Rate My Professor Katynka Martinez

Katynka Z. Martinez, Ph.D., serves as Professor and Chair of the Department of Latina/Latino Studies at San Francisco State University, a position she has held since her appointment in 2006. Holding a Ph.D. in Communication from the University of California, San Diego, and a B.A. in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, Martinez's research specializations include cultural studies, media studies, community journalism, visual culture, and community-generated artwork related to Día de los Muertos. She teaches courses on film, television, journalism, media studies, the ethnic press, and visual culture. In her Latina/Latino Journalism course, students research the history of the U.S. Latino press and contribute articles, photography, and artwork to El Tecolote, the bilingual Mission District newspaper. Prior to joining SF State, she directed the Boyle Heights Latina Independent Film Extravaganza at CASA 0101 Theatre in Los Angeles in December 2006.

Martinez has made significant contributions to scholarship through her publications and editorial work. She co-edited the special issue "The Art of Latina and Latino Elderhood" for Latino Studies (Volume 19, Number 4, 2021), which includes her photo essay “Hairpiece: a photo essay featuring Yolanda Lopez.” Key publications encompass chapters such as “‘I Exist Because You Exist:’ Teaching History and Supporting Student Engagement through Bilingual Community Journalism” in Civic Engagement in Diverse Latina/o Communities: Learning from Social Justice Partnerships in Action (Peter Lang, 2018), “Latina/Latino Community Journalism: Surviving the ‘Crisis in Journalism’” in The Routledge Companion to Latina/o Media (Routledge, 2017), “Translating Telenovelas in a Neo-Network Era: Finding an Online Home for MyNetwork Soaps” in Wired TV: Laboring Over an Interactive Future (Rutgers University Press, 2014), and “Real Women and Their Curves: Letters to the Editor and a Magazine’s Celebration of the ‘Latina body’” in Latina/o Communication Studies Today (Peter Lang, 2008). She is a co-author on Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Living and Learning with New Media (MIT Press, 2010) and Living and Learning with New Media: Summary of Findings from the Digital Youth Project (MIT Press, 2009). Other works include entries “RBD” and “Regional Mexican Music” in Grove Dictionary of American Music, Second Edition (Oxford University Press, 2013), and “Pac-Man Meets the Minutemen: Video Games by Los Angeles Latino Youth” in National Civic Review (Fall 2011). In community service, Martinez has been a board member of Acción Latina since 2009 and Board President from 2014 to 2022, and she contributed to organizing committees for the Encuentro del Canto Popular (2015, 2016) and a National Endowment for the Humanities programming grant for “Latino Voices: A History of Latino Press, Radio, and Comic Arts in the United States” (2015-2016).