Gerson Morales

Gerson Morales is a PhD candidate in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, with a minor in Latina/o Studies. He earned both a BA and MA from San Jose State University.  His research lies at the intersection of Central American cultural studies, memory studies, and decolonial theory, with a particular focus on Guatemala. He examines how literature, visual art, and performance engage with historical memory, Indigenous resistance, and the legacies of colonial and state violence. His dissertation explores how contemporary cultural works address the silences surrounding the Guatemalan civil war and its aftermath. Through an interdisciplinary approach grounded in Indigenous epistemologies, performance theory, and memory studies, the project analyzes how cultural production functions as an alternative archive that challenges historical erasure and reimagines identity, resistance, and justice.