About

Virginia Rosa Dominguez is a professor in the Department of Anthropology at Illinois College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. She holds the title of Edward William and Jane Marr Gutgsell Professor and is also affiliated with several campus centers, including the Program in Jewish Culture and Society, the Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, the Center for Global Studies, and the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Her research and scholarly contributions focus on anthropological issues related to borders, migration, and ethnographic methods, as evidenced by her recent publications on topics such as the 'other' border, neoliberalism in universities, and migrant writing. She has authored and co-authored multiple articles and book chapters, engaging with themes of migration, ethnography, and global anthropological practices.

Research topics

• Sociology
• Computer Science
• Art
• Visual arts
• Psychology
• Psychoanalysis
• Anthropology
• Gender studies
• Psychotherapist
• Library science

Selected publications

• Anthropology in Israel : An Overview of the Discipline at the Crossroads of Identity, Conflict, and Academic Evolution

  Encyclopédie Bérose des histoires de l anthropologie · 2026-01-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  En Israël, l'anthropologie évolue dans un contexte marqué par les tensions politiques et les fractures identitaires. Depuis les attentats du 7 octobre 2023 et la guerre à Gaza, la discipline est mise à l'épreuve, comme le montre la déclaration tardive et controversée de l'Israeli Anthropological Association, révélatrice de ses divisions internes. Historiquement dominée par des chercheurs ashkénazes, elle s'ouvre progressivement aux voix mizrahi et palestiniennes, bien que ces dernières restent sous-représentées. L'émergence d'Insaniyyat, une association d'anthropologues palestiniens, symbolise cette quête de reconnaissance, dans un pays où 20 % de la population est arabe. Sur le plan académique, l'anthropologie israélienne est profondément influencée par les courants anglophones, héritage de figures comme Shmuel Eisenstadt et Max Gluckman. Les publications en anglais, privilégiées au détriment de l'hébreu, reflètent cette orientation internationale, tout en posant la question de la pertinence locale. Les thèmes de recherche, autrefois centrés sur les kibbutzim ou l'intégration des immigrants, se diversifient aujourd'hui vers des enjeux contemporains : genre, santé mentale, écologie, ou encore les impacts du néolibéralisme. La discipline reste confrontée à des défis majeurs, comme les pressions du mouvement BDS (Boycott Divestment and Sanction), qui ont poussé certains chercheurs à boycotter les conférences internationales.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Preface: The “Other” Border and the Present Moment

  Review of International American Studies · 2025-02-13

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  This thematic issue of RIAS explores the evolving dynamics of US-Canada relations amidst the backdrop of Donald Trump’s second presidential term and Justin Trudeau’s resignation as Canadian Prime Minister. The issue gains heightened relevance due to Trump’s provocative rhetoric, including threats of economic tariffs, discussions of annexation, and broader expansionist ambitions. The US-Canada border has historically been viewed as stable compared to the US-Mexico border, yet this assumption is being challenged. The issue examines how the US imagines Canada, often overlooking its Indigenous and multicultural realities, and interrogates historical and contemporary border tensions. Featuring interdisciplinary perspectives from scholars in Canada, the US, and beyond, the issue contextualizes current political shifts by addressing historical policies on immigration, Indigenous rights, and cultural representation. Through its engagement with global American studies, this issue underscores the necessity of examining US-Canada relations from multiple international perspectives.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• “The agenda is to wipe out critical thought”—Struggles for academic freedom (part 2)

  American Ethnologist · 2025-07-30

  article

  Abstract In the second of two interviews with leading anthropologists focused on academic freedom, the editors of American Ethnologist speak with Eve Darian‐Smith (University of California, Irvine) and Virginia R. Dominguez (University of Illinois Urbana‐Champaign). Darian‐Smith recently published Policing Higher Education , and Dominguez has addressed academic freedom through her work with the World Anthropological Union and the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences. This discussion centers on recent (2024–25) attacks on critical thought at United States tertiary institutions, situating them within longer histories of repression (e.g., the McCarthy era) and the global situation. Darian‐Smith and Dominguez explore distinctions between free speech and academic freedom, arguing that the present political moment constitutes an unprecedented assault on higher education and research. They highlight how anthropology programs and cognate disciplines are especially vulnerable and discuss less visible modes of suppression, including digital surveillance, academic precarity, and weak collective organizing, while also pointing to tools and strategies for resistance.

  PublisherDOI

• The House on G Street: A Cuban Family Saga, by Lisandro Pérez

  New West Indian Guide / Nieuwe West-Indische Gids · 2025-03-05

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Amazing in its detail, The House on G Street is both personal family history and a way of encountering Cuba's history.Many noted scholars of Cuba-including

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Neoliberalism, universities, and anthropology around the world: introduction

  Etnografica · 2024-01-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  IntroductionThe idea for this dossier began with a conversation over one of those long breakfasts given at conferences. It was 2014 and the blows of the 2008 economic crisis were still being felt strongly. There was growing concern in the academic field over the advancement of neoliberalism and its effects, especially given its part in the 2008 crisis and the ensuing proliferation of “austerity politics,” which included a range of policies that were implemented as intended solutions to the e...

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Proceedings of the World Council of Anthropological Associations Delegates Online Meeting

  Antropologicheskij forum · 2024-06-01

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• L’Hégémonie comme productrice d’utopies et de dystopies vécues

  Editions des archives contemporaines eBooks · 2023-05-01

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Writing about Family

  Anthropology Now · 2023-09-02

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Strengths and Hopes for the Future: Ideas from a Long‐Time Caribbeanist

  The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology · 2022-08-29

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Anthropology in India and Anthropological Journals in India

  Vibrant Virtual Brazilian Anthropology · 2022-01-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Social Change and some others where in

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Brigittine M. French

  15 shared

• Emily Metzner

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  7 shared

• Christiana L. Scheib

  University of Cambridge

  4 shared

• Mariano Perelman

  4 shared

• Jasmin Habib

  4 shared

• Julio Esteban Vezub

  Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas

  4 shared

• Ruth Behar

  3 shared

• Renato Rosaldo

  3 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Anthropology

  Yale University

  1979