Graduate Student

AeJay Antonis Marquis

Ph.D. Student, Performance Studies

AeJay Antonis Marquis (They/Them) is a multi-hyphenate performance artist, scholar, educator, and activist whose work centers the decolonization of the theatrical canon, the black avant-garde, and queer political performance practice. Their current research seeks to explore Queer, Transgender and Non-Binary remixing, reclamation and reconciliation of varied Christian dogmas through performative explorations in theatre, dance, film, and music videos, and how this practice intersects with racial identity and contribute to Queer Futurist Liberation models. Their work has been seen...

Fernando Martinez

Ph.D. Student, Performance Studies

B.A. and M.A. in Communication Studies, California State University Northridge

Self-proclaimed L.A. trash, Fernando is a performer and spoken-word artist whose research is centered in areas of Chicano and Central-American issues informed by Racial-Cultural Geographies, Ritual, Spatial Politics, and Abject Performance from L.A. to the Bay Area.

Pablo Paredes

Ph.D. Student, Performance Studies

B.A. in Ethnic Studies, minors in African American and Chicano Studies, University of California, Berkeley

Pablo is the son of Puerto Rican and Ecuadorian migrants, a US Navy veteran/war resister, student-parent, spoken word artist and Bombero from the South Bronx, New York. With permission from local Bomba Maestraxs and elders, his research archives and digitally chronicles the identity formation, healing, resistance and solidarity work that Afro-Taino Bomba ceremony performs in the Puerto Rican Diasporic communities of California.

Evan Sakuma

Ph.D. Student, Performance Studies

Evan Sakuma (he/they) 'comes out' from the East Asian ethnic enclave of Monterey Park, CA. Their work, hardened further by the 'Queerantine', centers the performance of care within queer communities of color. While a theory head at times, Evan incorporates praxis of 'Gaysian' community building and artistry to actively seek safe spaces for his Asian queer community so head, heart, and home can be found—always.

Maria Silk

Ph.D. Student, Performance Studies

B.A. in Theater and Performance Studies, M.A. in Art History, Stanford University

Maria Silk is a San Francisco-based artist working in choreography, performance, and video. At Berkeley, her dissertation research takes an ecological approach to the study of San Francisco queer nightlife.

Learn more at MariaSilk.com

Jaclyn Zhou

Ph.D. Student, Performance Studies

B.S. in Journalism, Asian Languages and Cultures, Northwestern University

Jaclyn's current research focuses on race, tourism and digital technology. Other interests include Asian and Asian American popular cultures, animality studies, science fiction, queer studies, and high strangeness.