Visiting Assistant Professor of International Studies
Global health justice and the theory and practice of social medicine with an area focus on Latin America
[email protected]
she/her/hers
Vanessa is a PhD candidate at the University of Minnesota’s College of Education and Human Development and School of Public Health. Vanessa’s primary research interests include topics of global health justice and the theory and practice of social medicine with an area focus on Latin America. Vanessa’s doctoral research examines how systemic racism and other forms of structural oppression affect adolescents’ experiences accessing sexual and reproductive healthcare services. In her classes, Vanessa employs critical pedagogy, inspired by the late Brazillian educator and philosopher Paulo Freire, and aims to facilitate classroom spaces where learners gain the skills, knowledge, and self-efficacy to feel empowered and be agents for social change in their own communities.
Vanessa graduated from Colorado College with a degree in Sociology and the Humphrey School of Public Affairs with a Master’s degree in International Development Studies.
BA: magna cum laude, Colorado College, 2016
MDP: magna cum laude, University of Minnesota, 2018
PhD (c): University of Minnesota, expected 2022