A border native and a transfronteriza (crossborder) from the Cd. Juárez–El Paso borderland. Her identity has influenced her scholarly practices to delve into the personal is political, collective and academic through her research, involvement within the creation and collaboration of various initiatives, together with her participation with Latina/o, border and women communities and organizations. She considers herself a feminist-activist and digital humanist, Fernández’s work approaches political, social, historical, literary, cultural analysis with digital tools, along with testimonio (one’s life experience), in order to bring about social justice change through consciousness-raising.
Sylvia Fernández holds a Ph.D. in Hispanic Studies from the University of Houston. Currently, she is the Public and Digital Humanities Postdoctoral Research Fellow with the Hall Center for the Humanities, Institute for Digital Research in the Humanities, and The Commons at the University of Kansas (see news). She is among the creators and team-member of ongoing and forthcoming initiatives where she currently plays leadership roles, which include: Borderlands Archives Cartography (BAC), Torn Apart / Separados, Delis Negrón Digital Archive, Fillingthe_Gaps Bot and United Fronteras (forthcoming), among others. Past one includes Mujeres y Hombres Activ@s Revolucionari@s (MHAR), a Student Organization at New Mexico State University.
She proudly forms part of the editorial board of the peer-reviewed journal and project registry of Reviews in Digital Humanities. She was part of the HASTAC Scholars Fellowship Program (2017-2019), and served as the Graduate Student Representative with The Association for Computers and Humanities 2019 program committee.
Sylvia Fernández Quintanilla, Ph.D. 