About the Panelists
Federico Cuatlacuatl (he/him) is an artist born in Coapan, Cholula, Puebla, Mexico. He is currently based in Charlottesville, Virginia and is an assistant professor in the Department of Art at the University of Virginia. Federico’s work is invested in disseminating topics of Nahua Indigenous immigration, social art practice, and cultural sustainability. Building from his own experience growing up as an undocumented immigrant and previously holding Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status, Federico’s creative practice centers the intersectionality of indigeneity and immigration under a pressing Anthropocene. At the core of his most recent research and artistic production is the intersection of transborder indigeneity, migrant Indigenous diasporas, and Nahua futurisms. Federico’s independent film productions have been screened in national and international film festivals and exhibitions. As founder and director of the Rasquache Artist Residency in Puebla, Mexico, he actively stays involved in socially engaged works and binational endeavors.
Kasey Jernigan (she/her/they/them) is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and an assistant professor in the departments of American Studies and Anthropology. Her work links historical trauma with contemporary experiences of structural violence to make sense of disparate health outcomes among Indigenous peoples. She teaches courses on Native American and Indigenous Studies that address #MMIR, settler colonialism, and land-based health.
Dr. Tiffany Lethabo King (she/her) is the Barbara and John Glynn Research Associate Professor of Democracy and Equity at the University of Virginia. She is faculty in the Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. King is the author of The Black Shoals: Offshore Formations of Black and Native Studies and is a co-editor of the collection Otherwise Worlds: Against Settler Colonialism and Anti Blackness. King is also a co-director at the Black and Indigenous Feminist Futures Institute, a project funded by the Mellon Foundation. King’s research and programmatic work focuses on strengthening existing Black and Native relations and creating new possibilities for collaboration.
