Graduate Student
Pre-colonial Birthing Technologies, Politics of Pleasure During Birth, Epigenetics and Birth Outcomes for Black and Latinx Birthing People, Non-Western Healing, Free Birth
Education:
University of California, Santa Barbara - Bachelor of Arts in Black Studies; Bachelor of Arts in Chicana and Chicano Studies, with distinction
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) - Department of Filosofía y Letras (Philosophy and Letters), Education Abroad Program
University of California, Santa Barbara - Master of Arts in Chicana and Chicano Studies (Projected 09/1/2021)
Bio:
Born and raised in the East Bay Area and having grown up in East Oakland, Veronica Mandujano began her studies at Merit and Laney Community Colleges in Oakland Ca. She then transferred to UC Santa Bárbara where she began to experience physically debilitating “mystery” symptoms. Western doctors suggested a muscular dystrophy diagnosis that was both life long, and requiring of intense pharmaceutical treatment.
Rather than taking on the social constructionist implications of accepting her diagnosis, Veronica began to engage with plant medicine and hierbas, self healing modalities, and holistic treatments. Through her immigrant parents from Guanajuato and Tijuana, Mexico, she was re-connected to various practitioners and community healers. Her personal journey of regaining her physical strength, as well as her relationships and respect towards plant allies now influences her graduate research project.
In accordance with community parteras in Guanajuato, Mexico, and through an analysis of Western birthing practices, Veronica seeks to merge pre-colonial healing technologies and modern articulations of the uterus, the womb, and the politics by which gendered, racialized, and low-income birthing people acquire access to free and radical birthing experiences.
Honors and Awards
2019 Ford Predoctoral Fellowship Honorable Mention
2017 Carlos Ornelas Service Award
2017 Transfer Student Research Award
Research:
2019-2020 - Graduate Research Fellow for the Divserions in Health Research Project
- Lead weekly mentorship meetings with undergraduates
- Coordinated weekly and monthly overviews with graduate fellows
- Coded approximately five articles weekly and updated the coding tool
2017-2018 - Ayahuasca, Globalization and Medical Bio Extractionism, UNAM
2017-2018 - Privatized Immigrant Detention Center Industry, UNAM
- Lead weekly mentorship meetings with undergraduates
- Coordinated weekly and monthly overviews with graduate fellows
- Coded approximately five articles weekly and updated the coding tool
2015-2017 - Privatized Immigrant Detention Center Industry
- Supported by the Chicana and Chicano Studies Honors Research Program
Projects:
Public Talks
2020 - Remembering, Re-Birthing and Returning to Chicanx Studies (Postponed due to the Covid-19 Pandemic)
Latina/o Studies Association Conference, University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.
Round-table discussion with Karla Larrañaga and Kristian Vasquez
- Moderated by Dr. Díaz-Sánchez.
2019 - Violencia Obstetrica, Sanando Nuestro Utero y Cerrando las Caderas (Obstetric Violence: Healing Our Uterus and Closing Our Hips)
Presented at the Encuentro de Mujeres Que Luchan (Gathering of Women Who Organize). Located in the Undisclosed Zapatista Territory in Chiapas, Mexico.
- Workshop-style talk about how to identify obstetric violence.
- Interactive component to feel for and treat hip sensitivity postpartum
2017 - The Prison Industrial Complex and the Deportation Center Industry, Student of Color Conference
University of California, Santa Barbara
Overview of hte history of the privatized prison industry and its intersections with privatized deportation holding centers.
Extracurricular Positions and Volunteer Work
2019-Present - Las Maestra's Center for Xicana indigena Art and Social Practice
Graduate Student Fellow
2016-2017 - Student Activist Network
Racial Justice Community Organizer
2013-2015 - Los Medicos Voladores
Spanish Medical Translator
Publications:
"The Privatized Deportation Center Industry y La Trans Mujer” in TransMoviementos:Latinx Queer Migrations, Bodies and Space, edited by Magda Garcia, Eddy Alvarez and Ellie Hernandez. Lincoln, NK. University of Nebraska Press.