# Rebeca Hey-Colón

**Source**: https://americanstudies.cornell.edu/rebeca-hey-colon
**Parent**: https://americanstudies.cornell.edu/faculty

## Associate Professor

### Overview

Rebeca L. Hey-Colón is jointly appointed in the Department of Literatures in English and the Latina/o Studies Program. She specializes in Afro-Latinx and Caribbean studies. Her first book, [*Channeling Knowledges: Water and Afro-Diasporic Spirits in Latinx and Caribbean Worlds*](https://utpress.utexas.edu/9781477327258/) (University of Texas Press, 2023) centers the multi-directional flows of water in contemporary Latinx and Caribbean cultural production as seen through the lens of Afro-diasporic religions. Through an interdisciplinary analysis that focuses on borders, gender, migration, and race, *Channeling Knowledges* pushes at the boundaries of Latinidad by centering the generative role of Black epistemologies in the Americas. *Channeling Knowledges* was awarded Honorable Mention for the 2024 Isis Duarte Book Prize by the Haiti/Dominican Republic section of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA). 

Dr. Hey-Colón’s research has appeared in*Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies, Chicana/Latina Studies Journal, Latino Studies,* and *Small Axe*, among others. Her article, “Chronic Illness and Transformation in Gloria Anzaldúa’s ‘Puddles,’” was awarded the 2023 Adela Zamudio Prize from Feministas Unidas. She is currently developing a new research project centered on loss in Afro-Latinx, Latinx, and Caribbean cultural production.  

Support for Dr. Hey-Colón’s research has been generously provided by the [Visiting Faculty Fellowship](https://www1.wellesley.edu/newhouse/fellowships#external) at the Suzy Newhouse Center for the Humanities at Wellesley College, the [Career Enhancement Fellowship](https://citizensandscholars.org/fellowships/for-scholars-education-leaders/career-enhancement-fellowship/) from the Institute for Citizens and Scholars, and the [Carlos E. Castañeda Postdoctoral Fellowship in Mexican American Studies](https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/cmas/scholarships-fellowships/carlos-e-castaneda-postdoctoral-fellowship/) at the University of Texas at Austin.

### Research Focus

- Afro-Latinx and Latinx studies
- Caribbean studies
- Afro-Diasporic religions and spirituality
- Anzaldúan studies
- Caribbean studies
- Cultural studies

## Courses - Fall 2025

- [AMST 3679 : Diasporas, Disasters, and Dissent: Re-Thinking Puerto Rican Studies in the 20th and 21st Centuries](https://classes.cornell.edu/browse/roster/FA25/class/AMST/3679)

## Courses - Spring 2026

- [AMST 4577 : Desbordando: Reading Caribbean Waters in Latinx Studies](https://classes.cornell.edu/browse/roster/SP26/class/AMST/4577)