Faculty Profile - Lidia Ponce de la Vega
Dr. Lidia Ponce de la Vega
she/her
Assistant Professor, School of Interdisciplinary Studies
Email: [email protected]
Office: LOH 110
Phone: 616-331-8410
Bio
Lidia Ponce de la Vega holds an MA and Ph.D. in Hispanic Studies from McGill University. Before coming to GVSU, she was the Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow for the Diversification of the Environmental Humanities at the College of William & Mary, which included serving as the coordinator of the Environmental Justice Archive of Virginia (EJAV).
Lidia's research interests lie at the intersection of Latin American studies, environmental humanities, and digital humanities. She is currently working on a project around the decolonization of online knowledge about nonhuman species that Latin American countries consider their national symbols. Her teaching experience encompasses courses on sustainability, Latin American environmental history, social media, digital citizenship, digital environmental humanities, and Hispanic language and culture.
Lidia has collaborated with the Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) and BHL's Wikimedia Working Group as a speaker, data analysis intern, and consultant for the development of BHL's Acknowledgement of Harmful Content.
Areas of Interest
Ecocriticism and Environmental Humanities; Digital Humanities; Latin American Literature and Culture; Digital Environmental Humanities; Archival and Natural Heritage Studies; Gaming Studies
Education
Ph.D., McGill University, Hispanic Studies, 2022
M.A., McGill University, Hispanic Studies, 2017
B.A., National Autonomous University of Mexico, Hispanic Language and Literature, 2014
Publications
"Diversifying Digital Biodiversity Knowledge: A Latin American Multilingual Perspective on the Biodiversity Heritage Library." Multilingual Digital Humanities, edited by Lorella Viola and Paul Spence. Routledge, 2024, pp. 31-47. https://www.routledge.com/Multilingual-Digital-Humanities/Viola-Spence/p/book/9781032491943
"Decolonizing strategies for an equitable Biodiversity Heritage Library." Closing Keynote. BHL Day 2021: Reflections in Crises. Biodiversity Heritage Library Annual Meeting 2021. April 2021. Recording available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czgdAn1BIMo
"Take Them Down: The Construction and Contestation of Mexicans and Drug Cartels in Videogames." Hispania Special Issue: Digital Humanities in Spanish and Portuguese, vol. 104, num. 4, December 2021, https://muse.jhu.edu/issue/47082.
Awards
Professor Well-Being Award 2025, Wellness Information Team (WIT), Center for Health and Well-Being, Grand Valley State University