Solimar Otero

Solimar Otero

Professor, Folklore and Ethnomusicology

Professor, Gender Studies

Director, Latino Studies

Editor, Journal of Folklore Research

she/her/ella

Education

  • Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, 2002
  • M.A., University of Pennsylvania, 1997
  • B.A., University of California, Berkeley, 1994

Research interests

  • gender
  • sexuality
  • Afro-Caribbean spirituality
  • Yoruba traditional religion in folklore, literature, and ethnography

Courses recently taught

  • Afro-Caribbean Folklore and Literature (grad seminar)
  • Gender, Ritual, Sexuality, and Caribbean Literature (grad seminar)
  • Performance Studies (grad seminar)
  • African Religions in the Diaspora
  • Introduction to Folklore
  • The Study of Folklore
  • Folklore and Literature
  • Women and Folklore
  • Cuban Cinema
  • Multi-Ethnic and Latinx Folklore

Awards & Distinctions

  • Albert J. Raboteau Prize for the Best Book in Africana Religions for Archives of Conjure, 2021
  • Elected Fellow of the American Folklore Society, 2021
  • Reed Foundation Grant, ​2019
  • Ruth Landes Memorial Research Fund Fellowship, Research in Cuba and at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., 2013
  • Research Associate and Visiting Faculty, Women’s Studies in Religion Program, Harvard Divinity School, 2009-2010 academic year
  • Fulbright IIE Grant for Research in Nigeria (2000)