Student conductor, brown hair in a bun, black button up collared shirt, directing concert ban with baton against dark background.

Zoila Silvia Mendoza

Smiling middle-aged woman with long brown hair, head-and-shoulders portrait

Professor of Native American Studies
Chair, Department of Native American Studies
Designated Emphasis Chair

  • Native American Studies
  • Music
  • Performance Studies
2411 Hart Hall

Zoila Silvia Mendoza is Chair and Professor of Native American Studies at UC Davis, and Affiliated Faculty in Music. Her research centres on festivals, music and dance in the Americas, particularly in Peru and the rest of the Andean region, on Quechua-speaking people’s forms of knowledge, and on Quechua language revitalization processes.

She holds a B.A. and Licenciatura in Anthropology from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Chicago.

Education and Degree(s)
  • M.A. and Ph.D., Anthropology, University of Chicago
  • B.A. and Licenciatura, Anthropology, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú
Research Interests & Expertise
  • Festivals, music and dance in the Americas, particularly Peru and the Andean region; Quechua-speaking people’s forms of knowledge; Quechua language revitalization