I'm a product of the US-colony of Puerto Rico, born in the states, reared on the island, and exiled by economic pressures to the states, pressures that have been exacerbated by the undemocratic, unelected Financial Oversight and Management Board "for" Puerto Rico. Prior to moving to California, I lived in Nevada, Michigan, NYC, Louisiana, and of course Puerto Rico, and consider myself first and foremost Puerto Rican, with the understanding that Puerto Rican identity is inexorably linked to American cultural hegemony on and off the island. Further, I have one foot in the social sciences and another in the humanities, and inter- and trans-disciplinarity spaces are where I am the most comfortable as a scholar. As a feminist scholar specifically, my philosophy is that theory should drive praxis. The ultimate aim of my research is to contribute to making our world more just, more compassionate, and more nurturing for all sentient creatures. To make this a reality, I believe it is imperative that we engage the people with study with the academy in a shared construction of knowledge, and to that end, I propose to write my dissertation as an exercise in such knowledge creation.