Diego Mauricio Cortés is an Assistant Professor of Global Media at the University of Oregon’s School of Journalism and Communication. His research intersects alternative and community media, Latin American indigenous studies, religious studies, and popular culture. Through this multidisciplinary practice, he inquires about formations of contemporary indigeneities in the Andes, transnational evangelicalism, American whiteness, and media representations of the war on drugs.

He is currently working on a book manuscript that explores the repercussions of the rapid expansion of evangelicalism (non-denominational American Christianity and Pentecostalism) among Andean indigenous communities in Colombia, Ecuador, and Bolivia by analyzing oral history, archives, and ethnographic data related to indigenous Christians, American evangelical organizations, and evangelical media practices and discourses.

He holds a Ph.D. in Communication Studies (University of California, San Diego), an M.A. in Latin American Studies (University of California, San Diego), and a B.A. in Sociology (Hunter College, CUNY). He is a native of Bogotá, Colombia. Before coming to UO, Dr. Cortés was an Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh, Bradford.

Peer-reviewed articles:

Cortés, D. M. (2024). The politics of indigeneity: decolonizing historical memory and education in Colombia. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 1-20. https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/items/9ef129c3-3059-48fa-92ab-ed5cdd15e737

Cortés, D. M. (2024). Community Radio Stations and the Construction of Modern Indigeneity in Cauca, Colombia. In Histories of Perplexity (pp. 273-291). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003048152-18/community-radio-stations-construction-modern-indigeneity-cauca-colombia-diego-mauricio-cort%C3%A9s

Cortés, D. M. (2021) “The Quest for Indigenous Autonomy: Communication Media, Internal Conflicts, And Policy Reform in Colombia.” Journal of Latin American Anthropology. https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/items/2ab00888-1952-4e2f-84b8-444c15563b15

Cortés, D. M. (2020). “Evangelical indigenous radio stations in Colombia: between the promotion of social change and religious indoctrination.” Global Media and Communication. https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/items/5ee4e87f-98aa-4fc7-b6a5-98ccb3aac681

Cortés, D. M. (2019). Foes and allies: The Catholic Church, Acción Cultural Popular (ACPO), and the emergence of the indigenous movement in Cauca, Colombia. Latin American and Caribbean Ethnic Studies, 1-23. https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/items/a68f8fa1-247e-4e38-bfa8-ae11d41b10f0

Cortés, D. M. (2019). ‘Era mejor cuando éramos ilegales’ (it was better when we were illegals): Indigenous people, the State and ‘public interest’ indigenous radio stations in Colombia. Journal of Alternative and Community Media, 4(3), 28-42. https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/items/fea8b818-6ae3-4df7-835b-841ae06838eb

Cortés, D. M. (2019). Radio Indígenas y Estado en Colombia ¿Herramientas “políticas” o Instrumentos “policivos”? Chasqui. Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación, (140), 59-74. https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/items/43a79be9-446f-45a6-ab91-8a414f85d038

Cortés, D. M. (2016). “Representación indígena en el periodismo colombiano. El cómo y el por qué.”Jangwa Pana, 15(1), 88-104. https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/items/0597371b-ec73-43a2-bf3c-a97d51aebab2

Book reviews:

Cortés, D. M. (2020). Amaya, H. Durham. Duke University Press, 2020, 265 p. Trafficking, Narcoculture in Mexico and the United States. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly.

Cortés, D. M. (2020). Fattal, A. Chicago. Chicago University Press, 2018, 310 p. Guerrilla marketing counterinsurgency and capitalism in Colombia. The Communication Review.

• American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship Grant
• University of Pittsburgh Momentum Fund
• University of California, San Diego:
  • Senate Faculty President’s Dissertation Year Fellowship
  • Summer Teaching Scholar (SGTSS)
  • UC Pacific Rim Travel Grant
  • Tinker Research Travel Grant
  • Foreign Language Academic Scholarship (FLAS), Portuguese
  • Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship City
• University of New York:
  • Ronald E. McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement
• Others:
  • ARNA, Eduardo Florez Scholarship
  • Ford Foundation Diversity post-doctoral, dissertation, and predoctoral fellowships
  • Hispanic Scholarship Foundation (HSF), General College Scholarship
  • Sigma Xi Grant Social Science Research Council, Dissertation Proposal Development (DPDF)