About Katynka Z Martinez

Katynka Z. Martínez is Professor and Department Chair of Latina/Latino Studies in the College of Ethnic Studies. She holds a BA in Sociology from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a PhD in Communication from the University of California at San Diego.

Martínez’ research areas include Communication, Cultural Studies, Media Studies, and Latina/Latino Studies. Prior to arriving at SF State, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Southern California where she worked on the research project, “Kids’ Informal Learning with Digital Media: An Ethnographic Investigation of Innovative Knowledge Cultures.”

Here in the Latina/Latino Studies Department, she teaches courses on film, television, journalism, media studies, the ethnic press and visual culture. The students in her Latina/Latino Journalism class research the history of the U.S. Latino press and contribute articles, photography and artwork to the Mission District bilingual newspaper El Tecolote. Martínez is Board President of Acción Latina, the nonprofit organization that publishes El Tecolote.

Publications by Martínez include: "American Idols with Caribbean Soul: Cubanidad and the Latin Grammys" in Latino Studies 4:4 (2006); "Monolingualism, Biculturalism and Cable TV: HBO Latino and the Promise of the Multiplex" in Cable Visions: Television Beyond Broadcasting, Ed. Banet-Weiser, Chris, and Freitas (2007); "Real Women and Their Curves: Letters to the Editor and a Magazine’s Celebration of the 'Latina body'" in Latina/o Communication Studies Today, Ed. Angharad N. Valdivia (2008); “The Garcia Family: A Portrait of Urban Los Angeles,” “Sharing Snapshots of Teen Friendship and Love,” and “Being More Than ‘Just a Banker:’ DIY Youth Culture and DIY Capitalism in a High School Computer Club” in Hanging Out, Messing Around, Geeking Out: Living and Learning with New Media, Mizuko Ito, et al. (2008). "Pac-Man Meets the Minutemen: Video Games by Los Angeles Latino Youth" in National Civic Review 100:3 (2011). "Translating Telenovelas in a Neo-Network Era" in Wired TV: Laboring Over an Interactive Future, Ed. Denise Mann (2014). "Latina/Latino Community Journalism: A San Francisco Case Study" in The Routledge Companion to Latina/o Media, Ed. Dolores Inés Casillas and María Elena Cepeda (2017). "'I Exist Because You Exist:' Teaching History and Supporting Engagement through Bilingual Community Journalism" in Civic Engagement in Diverse Latinx Communities: Learning from Social Justice Partnerships in Action. Ed. Mari Castañeda and Joseph Krupczynski (2018).