Gloria González-López, PhD

Gloria González-López holds the C.B. Smith Sr. Centennial Chair # 1 in US-Mexico Relations, and is Professor of Sociology at The University of Texas at Austin, where she has worked since 2002. She received a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Southern California (2000) and was a University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellow at U.C. Berkeley, affiliated with the Department of Sociology (2000-2002).

She is a first generation college student and a member of an extended family with a long history of transnational Mexico-U.S. migration.

Her sociological research focuses on the areas of sexuality, gender, Mexican American and Mexican studies, and social inequality. These intellectual projects are inspired by feminist theorizing and research in the social sciences whereby sexuality is considered a social prism through which to explore institutional dynamics in the areas of religion, education, law, family, culture and politics. In her more current research project, she conducted an in-depth sociological examination of incest and other forms of sexualized contact (i.e., voluntary and involuntary) within the context of the family in Mexican society. Her primary methodological approach is ethnographic, and she also has a special interest in engaging in multidisciplinary conversations on self-care, and the ethical and methodological issues and concerns researchers encounter while conducting research on dangerous, sensitive, and/or controversial issues. Lastly, she has a special interest in exploring ways in which feminist-informed epistemologies and methodologies in the social sciences have the potential to facilitate individual and collective healing, and social justice through dialogue with emerging critical theories of feminism and engaged research across disciplines. 

She is also a couple and family therapist by training (USC, 1997) and has worked with Latina immigrant women with histories of sexual violence. She is an academic consultant for professionals working in sexual violence prevention and treatment programs at grassroots organizations and academic institutions in Mexico.