Biography

Ana-Luisa Ortiz-Martinez is a Graduate Student in the Communication and Journalism Department at Texas A&M University. Ana-Luisa studies immigration and the border through a rhetorical and decolonial lens. Her work explores borderland identity and creation while contributing to both Latino/a/x studies and rhetorical theory. Some of her projects implement auto-ethnography and art as methodologies. Her story as an immigrant highlights and forms the foundation of her research and her passion to help others, teach, and write for her community.

Ana-Luisa studied International Affairs at the University of Nevada, Reno with an emphasis in Latin American Studies and Minor in Spanish. She worked for a school district for a decade and in 2018 returned to complete an M.A. in Communication Studies, which then led her to seek a PhD. She has presented and participated at the Communications Western Division and National Conferences. In 2021 she published chapters in Degrees: Resilience, Relationships, and Success in Communication Graduate Student and the 2nd Edition of Critical Autoethnography. From the Fall of 2021-2022 she held a Graduate Student Fellowship through the Institute for Applied Creativity at Texas A&M, her project Painting Praxis: Artistry, Identity, and Decolonial Sensibilities, was presented at TAMU’s IAC Symposium and later a roundtable at NCA. Taking a rhetorical turn, this year she will be presenting her project Chingona Rhetorica at NCA and her dissertation will be a rhetorical historical project on the life of Jovita Gonzalez. Ana-Luisa stays actively involved with Latinx issues on campus and in the community. She is the Community and Service Chair for the Latinx Graduate Student Association and from 2023-2024 was the Executive Director at the Brazos Interfaith Network. In all of her adventures academic and beyond, Ana- Luisa is usually seen with her 8 years old daughter, Galia, who is already building a resume of her own through dance, music, and communications.