Jayna Tavarez

I am a second year PhD student in the Department of Communication at UMass Amherst. My work is situated in performance studies, queer and women of color feminist theories, and personal narrative. I am drawn to questions of power, identity, embodied experience, and social justice particularly within higher education contexts. My lens, as a scholar, educator, and practitioner, is deeply informed by my full-time experience as a student affairs educator prior to joining the program. 

BA, Social Justice and Human Rights—George Mason University

MA, Social Justice and Human Rights—George Mason University

Graduate Certificate, Women and Gender Studies—George Mason University

EdS, Social Justice Education—University of Massachusetts Amherst (in progress)

Graduate Certificate, Feminist Studies—University of Massachusetts Amherst (in progress)

Introduction to Rhetoric and Performance (COMM 125, Residential Academic Program)

Tavarez, J. C. (2024). Reflexive interventions: From damage-centered to desire-based bisexuality research. Journal of LGBT Youth, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/19361653.2024.2341291

Tavarez, J. C. (2023). “Bisexuality’s never enough…”: Using composite narratives to explore bisexual students’ experiences within LGBTQ campus spaces. Journal of LGBT Youth, 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/19361653.2023.2262454

Tavarez, J. C. (2022). “There’s people out there doing more than me…”: Activist burnout among bisexual college students within LGBTQ campus spaces. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000442

Tavarez, J. C. (2022). “I can't quite be myself”: Bisexual-specific minority stress within LGBTQ campus spaces. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 15(2), 167–177. https://doi.org/10.1037/dhe0000280