Profile picture of Diego Cortes

Diego Cortes

Assistant Professor of Media Studies
Phone: 541-346-0915
Office: 1715 Franklin Blvd., Rm 139
City: Eugene
Research Interests: Latin American Media, Alternative/community media, American Christianity, Indigenous People from the Andes

Biography

Diego Mauricio Cortés is an Assistant Professor of Global Media at the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication. His research intersects alternative and community media, Latin American indigenous studies, religious studies, and popular culture. Through this multidisciplinary practice, he inquires about formations of contemporary indigeneities in the Andes, transnational evangelicalism, American whiteness, and media representations of the war on drugs.

He is currently working on a book manuscript that explores the repercussions of the rapid expansion of evangelicalism (non-denominational American Christianity and Pentecostalism) among Andean indigenous communities in Colombia, Ecuador, and Bolivia by analyzing oral history, archives, and ethnographic data related to indigenous Christians, American evangelical organizations, and evangelical media practices and discourses.

He holds a Ph.D. in Communication Studies (University of California, San Diego), an M.A. in Latin American Studies (University of California, San Diego), and a B.A. in Sociology (Hunter College, CUNY). He is a native of Bogotá, Colombia. Before coming to UO, Dr. Cortés was an Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, Bradford.

Publications

Peer-reviewed articles:

Cortés, D. M. (2021) “The Quest for Indigenous Autonomy: Communication Media, Internal Conflicts, And Policy Reform in Colombia.” Journal of Latin American Anthropology.

Cortés, D. M. (2020). “Evangelical indigenous radio stations in Colombia: between the promotion of social change and religious indoctrination.” Global Media and Communication.

Cortés, D. M. (2019). Foes and allies: The Catholic Church, Acción Cultural Popular (ACPO), and the emergence of the indigenous movement in Cauca, Colombia. Latin American and Caribbean Ethnic Studies, 1-23.

Cortés, D. M. (2019). ‘Era mejor cuando éramos ilegales’ (it was better when we were illegals): Indigenous people, the State and ‘public interest’ indigenous radio stations in Colombia. Journal of Alternative and Community Media, 4(3), 28-42.

Cortés, D. M. (2019). Radio Indígenas y Estado en Colombia ¿Herramientas “políticas” o Instrumentos “policivos”? Chasqui. Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación, (140), 59-74.

Cortés, D. M. (2016). “Representación indígena en el periodismo colombiano. El cómo y el por qué.”Jangwa Pana, 15(1), 88-104.

Book reviews:

Cortés, D. M. (2020). Amaya, H. Durham. Duke University Press, 2020, 265 p. Trafficking, Narcoculture in Mexico and the United States. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly.

Cortés, D. M. (2020). Fattal, A. Chicago. Chicago University Press, 2018, 310 p. Guerrilla marketing counterinsurgency and capitalism in Colombia. The Communication Review.

Honors and Awards:

  • American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship Grant
  • University of Pittsburgh Momentum Fund
  • University of California, San Diego:
    • Senate Faculty President’s Dissertation Year Fellowship
    • Summer Teaching Scholar (SGTSS)
    • UC Pacific Rim Travel Grant
    • Tinker Research Travel Grant
    • Foreign Language Academic Scholarship (FLAS), Portuguese
    • Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship City
  • University of New York:
    • Ronald E. McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement
  • Others:
    • ARNA, Eduardo Florez Scholarship
    • Ford Foundation Diversity post-doctoral, dissertation, and predoctoral fellowships
    • Hispanic Scholarship Foundation (HSF), General College Scholarship
    • Sigma Xi Grant Social Science Research Council, Dissertation Proposal Development (DPDF)