Liliana Gil

Anthropologist

I am an Assistant Professor of Comparative Studies at The Ohio State University. Before joining OSU, I completed a Ph.D. in Anthropology at The New School and lectured at the National University of Singapore. My teaching and research center on postcolonial studies of science and technology, focusing on Brazil and its transnational connections.

My ongoing book project, Improvised Tech: Tactics for an Unequal World, examines improvisation across various sites of technological production in Brazil and beyond, from innovation hubs and repair shops in São Paulo to self-improved houses in the periphery of Lisbon. Based on long-term fieldwork, this work contributes to critical debates on skill, labor, creativity, innovation, and global tech inequalities. You can read about it in American Anthropologist (“A Fablab at the Periphery”) and Third World Quarterly (“Becoming a Repair Entrepreneur”).

Previously, I completed a master’s in Medical Anthropology at the University of Coimbra with a visiting period at the University of California, Berkeley. In my thesis, I wrote about art practices involving frontier areas of science and emerging technologies. Over the years, my scholarship has been supported by various organizations, including the Fulbright Program, the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the American Council of Learned Societies.

As a first-generation college student, I am committed to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in academia. I honor the opportunities I have had by supporting others in similar journeys.

I am open to collaborations across disciplines. Please reach out at gils.1 [at] osu.edu.