Liliana Gil

Anthropologist

I am an Assistant Professor of Comparative Studies at The Ohio State University. My teaching and research focus on postcolonial and feminist studies of science and technology, with an emphasis on Brazil and its transnational connections.

My current book project, Improvised Tech: Tactics for an Unequal World, examines technological improvisation across various sites, from innovation hubs and repair shops in São Paulo to self-improved houses in the periphery of Lisbon. Drawing 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 received a Ph.D. in Anthropology from The New School and worked as a lecturer at the National University of Singapore. I also 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.

My scholarship has been supported by various organizations, including the Fulbright Program, the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the US National Science Foundation, and the American Council of Learned Societies.

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

I welcome interdisciplinary collaborations. Feel free to reach out at gils.1 [at] osu.edu.