Degrees

Ph.D., York University
M.A., Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences, Quito, Ecuador
B.A., University of British Columbia

Research Interests

I am a specialist in the anthropology of violence and the state, with research experience in the study of gender, memory and migration. My research and publications are focused around theoretical questions of the nature and practice of violence, gendered effects of violence, the development of the state, urban development and identity formation.

My current research project focuses on the role that Guatemalan print media played in the promotion of gendered state violence through both textual analysis and analysis of interviews with journalists, photographers and editors involved in the production of print media in the 1970s.

Teaching Interests

My regular roster of courses includes Latin American Cultures particularly as they are mediated by states, Economics and Anthropology,  Medical Anthropology, Gender-based Violence and  Anthropological Theory and Methods.

In my courses I am particularly interested in the incorporation of Web-based technologies into the classroom and classroom experiences that engage students in their community.

In the past, students in Anthropology 102 worked on "Blogging Culture". The Blogging Culture website gives an example of this work.

Student Projects

Collaboration with Ian Lazzara ('12), Julia Rettig ('11), Evelyn Sanders ('08) and John Campopiano ('08) to study municipal, provincial and federal efforts to create an image of a "clean" or "civil" city for Vancouver's 2010 Winter Olympics. The Wheaton Quarterly Features this research in the Spring 2009 Issue.

Publications

M. Gabriela Torres and David Carey Jr. "Precursors to Femicide: Guatemalan Women in a Vortex of Violence." In Latin American Research Review 45(3), 2010: 142-164.

M. Gabriela Torres, "Imagining Social Justice amidst Guatemala's Post-Conflict Violence." In Studies in Social Justice, 2(1) (2008):1-11.

M. Gabriela Torres, "Bloody Deeds/Hechos Sangrientos: Reading Guatemala's Record of Political Violence in Cadaver Reports." In Menjivar, Cecilia and Rodriguez, Nestor. (Eds.) When States Kill. Austin: University of Texas Press (2005). (p.143-169)

M. Gabriela Torres, "Constructing the Threat of Insurgency: Inherent Inequalities in the Development of the Guatemalan Counterinsurgent State." In "Special Issue: Poverty and Inequality in the Latin American-U. S. Borderlands: Implications of U. S. Interventions." Journal of Poverty, 8(4) (2004).

This paper was co-published simultaneously as:
M. Gabriela Torres, "Constructing the Threat of Insurgency: Inherent Inequalities in the Development of the Guatemalan Counterinsurgent State." In Kilty, Keith and Segal, Elizabeth (Eds.) Poverty and Inequality in the Latin American-U.S. Borderlands: Implications of U.S. Interventions. New York: The Haworth Press (2004). (p.7-29)

M. Gabriela Torres, "The Unexpected Consequences of Violence: Rethinking Gender Roles and Ethnicity." In North, Liisa and Simmons, Alan. (Eds.) Journeys of Fear: Refugee Return and National Transformation in Guatemala. Montreal and Toronto: McGill/Queen's University Press (1999). (p.155-175)

Recent Reviews and Other Publications of Interest

Jennifer L Burrell, Emily Jones, Carrie Lane, M Gabriela Torres, and Jennifer Wies. Leadership Fellow Reflections: Inaugural Program Participants Consider Their Mentorship Experiences. In Anthropology News 51(6): September 2010. (p.21).

Soy Andina, a documentary by Mitch Teplitsky reviewed in Visual Studies.

Recent Distinctions and Awards

2009-10 American Anthropological Association Leadership Fellow

2011 New England Council of Latin American Studies Best Article for M. Gabriela Torres and David Carey Jr. "Precursors to Femicide: Guatemalan Women in a Vortex of Violence." In Latin American Research Review 45(3), 2010: 142-164.