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Kristin Sorensen

  • Associate Professor, Global Studies
  • DPhil in Communication and Culture, Indiana University
  • M.A. in Media Arts, University of Arizona
  • B.A. in Communication, University of Massachusetts

Teaching Interests

Cross cultural understanding;
Global Commerce and Human Rights in Chile;
Global cinema;
Human rights in the media;
Environmental movements in the media;
Documentary film and video
Globalization
Historical Memory
Latin American Cinema

Research Interests

Communication and culture;
Media studies;
Global cinema;
Chile;
Human rights;
Environmental movements; historical memory studies

Consulting/Practice Interests

Communication and culture;
Media studies;
Global cinema;
Chile;
Human rights;
Environmental movements; historical memory studies

Professional Memberships

  • Cultural Studies Association Present
  • International Communication Association Present
  • Latin American Studies Association Present
  • National Communication Association Present
  • New England Council for Latin American Studies Present
  • Society for Cinema and Media Studies Present
  • American Anthropological Association Present

    • Awards and Honors

  • Bentley University Service Award, Bentley University
  • Co-Best Arts and Sciences Honors Capstone Award, Bentley Honors Program
  • Nominee - Who's Who in America, Marquis
  • Nominee - Who's Who in America, Marquis
  • Dr. Earl L. Avery MLK Leadership Award, Bentley University
  • Recognition for Service, Faculty Senate
  • Best Honors Capstone Award, Bentley University Honors Program
  • Bentley Rainbow Award, LGBTQ@Bentley
  • Best Honors Capstone Award, Bentley University Honors Program
  • Dean's Fund for International Travel Award
  • Outstanding Scholarly Contribution Award, Bentley University
  • Publication Award, Bentley University
  • Teaching Fellow, Bentley University Valente Center for the Arts and Sciences
  • Dean's Fund for International Travel Award, Bentley University
  • Publication Award, Bentley University
  • W. Michael Hoffman Undergraduate Award for Best Paper in Business Ethics given to honors capstone advisee Amanda Mongell, Bentley University Center for Business Ethics
  • Bentley Arts and Sciences Research Fellow
  • Bentley Publication Award
  • Dean's Fund for International Travel award for research in Chile
  • First Prize in Bentley Summer Research Poster Competition
  • Indiana University's Department of Communication and Culture Teaching Award for outstanding service in teaching Interpersonal Communication
  • Indiana University's Graduate and Professional Student Organization Research Award
  • Second Honors in the Association for the Study of the Cuban Economy paper contest for paper Post-revolutionary Cuban Cinema

    • Scholarly Contributions and Creative Productions

    Journal Articles

  • Sorensen, K. I. (2025). Human Rights and Historical Memory in Northern Chile: Cycles of Violence, Silence, and Remembering. The Latin Americanist, (69) 4 398-424.
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2011). Chilean Print Media and Human Rights: Mainstream Silence Versus Satirical Subversion. Peace and Change, (36) 3 400-426.
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2010). The Case of Chilevision: Negotiating Difficult Discourses on Chilean Television. Cuadernos de Informacion, (January-June 2010) 26 87-98.
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2008). Truth and Justice, Transience and Doubt in Chilean Documentary. Journal of Human Rights, (7) 4 341-352.
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2003). Chilean Media and Discourses of Human Rights. SECOLAS Annals: Journal of Southeastern Council of Latin American Studies, (XXXV) 3-Nov 82-109.
  • Sorensen, K. I. Children, Politics, and Human Rights: DCF policies, Massachusetts state laws, and discourses of rights. (In Progress)

    • Books

  • Sorensen, K. I. (2015). Los medios, la memoria, y los derechos humanos en Chile Santiago: RiL Editores
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2009). Media, Memory, and Human Rights in Chile 186. New York: Palgrave Macmillan

    • Book Chapters

  • Sorensen, K. I. (2016). New Media, Collapsed Boundaries, and Hybridized Identities in the Context of Contemporary Chile Locating Emerging Media. Routledge
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2015). Communication for Memory and Peace: Articulating Violence in Post-Repressive Contexts Communication and Peace: Charting an Emerging Field. Routledge
  • Gordon, N., Sorensen, K. I. (2012). Jamaica and Chile Online: Assessing the Uses of and Access to the Internet in a Developing World Context New Media and Intercultural Communication: Identity, Community, and Politics. New York: Peter Lang Publishing
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2011). U.S. Foreign Policy in Latin America on Film: The Case of Salvador The 1980s: A Critical and Transitional Decade. New York: Lexington Books: A Division of Rowman & Littlefield, Publishers
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2011). Chilean Historical Memory, Media, and Discourses of Human Rights Global Memoryscapes: Contesting Remembrance in a Transnational Age. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2005). Reception and Censorship of a Chilean Documentary: The Plight of Fernando Is Back Democracy in Chile: The Legacy of September 11, 1973. Sussex, United Kingdom: Sussex Academic Press

    • Digital and Electronic Media, Social Media, Blogs, Podcasts

  • Sorensen, K. I. 2023. "50 years since the September 11, 1973 military coup in Chile - discussion of Chile and the role that the U.S. played in Chile"

    • Presentations

  • Sorensen, K. I. (2023). “Human Rights and Historical Memory in Northern Chile: Cycles of Violence, Silence, and Remembering” Presented at the Global Studies Department Research Colloquium Bentley University
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2019). “Human Rights and Historical Memory in Northern Chile: Cycles of Violence, Silence, and Remembering” Presented at the Latin American Studies Association Latin American Studies Association annual conference Boston
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2019). “Transitional Justice and Memory in Chile” Presented at the Latin American Studies Association Latin American Studies Association annual conference Boston
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2016). “Human Rights and Historical Memory in Northern Chile: Cycles of Violence and Forgetting” Presented at the New England Council of Latin American Studies New England Council of Latin American Studies annual conference Trinity College, Hartford, CT
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2016). “Politics of Memory and Human Rights Reconciliation” Presented at the New England Council of Latin American Studies New England Council of Latin American Studies annual conference Trinity College, Hartford, CT
  • Dayal, S., Abbott, T., Korepanova, E., Sorensen, K. I., Aslinger, B. S. (2013). “Gender, Queerness & Nation” Presented at the Gender Studies Program and LGBTQ@Bentley Faculty Roundtable Bentley University
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2012). “In/Visibility in the Internet's Third Age” Presented at the Cultural Attitudes towards Technology and Communication Aarhus University, Denmark
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2010). “Chile Online: New Venues for Public Discourses in a Post-Repressive Nation” Presented at the University of California Cultural Studies Association Berkeley, Califronia
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2010). “Reimagining Girlhood in Chile” Presented at the State University of New York Reimagining Girlhood: Communities, Identities, Self-Portrayals Cortland, NY
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2009). “Capturing Contested Memories: The Day Pinochet Died” Presented at the Universidad Catolica Latin American Studies Association Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2008). “Representations of Rape in Chilean Media” Presented at the National Communication Association National Communication Association Annual Convention San Diego, CA
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2008). “Visible Memories of State-Sponsored Violence in Post-Repressive Chile: The Cases of Londres 38 and FUNA” Presented at the Syracuse University Visible Memories Conference Syracuse, NY
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2007). “Machuca: Chilean Historical Memory as Box Office Success” Presented at the Latin American Studies Association After the Washington Consensus: Collaborative Scholarship for a New America Montreal, Canada
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2007). “Fernando ha vuelto?: Re-Visioning Historical Memory in Chilean Cinema” Presented at the Mt. Holyoke College New England Council of Latin American Studies South Hadley, MA
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2007). “Globalization, Media, and Human Rights in Chile” Presented at the National Communication Association Rethinking Communication within Changing Global Contexts University of Maine at Orono
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2005). “Chilean Historical Memory, Media, and Discourses of Human Rights” Presented at the Syracuse University Contesting Public Memories Syracuse, NY
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2005). “Chilean Television and Human Rights Discourse: The Case of Chilevisi√≥n” Presented at the National Communication Association National Communication Association Annual Conference Boston, MA
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2005). “Mediated Discourses of Chilean National Histories” Presented at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media in Transition Cambridge, MA
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2005). “Vistas chilenas: The Performance of Gender, Human Rights, Social Activism, and Politics in Contemporary Chile” Presented at the Cultural Studies Association Cultural Studies Association Annual Conference Tucson, AZ
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2005). “Local and Global Media Flows of Chilean Human Rights Discourses” Presented at the Vanderbilt University Southeastern Council of Latin American Studies Nashville, TN

    • Reviews

  • Sorensen, K. (2026). Fighting Grand Corruption: Transnational and Human Rights Approaches in Latin America and Beyond . , (63) 5 (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. (2025). The Subject of Revolution: Between Political and Popular Culture in Cuba by Jennifer L. Lambe. , (62) 9 (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. (2025). Slow Media: Sensibility, Process, and Technology. , (63) 1 (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2024). Textures of Terror: The Murder of Claudina Isabel Velásquez and Her Father’s Quest for Justice. , (61) 6 (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2024). Listening, Community Engagement, and Peacebuilding: International Perspectives.
  • Sorensen, K. (2024). Internet, Humor, and Nation in Latin America edited by Hector Fernandez L'Hoeste and Juan Poblete. , (62) 1
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2023). A History of Chile 1808-2018, Third Edition. , (61) 1 (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2023). Pop Culture, Politics, and the News: Entertainment Journalism in the Polarized Media Landscape. , (60) 9 (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2023). From Threatening Guerrillas to Forever Illegals: U.S. Central Americans and the Cultural Politics of Non-Belonging. , (60) 5 (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2022). Surviving Mexico: Resistance and Resilience among Journalists in the Twenty-First Century. , (60) 3 (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2022). The Anthropology of Peace and Reconciliation: Pax Humana. , (59) 10 (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2022). Fighting Unemployment in Twentieth-Century Chile. , (59) 6 (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2021). How We Use Stories and Why That Matters. , (58) 7 (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2019). P.C. Chang and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2019). Transmitted Wounds: Media and the Mediation of Trauma. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2019). Technicolored: Reflections on Race in the Time of TV. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2019). Human Rights in Thick and Thin Societies: Universality without Uniformity. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2018). Beyond the Vanguard: Everyday Revolutionaries in Allende's Chile. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2018). The Mediated Mind: Affect, Ephemera, and Consumerism in the Nineteenth Century. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2018). Disability Media Studies. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2018). Evaluating Media Bias. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2017). Fragile Freedoms: The Global Struggle for Human Rights. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2017). Assassination of a Saint: The Plot to Murder Oscar Romero and the Quest to Bring His Killers to Justice. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2017). The Ideological Origins of the Dirty War: Fascism, Populism, and Dictatorship in Twentieth Century Argentina. , (74) 3 (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2017). The World Reimagined: Americans and Human Rights in the Twentieth Century. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2017). Human Rights and Humanitarian Diplomacy. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2016). Updating to Remain the Same: Habitual New Media. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2016). The Routledge Companion to Literature and Human Rights. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2015). Chilean New Song. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2015). Media Imperialism. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2015). Media and Left. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2014). Transitional Justice, Culture, and Society: Beyond Outreach. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2013). Citizenship Excess: Latino/as, Media, and the Nation. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2013). Human Rights Journalism: Advances in Reporting Distant Humanitarian Interventions. , (35) 4 1011-1013.
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2013). The Media in Transitional Democracies. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2012). Human Rights Journalism: Advances in Reporting Distant Humanitarian Interventions. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2012). Marshall McLuhan's Mosaic: Probing the Literary Origins of Media Studies. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2011). The Handbook of Critical Intercultural Communication. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2011). @ is for Activism: Dissent, Resistance and Rebellion in a Digital Culture. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2011). Deconstructing Development Discourse: Buzzwords and Fuzzwords. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2010). Latina/os and the Media by Angharad N. Valdivia. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2010). Passionate Subjects / Split Subjects in Twentieth-Century Literature in Chile: Brunet, Bombal, and Eltit. February (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2009). A Passion for Cultural Studies. December (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2009). Media Witnessing: Testimony in the Age of Mass Communication. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. I. (2009). Communist Women in Scotland. (Link)
  • , ., Sorensen, K. I. (2008). Policing Dissent: Social Control and the Anti-Globalization Movement. (Link)
  • Sorensen, K. Acoustic Colonialism: Acts of Mapuche Interference . (Forthcoming)

    • Service

    Service: Department

  • Committee Chair for department chair nomination and election process - Present
  • primary evaluator for progress towards tenure evaluation committee - Present
  • representative for Bentley's Open House for Accepted Undergraduate Students - Present
  • facilitator for Global Studies Career Panel - Present
  • faculty participant for Rainbow Block Party - Present
  • Committee Chair for Cultural Studies/Anthropology Lecturer Search Committee 2023-01-01 - Present
  • Committee Chair for GLS diversity, equity, and inclusion committee 2022-01-01 - Present
  • Committee Member for Academic Coordinator Search Committee 2022-01-01 - 2023-12-31
  • Principal Advisor to Tenure-Track Faculty for primary evaluator for tenure-track faculty member 2022-01-01 - 2023-12-31
  • Committee Member for search committee for lecturer in American politics 2022-01-01 - 2023-12-31
  • Committee Member for search committee for tenure-track assistant professor - 2021-12-31
  • Committee Member for GLS diversity, equity, and inclusion committee 2021-01-01 - Present
  • co-host for Dr. Magda Hinojosa guest lecturer - 2020-12-31
  • Committee Member for assurance of learning department committee 2020-01-01 - 2021-12-31
  • Committee Member for Global Studies Dept. curriculum committee 2020-01-01 - 2021-12-31
  • Committee Member for search committee for tenure-track assistant professor - 2019-12-31
  • for student engagement subcommittee 2018-01-01 - 2019-12-31
  • Task Force Member for taskforce to review the Global Studies major 2016-01-01 - 2018-12-31
  • Principal Advisor to Tenure-Track Faculty for primary evaluator 2016-01-01 - 2017-12-31
  • Course designer and instructor for new permanent course: GLS 251 Latin American Cinema - 2015-12-31
  • Committee Chair for summer research grants application review committee 2016-01-01 - Present
  • Committee Chair for department chair nomination, election, and recommendation process 2015-01-01 - 2023-12-31
  • represented Global Studies Department for majors/minors fair - 2013-12-31
  • for full-time lecturer search committee 2013-01-01 - 2013-12-31
  • Global Studies Minor Coordinator for Global Studies Minor Coordinator 2013-01-01 - 2013-06-30
  • Committee Member for Summer Research Grant Application Review Committee 2013-01-01 - 2013-01-31
  • Global Studies Department respresentative for Bentley's Open House for Accepted Student Applicants - 2012-12-31
  • represent Global Studies Department for Faculty Senate 2013-01-01 - 2023-12-31
  • for student engagement subcommittee 2011-01-01 - 2012-12-31
  • for full-time lecturer search committee 2011-01-01 - 2011-12-31
  • for GLS 114 Cross Cultural Understanding course coordinator 2005-01-01 - Present

    • Service: Public

  • Guest Speaker for Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities at Massachusetts State House 2019-01-01 - 2021-12-31
  • Guest Speaker for Department of Children and Families 2017-01-01 - 2021-12-31
  • Guest Speaker for Joint Committee on Children, Families, and Persons with Disabilities at Massachusetts State House - 2017-06-27
  • Attendee, Meeting for Department of Children and Families - 2016-12-31
  • Guest Speaker for Lincoln Sudbury Regional High School - 2011-09-20

    • Service: Professional

  • consultant for 440K Project 2021-01-01 - Present
  • Board of Advisors for Copper and Cobalt 2020-01-01 - Present
  • Conference/Workshop Session Chair for Latin American Studies Association - 2019-12-31
  • external reviewer for grant proposal submitted by Chile's Museum of Memory and Human Rights for Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development - 2012-12-31

    • Service: University

  • Guest Speaker for Real Talk series event - Present
  • Task Force Member for Bentley Brave Dialogues Group - Present
  • for Bentley Brave Gender Subgroup - Present
  • Co-Chair for Ad-Hoc LGBTQ Ally Community Group - Present
  • Guest Speaker for international film series - Present
  • cross-cultural facilitator for international film series - Present
  • participant for CPR AED training - Present
  • Mentor (Faculty) for Bentley Faculty Mentor 2023-01-01 - Present
  • Guest Speaker for international film series - 2022-12-31
  • Committee Member for salary and benefits committee 2022-01-01 - 2023-12-31
  • for Bentley trauma training - 2021-12-31
  • Co-Facilitator for Whiteness Accountability Group - 2021-12-31
  • Committee Member for New England Commission of Higher Education planning and evaluation subcommittee for accreditation committee 2021-01-01 - 2021-12-31
  • Guest Speaker for Bentley Office of Admissions and Gloria Cordes Larson Center for Women and Business - 2020-12-31
  • Task Force Member for Lecturers Task Force - 2020-12-31
  • Committee Member for tenure evaluation committee 2020-01-01 - Present
  • co-facilitator for Whiteness Accountability Group 2020-01-01 - Present
  • judge for La Cultura Latina student organization - 2019-12-31
  • member of interview committee for Associate Dean of Health Counseling and Wellness position for Student Affairs - 2019-12-31
  • helped review and evaluate faculty proposals for 2019-2020 and 2021-2022 faculty led travel courses for Cronin Office of International Education 2019-01-01 - 2021-12-31
  • Former Chair for Faculty Senate Planning Committee 2018-01-01 - 2022-12-31
  • Committee Member for Presidential Search Committee 2017-01-01 - 2018-12-31
  • Blind Reviewer for Fusio: The Bentley Undergraduate Research Journal - 2016-12-31
  • for Shared Governance Working Group 2016-01-01 - 2018-12-31
  • Committee Member for Academic Space Planning Task Force - 2015-12-31
  • Committee Chair for Board of Trustees Academic Affairs Committee 2015-07-01 - 2018-12-31
  • Chair for Faculty Senate 2015-07-01 - 2018-12-31
  • Committee Member for Graduate Council 2015-07-01 - 2018-12-31
  • Committee Member for PhD Council 2015-01-01 - 2018-12-31
  • Committee Member for EQUIS working group on shared governance 2015-01-01 - 2016-12-31
  • Guest Speaker for Office of Diversity and Inclusion - 2015-05-31
  • Committee Member for Diversity Council 2014-01-01 - 2020-12-31
  • Committee Member for Diversity and Inclusion Training for New Faculty 2014-01-01 - 2016-12-31
  • respondent for Valente Center for the Arts and Sciences Working Seminar Series - 2013-12-31
  • panelist for Gender, Queerness, and Nation roundtable discussion - 2013-11-30
  • Committee Member for Bentley University Honors Council 2013-01-01 - 2016-12-31
  • Judge for Best Arts and Science Honors Capstone Award Review Committee 2013-01-01 - 2015-12-31
  • Vice-Chair of Faculty Senate for Faculty Senate 2013-07-01 - 2015-06-30
  • Judge for Bentley's Got Talent competition - 2012-12-31
  • facilitator for What Women Want forum - 2012-12-31
  • for Coordinator for all Bentley faculty and staff LGBTQ ally training 2011-12-01 - 2012-12-31
  • for Business Studies Major task force - 2011-12-31
  • for EQUIS accreditation team - 2011-12-31
  • for tenure track evaluation committee 2011-01-01 - 2015-12-31
  • for Salary and Benefits Committee 2011-05-01 - 2012-12-31
  • for The Laramie Project - 2011-02-28
  • for Bentley's Annual Honors Conference 2010-01-01 - 2015-12-31
  • Mentor (Faculty) for Bentley International Relations Organization 2009-01-01 - 2015-12-31
  • Committee Member for Bentley University Honors Council 2008-01-01 - 2010-12-31
  • Committee Member for LGBTQ@Bentley Steering Committee 2007-01-01 - Present
  • Bentley University representative and participant for Boston's PRIDE Parade 2007-01-01 - 2016-12-31
  • co-director with Anna Siomopoulos, Associate Professor of English and Media Studies for Bentley's International Film Series 2006-01-01 - Present
  • Committee Member for Bentley University Short Term Education Travel Program Advisory Committee 2006-01-01 - 2015-12-31