Julianna Loera-Wiggins

Julianna Loera-Wiggins, a PhD Candidate in American Culture and a 2025-26 Graduate Fellow at the Institute for the Humanities, researches the way exclusionary norms are challenged through the power of stand-up comedy in the Latina/x community. Highlighting topics like race, citizenship, and gender, Loera-Wiggins studies how Las Locas Comedy—a Chicago-based performance collective of Puerto Rican, Mexican, and Latin American women—uses humor to confront anti-Latinx violence and celebrate identity. Her earlier research on the Chicano student movement in New Mexico inspired her admiration for generational insights and the power of storytelling and collectivism in activism. As a Chicana feminist, Loera-Wiggins aims to amplify the beauty of grassroots organizing within the Latinx community and to celebrate underrepresented voices in performing arts, education, and more. “Wild Tongues that Lash” is a comprehensive account of identity-based research that reminds us that comedy isn’t just entertainment, it’s connection through laughter. 

Leading up to her research, Loera-Wiggins asked herself, “Where are the femme Latina voices in comedy,” a question that led her to the Las Locas crew. Now in its eighth year, Las Locas is the longest running comedy showcase in the country. The group fosters space for Latina stand-up comedy to thrive in communities of color in Chicago. Meaning “the crazy women,” Las Locas illustrates the tension between reclamation and erasure in attitudes toward Latinas and within the Latinx community. This idea further inspired Loera-Wiggins’s research aiming to redefine the space Latinx identities can take up in various disciplines. She states, “We're (Latinas) often portrayed as unfit for citizenship, or laborers, so our only value is to the labor economy, right? But, I think my project is like, we're more than just that. We are people who contribute to the entire fabric, if you will, of society. We are intellectuals, we are educators, we are advocates for ourselves and others. We are also unruly citizens :).” She emphasizes that humor reveals the multi-dimensionality of a community constantly confined to harmful stereotypes that do not align with the amazing capabilities they possess. As shown in her research, they possess the talent and technique of being a comedian, which Loera-Wiggins embraced within herself. She did not simply observe the power of comedy, she became it.

Las Locas celebrates all racial backgrounds and ethnic diversity in the Latinx community, but in a stand-up collective the performers still have to be funny. In addition to being Mexican-American, Loera-Wiggins realized she needed (and wanted) to become a comedian as well, simply watching the performances was not enough for her research. 

She could not truly understand the power of humor without having the skill herself, and so she moved to Chicago for six months and took improv and stand-up comedy classes. Taught by one of her interlocutors, Puerto Rican comedian Deanna Ortiz, she learned performance techniques, produced her own shows in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, and became a part of the Las Locas community. From performing with them to spending time in the green room and sharing dinner after shows, she became a part of a supportive social network and community.

Beyond performing, Loera-Wiggins aimed to further understand the culture of comedy. Through a methodological lens of cultural citizenship and Chicana feminist discourse, she observed performances and conducted comedian testimonios (testimonials) working to gain conocimiento (knowledge) and understand how one's experiences shape one’s worldview. Through these methods, she concluded that Latinidad (the shared identity, culture, and social experiences of US Latinxs) is complicated and its vastness should be embraced, rather than narrowed down into this restricting idea that there is one “correct” way to be Latina. In truth, beauty lies in the full embrace and celebration of every way of being Latina.

As a Graduate Fellow, Loera-Wiggins has experienced an increased confidence and passion for her research and work in being around other motivated and talented fellows. She says, “I have a renewed energy for my work because I see how passionate everyone else is about theirs. I'm like, okay, everyone else's work sounds so important. That must mean mine means something, too.” Battling with moments of imposter syndrome, Loera-Wiggins remains focused and passionate about her work, and simply happy to be a part of the Institute for the Humanities team. Looking to the future, she aims to adapt her dissertation into a book proposal highlighting the strength of utilizing humor as a tool for social change and resistance within Latinx communities in the Midwest. Her dream is to create an ethnic studies humor lab where she can teach courses on race and stand-up, as well as allow undergraduate and graduate students to develop research projects about humor. Her work and goals continue to be motivated by her genuine love and appreciation of who she is. 

Loera-Wiggins prides herself on her heritage and aims to spotlight the beauty of her culture in her work. “I love that I have Spanish in my right pocket,” she explains. “I love that I have traditions in my left pocket. I love that I have a huge family group chat. It's just that collectivism, and I feel like it’s what makes me like, kind of whole, you know?” Showcasing pictures of her great grandparents in her office, Loera-Wiggins appreciates that she truly has family everywhere. Like the “wild tongues” she studies, her work refuses silence. Through humor, she shows that joy itself can be an act of defiance—and that every laugh carries the sound of a community reclaiming its power. Rooted in love, laughter, and legacy, Loera-Wiggins’s work continues to carve out space for Latinx voices to be heard, celebrated, and taken as seriously as they deserve.

Julianna Loera-Wiggins is a 2025-26 David and Mary Hunting Graduate Fellow at the Institute for the Humanities and a PhD Candidate in American Culture.

Serenity Moore is a 2025-26 Public Humanities Intern at the Institute for the Humanities in her third-year, majoring in Communication & Media with a minor in Writing.