Lidia Ponce de la Vega, Ph.D.

Hello!

My name is Lidia Ponce de la Vega, an Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at the School of Interdisciplinary Studies in Brooks College, Grand Valley State University (GVSU).

I hold an MA and Ph.D. in Hispanic Studies (with a concentration in Digital and Environmental Humanities) from McGill University. Before coming to GVSU, I was the Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow for the Diversification of the Environmental Humanities at the College of William & Mary, which included serving as the coordinator of the Environmental Justice Archive of Virginia (EJAV).

My research interests lie at the intersection of Latin American studies, environmental humanities, and digital humanities. I am currently working on a project around the decolonization of online knowledge about nonhuman species that Latin American countries consider their national symbols. Her teaching experience encompasses courses on sustainability, Latin American environmental history, social media, digital citizenship, digital environmental humanities, and Hispanic language and culture.

I have collaborated with the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) and BHL’s Wikimedia Working Group as a speaker, data analysis intern, and consultant for the development of BHL’s “Acknowledgement of Harmful Content.”

I love teaching! At GVSU, I have taught courses in Environmental and Sustainability Studies, Latin American Studies, Digital Studies, and Integrative Studies. I am also the Faculty Co-Advisor of the Honors Familia Affinity Group for Latinx students and the Faculty Co-Advisor of GVSU’s chapter of Kappa Alpha Omicron, Interdisciplinary Environmental Association.

On a more personal note, I love dogs, anime, and video games. I am a huge Zelda fan and have a cute Chihuahua dog named Cometa, which means comet or kite in Spanish.