocated, Institutionally Undermined: Diversity Rhetoric and the Subjective Reality of Junior Faculty of Color,” co-written with Stephanie Fryberg and Victoria Plaut. International Journal of Diversity in Organizations, Communities, and Nationas. 11.2 (2012).   

  • “Re-membering Gay Latino Studies,” co-written with Michael Hames-García. In Gay Latino Studies: A Critical Reader. Duke University Press. 2011.​

  • “Shifting the Site of Queer Enunciation: Manuel Muñoz and the Politics of Form.” In Gay Latino Studies: A Critical Reader. Duke University Press. 2011. ​

  • “On Butler on Morrison on Language,” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society. 35.4 (2010).  ​​​

  • “Dying to Know: Identity and Self-Knowledge in Baldwin’s Another Country.” PMLA: Publication of the Modern Language Association. 124.3 (2009).