Hispanic Heritage Month At The College Of Arts And Humanities

Our faculty members and students engage with the histories and cultures of Latinx individuals and communities in the United States and around the world.

In recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re showcasing the work of our faculty members and students who engage with the histories, cultures, literatures and arts of Latinx individuals and societies, both in the United States and around the world.

Upcoming Events:

Oct. 12: The award-winning Mexican author Cristina Rivera-Garza will discuss the recently released translation of her novel, “The Iliac Crest.” Rivera-Garza is the recipient of the Roger Caillois Award for Latin American Literature  as well as the Anna Seghers. She is the only author who has won the International Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize twice, in 2001 for her novel “Nadie Me Verá Llorar”  (translated into English by Andrew Hurley as “No One Will See Me Cry” and again in 2009 for her novel “La Muerte Me Da.”

November 9: The Consortium on Race, Gender and Ethnicity (CRGE) will host  the “State of Hispanic Race and Ethnicity: Census 2020 Changes and Implications for Addressing Social Inequalities.” This half-day conference focuses on the conceptual, methodological and policy implications of combining the race and ethnicity categories in the 2020 U.S. Census. Scholars,  researchers, practitioners, community members, and policy makers will dialogue about the use of racial and ethnic data for interrogating social inequalities, particularly among diverse Latina/o/x communities.

Faculty With Expertise in Latin American Studies And Hispanic Studies:

American Studies

Perla Guerrero studies immigration, human geography, Latina/o studies, comparative ethnic studies and the racialization of refugees. Nancy Mirabal’s research examines Afro-diasporic communities in the United States and in the politics of territoriality, gentrification and space.

Art History and Archaeology

Abigail McEwen is an expert in 20th century Latin American avant-garde movements.

Classics

Francisco Barrenechea researches ancient drama in Spain and Latin America

English

Ralph Bauer researches the literatures and cultures of the colonial Americas, early modern studies, hemispheric studies and the history of science. Randy Ontiveros is an expert in Chicano/Latino literature and culture, contemporary American literature, social movements, geography, immigration and gender studies. Sharada Balachandran Orihuela is a specialist in the nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first century literature of the Americas.

History

Alejandro Cañeque is an expert on colonial Latin America, early modern Spain and the Spanish empire, with a particular interest in political and religious cultures of the early modern Spanish world. Julie Greene’s research and teaching interests span immigration and political history, the history of empire and transnational approaches to the history of the Americas. Karin Rosemblatt’s scholarship examines how race and poverty shaped discourses of social mobility, cultural difference, and national development in Mexico and the United States. David Sartorius studies racial ideologies in 19th century Cuba. Daryle Williams is an expert on Brazil and modern Latin America.

Philosophy

James Maffie is an expert in contact-era Nahua (Aztec) philosophy. His other areas of interest include comparative world philosophy, epistemology, and philosophy of the sciences. He studied Nahuatl in Zacatecas and in the Huasteca region of Mexico.

School of Languages, Literatures, & Cultures

Carmen Benito-Vessels studies medieval Spanish literature and the history of the Spanish language. Sandra Cypess is an expert on feminist theory and Latin American women writers. Laura Demaría examines the complex ways cultural practices and artifacts in Argentina and Latin America are articulated and how spaces are produced. Dorith Grant-Wisdom’s research focuses on issues of globalization and development in the Caribbean. Regina Harrison researches the oral traditions of the Quechua-speaking indigenous peoples of the Andes. As a documentary filmmaker, she explores the role of tourism in indigenous Andean communities. Regina Igel is an expert on Brazilian literature. Manel Lacorte is a specialist on applied linguistics and sociolinguistics in the Spanish-speaking world Thayse Leal Lima’s research focuses on nineteenth century to contemporary Brazilian literature and culture, Modern Latin American literature and intellectual history and transnationalism. Ryan Long is an expert on Mexican cinema, prison literature, and writers such as Ignacio Manuel Altamirano, María Luisa Mendoza, José Gorostiza, Juan Villoro, Laura Esquivel, and Roberto Bolaño. Eyda Merediz is a specialist on Cuban literature and film. José María Naharro-Calderón is an expert on Spanish contemporary literature, culture and film, especially the literature of exile. Mehl Penrose examines gender and sexuality in contemporary Mexican theater, modern Peruvian literature, and trans-Atlantic Hispanic studies. Juan Carlos Quintero Herencia is an expert on modern and contemporary Latin American literature, particularly contemporary Puerto Rican and Cuban literatures. Ana Patricia Rodríguez is an expert on Central and Latin American literatures and U.S. Latina/o Studies. Her interests include transnational and diasporic cultural production, popular culture and community-based research. Saúl Sosnowski’s research centers on issues of civil education, democracy, conflict management and cultural politics in Latin America.

School of Music

Fernando Rios is a specialist in the folkloric and popular music of the Southern Andes, especially Bolivia.

School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies

Laurie Frederik specializes in the role of artists and intellectuals in Cuban and Latin America and is interested in subversive cultural movements and national identity. Her newest research examines legal culture and courtroom testimony in the United States and Puerto Rico.

Women's Studies

Ruth Zambrana examines the intersections of gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, nativity and structural inequality, with a focus on the mental and physical health of marginalized and minority communities.