Katrina Martinez

Advisor: Emma Amador

Bio: Katrina is a doctoral student at UConn focusing on histories of US imperialism and archipelagic conquest at the turn of the twentieth century, primarily through the relationship between Puerto Rico and Hawai’i. Specifically, she hopes to examine the migration of Puerto Rican laborers to Hawai’i in 1900 through the lens of natural disasters and US empire and their existence within the sugar plantation labor system. Prior to joining the UConn community, she graduated from NYU with an MA in Interdisciplinary Studies, completed a post-baccalaureate at Yale University, and graduated from Williams College with a BA in History and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

Outside of academia, she spends her time reading Archie comics mainly, causing chaos on The Sims, and maintaining two islands in Animal Crossing.

Research interests: US Empire, Caribbean Studies, Pacific Studies, Indigenous Studies, Archipelagic Thinking and Waterways, Historical Construction of Natural Disaster, Tourism, Militarism, and Environmentalism