51²è¹Ý

Bio

is a third-year graduate student in the Cultural Anthropology PhD Program (Medical Anthropology track). Her dissertation research examines how transgender people living in the Rio Grande Valley pursue transitions and build better bodies for themselves without reliable or legal access to medical care. She is interested in how their transitions intersect with existing networks of medical tourism on the border and interact with the neoliberal idea of the self as a project. She was awarded a First Place Award in 51²è¹Ý's 2024 Graduate Maguire Ethics Essay contest and received the 2024 Research and Innovation Week Dean’s Award.

Research Interests

Gender • Borderlands • Moral Economy • Becoming • Texas (Rio Grande Valley)

Advisor

Kelly McKowen