Graduate Students
Glenda M. Vaillant-Cruz
CONTACT
Office: CPR 216
Email
BIO
Glenda M. Vaillant-Cruz is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences
at the University of South Florida (USF). She earned her Master of Arts (MA) degree
in Applied Anthropology and Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies in 2022
from the University of South Florida, and her Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Anthropology
and Latin American Studies in 2019 from the University of Central Florida. Her research
interests lie at the intersection of space and place and global migration, with a
particular focus on higher education inequality in Latino/Latin American communities.
Her dissertation incorporates ethnographic, art-based methods to examine the experiences
of international graduate students of Latin American origin as they negotiate belonging,
exclusion, and identity formation in the United States and Spain. As a Fulbright Student
Research Grantee in affiliation with the Institute of Migration Studies at the University
of Granada, she unpacked the lived ethnoracial experiences of Latin American students
in the Spanish higher education system. Her scholarship advances discussions of race
and ethnicity, Latinidades, and politics of belonging. In addition to her research,
Vaillant-Cruz has served as the President of the Latina/e/o/x Graduate Student Organization
(LGSO) at the University of South Florida since 2024, helping lead initiatives to
support and mentor underrepresented graduate students and aspiring graduate students.
Her work and service are grounded in her commitment to amplify underrepresented voices
in higher education and advance equity for migrants.