Manuel Aviles-santiago

Biography

Manu Aviles-Santiago obtained his PhD in Media Studies at the Department of Radio-TV-Film at the University of Texas-Austin. His most recent book Puerto Rican Soldiers and Second-Class Citizenship: Representations in Media, examines the cultural history of the imaginary of the Puerto Rican soldier, from representations in traditional media to self-representations in digital/social media. His research interests are located within the areas of Technology and Culture, Race/ethnicity and Media, Digital/Social Media, Latino/a and Spanish Caribbean Studies. Born in Mayaguez and raised in Aguada, Puerto Rico, Aviles-Santiago holds a Bachelor Degree in Communications and a Master in Research in Communications from the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras. in 2007, Aviles-Santiago was awarded with the Ford Foundation Pre-doctoral administered by the National Research Council. He has worked for several research centers such as Center for Communication Research and the Center for the Study of Latino Media & Markets. He also has worked as Research Assistant and Project Manager for the Voces: Latino and Latina Oral History Project under the advisory of Dr. Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez. He was invited by the National Forum on Higher Education for the Public Good, funded by the Carnegie Foundation, to conduct a research about undocumented students in higher education. Manu have presented his works in conferences such as the International Communication Association, Society for Cinema and Media Studies and the Latin American Studies Association conferences. In 2016, Avilés-Santiago was awarded with Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship. During his postdoc research leave he conducted archival research in Puerto Rico for his upcoming book project that explores the tropicalization of the Cold War in Puerto Rico's TV comedy.

Research Interest

Digital/Social Media, Media Studies ,Ethnic/Race Studies, Puerto Rican, Spanish-Caribbean, and U.S. Latina/o Studies, Oral History, Digital Storytelling, Intercultural Communication.