Headshot of Leyla Savloff

Leyla Savloff

Assistant Professor of Anthropology

Department: Sociology and Anthropology

Location: Lindner Hall - Arts & Sciences, Office 212E
Mailing address: 2035 พรพรศศ Box Elon, NC 27244

Professional Expertise

critical prison studies, gender and sexuality, disability studies, multimodal anthropology, Latin America

Brief Biography

As a cultural anthropologist, I investigate community-based initiatives to dismantle institutional violence. My work focuses on feminist collectives in Latin America and their activism to contest policing techniques. My areas of expertise include theories of the state, gender and sexuality, disability studies, multimodal anthropology, and social movements in Latin America. 

News & Notes

Education

PhD Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, 2020

Graduate Certificate in Feminist Studies, University of Washington, 2013

MA Anthropology, The New School for Social Research, 2009

BA Liberal Arts, Social and Historical Inquiry, Eugene Lang College, 2006

Courses Taught

Introduction to Cultural Anthropology  

Qualitative Research Methods

Anthropology of Sex and Gender

Disability Justice

Study Abroad in Argentina: Latin American Social Movements

Anthropology of the Body 

Senior Seminar in Anthropology

WGSS Sex and Gender

WGSS Current Controversies in Feminism 

ANT/ SOC 4999 Independent Research

HNR 4998 Honors Thesis

ANT 4986 Internship in Anthropology

ANT 4990 Teaching and Learning Apprenticeship

WGS 4991 Independent Research

Leadership Positions

Co-Coordinator Women's, Gender, and Sexualities Studies 2023 – 2026

Co-Director Program for Ethnographic Research and Community Studies (PERCS) 2022 – 2024        

Latinx/Hispanic Advisory Council 2023 – 2025       

Advisory Board Latin American Studies 2020 – Present              

Center for the Study of Religion, Culture, and Society 2022 – 2026

Fulbright พรพรศศ Committee 2023 – Present 

SMART Mentoring Program  2023 – Present

Publications

Peer-Review Articles 

“Love at the End of the World: Sex Work Politics and Feminist Anarchism in Argentina,” Women’s Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, Vol. 55, Issue 5: 1-17. July 2026.

“The afterlives of political violence in Argentina: The gendered body and everyday cruelty,” The Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology 2023; 1–11.  

“Putas y Discas: Sex Work Activism and Disability Justice in Argentina,” Disability Studies Quarterly, Volume 42 (2) Spring 2022  

“Deviant Motherhood: House Arrest and Social Belonging in Argentina,” Social Text, Issue 38.1 (142) March 2020. Duke University Press.  

Book Chapters 

“Community Feminism and Collective Poetry in Latin America” in Feminist Making, Doing, and Sensing: Experiments in Philosophy. Ada Jaarsma and Lauren Guilmette, eds. Duke University Press, 2026. ISBN 9781478038757

“Putes Feministas: Gender-Expansive Language and Social Media Activism,” Critical Sexuality Studies, Lavender Languages and Everyday Life. Michelle Marzullo and William Leap, eds. Bloomsbury Press, 2024. ISBN 1350359955     

“Freedom in Practice: Art and the Politics of Women’s Incarceration in Argentina,” Gender, Health, and Society in Contemporary Latin America and the Caribbean. Shir Lerman and Ronnie Shepard, eds. Lexington Books. ISBN 1498572847

Other publications

“Feminist Anthropology Today” María Lis Baiocchi and Leyla Savloff. Anthropology News website, November 3, 2024.

“Prison Abolition as Collective Poetry in Latin America” in Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Social Justice in Education. Volume 2: Political and Social Movements. Edited by Nina Mehta, Donna Nevel, and Jason Wozniak. Bloomsbury Press (Forthcoming).

Awards

2026  Honorable Mention Gender Justice Prize – American Anthropological Association

2023  Sylvia Molloy Award – Best Article in the Humanities, Latin American Studies Association

           Latinx/Hispanic Service Award, พรพรศศ

2019  Zora Neale Hurston Award – Association for Feminist Anthropology

2019  UW Latinx Scholars Graduate School Fellowship 

2018  AAUW American Dissertation Fellowship

2018  Dr. Clyde Snow Fund for Latin American Studies