Highlights
What’s New
Kobanê resistance changed not only women but also men
An interview for World Kobanê Day on why the women’s resistance in Kobanê inspired feminist movements worldwide, especially in Latin America.
World Kobanê Day
A short video on the annual day of remembrance and solidarity for the resistance in Kobanê, shared with Rutgers Kurdish Studies.
Qué PASA? The Right-Wing Ideological Shift in Latin America
Vierelina Fernández and Ernesto Fiocchetto join Adam Ratzlaff of Pan-American Strategic Advisors to discuss the region’s rightward political shift.
Insurgent Feminism in Global Revolution
Lessons from Colombian and Kurdish guerrilla fighters. A complete first draft was workshopped by four senior faculty members at Rutgers University in October 2025; revisions are underway.
Explore the FARC Gender Attitudes Dashboard
Survey results from 153 former FARC combatants in Colombia, compared with civilian respondents in the World Values Survey.
4.73 out of 5 for teaching effectiveness
Average student rating across five sections of Introduction to Latin America at Rutgers University (114 ratings).
Welcome
Hello, I’m Vierelina
I specialize in issues of armed violence, gender, conflict, and insurgency in the Global South. My regional areas of focus are Latin America (Mexico and Colombia in particular) and, to a lesser extent, the Kurdish Middle East. I conduct research, advise, and teach on issues of Comparative Politics and International Relations more broadly.
My first book project is tentatively titled: “Insurgent Feminism? Comparing the Colombian FARC and Kurdish PKK-YPG Fighters’ Contributions to Global Gender Security.” The manuscript is based on 13 months of in-person fieldwork with Colombian and Kurdish ex-combatants across four countries (Colombia, Turkey, Germany, and France).
To date, my work has been funded or recognized by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Ford Foundation, Tinker Foundation, Leadership Alliance, McNair Scholars Program, Florida Education Fund, and others.
In my free time, I enjoy athletics (running/yoga), journaling, watching Modern Family, and reading novels (currently: Sally Rooney’s Beautiful World, Where Are You).
Background
Training and Research Interests
Education
- Ph.D., International Relations, Florida International University (2024)
- M.A., Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Florida International University (2020)
- Double B.A., International Studies and Latin American & Latino Studies, DePaul University (2015)
Research Interests
- Feminist security studies
- Insurgency and rebel-to-party transitions
- Women in armed conflict
- Post-conflict democratization
- Global South security theory
- Comparative politics: Latin America and the Middle East
- Mixed methods
Languages
- Spanish: native
- English: native
- French: conversational
- Portuguese: reading
- Kurdish: beginner
Book Project
Insurgent Feminism
My dissertation, Insurgent Feminism: A Comparative Empirical Analysis of the Colombian FARC and Kurdish PKK-YPG Guerrillas’ Contributions to Gender Equality, compares how two armed movements shaped gender equality (Ph.D., Florida International University, 2024).
The first complete draft of the book manuscript was workshopped by four senior faculty members at Rutgers University in October 2025, and revisions are underway.
Explore the Site
A quick guide to what you will find here.
Research
Gender, insurgency and Latin America, the book project, original datasets and the interactive FARC survey dashboard.
Publications
Book manuscript, articles, working papers and archived datasets.
Teaching
Courses taught at Rutgers University and Florida International University, plus guest lectures.
Fieldwork
Photographs and captions from field research.
Featured
Interviews, videos and media appearances.
Conferences
Conference papers, posters and panel roles.
CV
A web summary of education, appointments, research and teaching.
Data Dashboard
An interactive view of the FARC survey data.
Get in Touch
For questions about my research, teaching or collaborations, please use the contact form.