Jillian Hernandez, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

2024 Awardee


Jillian Hernandez is considered a leading expert on many aspects of modern life, including contemporary art, popular culture, fashion and the politics of beauty. Her work concentrates on the experiences of Black and Latinx communities, elucidating how these communities negotiate gender, race, sexuality and class relations.

“Her research is a rigorous integration of visual analysis, discourse analysis, interviews and more,” says Bonnie Moradi, a professor of psychology and chair of the Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies. “She is also a community-engaged scholar whose research is informed by and informs her work as an art curator.”

Her first book, “Aesthetics of Excess: The Art and Politics of Black and Latina Embodiment,” perfectly embodies her work and commitments. Published in 2020, it discusses how Black and Latina women and girls’ bodies — especially their depictions in media — reinforce and subvert systems of power organized around race, gender, sexuality and class. The book was a critical success, receiving honorable mention for the American Studies Association’s John Hope Franklin Publication Prize for Most Outstanding Book and honorable mention for the Popular Culture Association’s Emily Toth Award for Best Single Work in Women’s Studies.

Hernandez has written dozens of articles that have found mainstream success, often because they examine social issues through the lens of pop culture. Her work on style and race resulted in an appearance on Good Morning America in 2022, where she was sought as an expert following public debate about model Hailey Bieber and cultural appropriation. Hernandez has also been featured on major news outlets and her work has been published in academic journals including Signs, the top journal in her field.

Hernandez is a highly respected educator and mentor at UF. In 2022, she received a CLAS Teacher of the Year Award, recognizing her excellence in undergraduate education and graduate student mentorship.