Meet Karina Ortiz Villa

Tell us a bit about your background

I was originally born in Chile and was brought to the United States at the age of 3. I am a former DACA student and attend California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. I have worked in immigration law for over twelve years and have dedicated most of my adult life to immigration reform and ethics. I chose to attend graduate school because I wanted to make a bigger difference in the world. I wanted to be able to research and impact immigration law through theory. I also wanted the chance to shape the education of college students and give them all of the support that I received both during my educational and professional career.

What are you studying/researching?

I am currently specializing in Latin American philosophy, in particular questions about political sovereignty during the colonization period. I am also working on philosophy of law and artificial intelligence. I also am part of the FiloMex, a reading group and workshop for latin american and Mexican philosophy. Here, we learn and engage in latin american philosophy as well as do translations to recuperate lost or neglected works in philosophy.

Why UC San Diego?

When I was applying for graduate school, I knew that I only wanted to come to UC San Diego because of my department's commitment to its graduate students and the opportunities to engage in interesting and unique research. The chance to engage in latin american philosophy was what drove me here as a significant passion of mine is to recuperate lost philosophy from Chile. But I was convinced once I saw the huge diversity in research programs in the department and the support that they give PhD students.

Have you been awarded any fellowships or grants during graduate school?

I am a fellow at the Institute for Practical Ethics (IPE)