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Diana Leon-Boys

Tampa, Florida, United States

Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, University of South Florida

Biography

Diana Leon-Boys is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication and affiliate faculty in the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies and the Institute for the Study of Latin America and the Caribbean at the University of South Florida. Her research is situated at the intersection of Latinx studies, critical media and cultural studies, and girlhood studies.

Scholarly beginnings

A research idea

Envisioning possible futures in the field of communication and media studies

Learn more about Prof. Leon-Boys’ journey

Selected readings

• Leon-Boys, D. (2021). No Spanish in Cinderella’s Kingdom: A Situated Ethnography of Disney’s World Engagement with Elena of Avalor. Special Issue: Working the Circuit: Cultural Studies of Florida in Departures in Critical Qualitative Research 10(2): 50-58.

• Leon-Boys, D. & Chávez, C. (2021). Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge as Postcolonial Fantasy: Disney, Labor, and the Renegotiation of Border Discourses. International Journal of Communication. 15(1). 2378-2396.

• Leon-Boys, D. & Valdivia, A.N. (2020). The Location of US Latinidad: Stuck in the Middle, Disney and the in Between Ethnicity. Journal of Children and Media, 15(2). 218-232.

• Leon-Boys, D. (2019). A Latina Captain: Decentering Latinidad through Audience Constructions in Dexter. In Hernandez, L., Bowen, D., De Los Santos- Upton, S, & Martinez, A. (Eds.). Latina/o/x Communication Studies: Theories, Methods, and Practice. Maryland: Lexington Books.  

• Leon-Boys, D., & Kristensen, M. (2018). Race, Cyborgs, and the Pitfalls of Biopolitical Discourse in Black Mirror’s “Men Against Fire.” In Cirucci,A. & Vackery, B. (Eds.) Black Mirror and Critical Media Theory. Maryland: Lexington Books.

Watch Prof. Leon-Boys present on “Flexible Latinidad at Disney theme parks: A Bi-coastal situated ethnography of Elena of Avalor” at the Center for Latinx Digital Media

Listen to Prof. Leon-Boys’ insights about her professional journey in El Café Latinx podcast