Andreina Torres Angarita

I am a cultural anthropologist with an interest in urban studies, feminism and Latin American/Latinx studies. I have taught courses in urban anthropology, feminist anthropology, ethnographic research methods, Latin American and Latinx studies, with a focus on social movements, political economy, and feminist geographies. At Barnard College I teach Introduction to Urban Studies, Senior Seminar and an advanced seminar on The Urban Latin/x Experience: Ethnographic Perspectives.

My current book project focuses on the politics of welfare provision (via housing) and grassroots activism during the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela. Through three years (2014-2017) of ethnographic fieldwork in Caracas, I looked at how working-class women’s leadership in housing movements shaped claims for land redistribution and struggles for social reproduction in a changing urban environment. 

My new research looks at place-making strategies within Latinx diasporas in New York City. Through this project I am exploring grassroots and women-led efforts to steward urban land in the predominantly Dominican Inwood/Washington Heights neighborhood. In addition, I am looking at the work of Venezuelan musicians and immigrant rights groups to create spaces of representation and advocacy for recent Venezuelan immigrants. Born in Mérida, Venezuela, I am committed to community engaged research and public scholarship, and have published in Spanish and English in journals such as Íconos, Territorios, América Latina Hoy, Anthropology Now, and NACLA Report on the Americas. 

Prior to joining Barnard College, I was a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, and a Postdoctoral Fellow at CUNY’s Center for Latin American Caribbean and Latino Studies. I received my B.A. (International Development Studies and Art History) from McGill University, my M.Sc. (Gender and Development Studies) from FLACSO Ecuador and my Ph.D. (Anthropology) from CUNY the Graduate Center.