Emily Perez
Emily Perez holds a Bachelor's degree in English Literature from Princeton University and a PhD in Cinema and Media Studies from The University of Southern California. Her dissertation examines both the figure of the cannibal and the trope of cannibalism across a variety of disciplines. Taking heed from post-colonialism's indispensable work unpacking the ideology of the colonial project, a project predicated upon the designation of unnatural acts as a means to naturalize its own agenda, she contends that the term “cannibal” is always-already a modality of oppression as well as one that manifests the very seam between the literal and the metaphorical. To this end, she regards “cannibal” as a metonym for a figure of resistance, a possessor of a hunger that exceeds the sacrosanct boundaries of a particular culture, and her expansion of the term sheds new light on its discursive functions. Since finishing her doctorate, she has taught at several Bay Area schools including San Francisco State University and San Jose State University. At Santa Clara University, she will teach classes such as "Introduction to Women's & Gender Studies" and "Film, Gender, and Sexuality."