Migratory Material: Epigenetics & Weaving at the US-Mexico Border

Author

Valerie Navarrete, Rhode Island School of DesignFollow

Date of Award

5-26-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Interdisciplinary Studies

Program

Global Arts and Cultures

First Advisor

Sean Nesselrode Moncada

Second Advisor

Christopher Roberts

Abstract

Discourse often sutures the body shut, disallowing representations of identity to outgrow sociopolitical interests. This issue may originate from borders, but also from the unnamable pathology that generational colonial trauma transmits to the mind, body, and environment. Without a direct form of translatability, this thesis proposes a new materialism that deviates from any object-oriented ontology. Untethered and intra-active, epigenetics and weaving represent objects that transform typical ways of knowing and seeing. Their sensitivity to the environment, in addition to their mobility across generations of time, broaden the spatiotemporal loci of the body and its embodiment. Proposing new materials that expand modern medical epistemes, this thesis challenges disciplinarity, archival evidence, and the weaponization of objective singularity. To address widening health disparities, how does one show—not prove—the physiological impression of colonial haunting? Following the journey of epigenetics and weaving in Mexico, this thesis interrogates the influence of border politics as it records, reacts, and migrates through body and material.

Recommended Citation

Navarrete, Valerie, "Migratory Material: Epigenetics & Weaving at the US-Mexico Border" (2023). Masters Theses. 1126.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/1126

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.