Department of Spanish and Latin American Studies
University of Waterloo
Waterloo ON N2L 3G1
University Degrees
- PhD University of Ottawa, 2016
- MA University of Ottawa, 2011
- BA Université Laval, 2010
Courses taught
- SPAN 101; Introduction to Spanish 1
- SPAN 201 A; Intermediate Spanish 1
- SPAN 201 B; Intermediate Spanish 2
- SPAN 301 A; Spanish in Context 1
- SPAN 301 B; Spanish in Context 2
- SPAN 401; Spanish in Motion
- SPAN 150; The Hispanic World Through Literature and Arts (Currently, "Welcome to Latin America")
- SPAN 387; Gender, Power, and Representations in Latin America
Curriculum Development
SPAN 201 A and SPAN 201 B: Redesigned Intermediate Spanish 1 & 2 as a blended course with the support of the Centre for Teaching Excellence (Mary Power), so that time spent in class would be solely dedicated to practice activities.
SPAN 301 A and SPAN 301 B: Courses that promote students’ oral and written abilities in Spanish, as well as their critical understanding of the history and culture of the Spanish-speaking regions. I redesigned the course to include literary texts and movies, and an indigenous component. In redesigning the course, I elected to only include resources that are widely available online, so that the course could be offered without a textbook.
Research and Teaching Interests
- Contemporary Mexican literature and cultures
- Cosmopolitanism and nationalism
- Street art studies and visual culture
- Intellectual history
- Hybrid learning
- Foreign Language Anxiety
Grants
Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
2021-2022 – Learning Innovation and Teaching Enhancement (LITE) Grant Office of the Associate Vice President, Academic / Centre for Teaching Excellence, University of Waterloo
Assessing the Benefits of Collaborative Reading to Mitigate Foreign Language Reading Anxiety in Advanced Spanish Courses
Research funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)
2022-2027 – Insight Grant
Mapping Artistic Sorority in Spanish America
2018-2022 – Insight Development Grant
"El arte como martillo": Political Street Art in Contemporary Mexico
2018 – UW/SSHRC Seed Grant, University of Waterloo
"El arte como martillo": Political Street Art in Contemporary Mexico
Selected Publications
Belonging Beyond Borders: Cosmopolitan Affiliations in Contemporary Spanish American Literature, University of Calgary Press, forthcoming January 2021, https://press.ucalgary.ca/books/9781773851594/
El arte como martillo: Political Street Art in Contemporary Mexico. Under contract with McGill-Queens University Press. Expected 2023.
2018 “Mario Vargas Llosa: el intelectual peruano en la era de la globalización.”
Revista de crítica literaria latinoamericana (RCLL)
2018 “El grafiti de tema político: La Argentina de Kirchner a Macri.”
Perspectivas Multidisciplinarias sobre la Argentina Contemporánea
Universidad nacional de Río Negro, Universidad nacional de Mar del Plata y Universidad nacional de Córdoba (Joint Edition)
Conference Presentations (most recent)
2022 (April) “Collaborative Reading Strategies to Engage Readers and Mitigate Reading Anxiety.” University of Waterloo 2022 Teaching and Learning Conference. Co-presented with Jessica Ross, RA.
2021 (August) “#AsíSoyYAquíEstoy: Art Against TransFeminicides during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Mexico.” Canadian Association for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CALACS). Online. Co-presented with Hannah Brubacher Kaethler, RA.
2019 (June) “El homenaje y la movilización social en el arte callejero político mexicano.” 55th Congress of the Asociación canadiense de hispanistas (ACH). Vancouver, Canada.
2019 (November) “Commemorating Ayotzinapa: The Faces of the Disappeared in Oaxacan Street Art.” Annual Conference of the Ontario Chapter of the American Association of Spanish and Portuguese Teachers (AATSP-ON). Toronto, Canada.
2019 (May) “The Representation of Gender and Gender-Based Violence in the Political Street Art of Oaxaca, Mexico.” Canadian Association for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CALACS). Toronto, Canada.
2019 (May) “El arte como martillo: Political Street Art in Oaxaca, Mexico.” Latin American Studies Association (LASA). Boston, United States.
2019 (March) “Mario Vargas Llosa’s Liberal Rooted Cosmopolitanism.” The Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA). Washington, United States.
2018 (November). “The Use of Street Art to Spur Conversation in the ELE Classroom (working title).” Annual Conference of the Ontario Chapter of the American Association of Spanish and Portuguese Teachers (AATSP-ON). Waterloo.
2018 (March). “Argentinean Political Street Art: From Kirchner to Macri.” International Conference: “Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Contemporary Argentina.” Ottawa.
2017 (November). “Introducing Hybrid Courses in a Latin American Studies Program”. American Association of Spanish and Portuguese Teachers Annual Ontario Conference. Ottawa.
2017 (March). “Mario Vargas Llosa: the Peruvian Intellectual in the Era of Globalization.” Octavo Congreso Internacional de Peruanistas en el Extranjero: el Perú en su cultura. Ottawa.
2016 (May). “La perspectiva cosmopolita radical en En busca de Klingsor de Jorge Volpi.” Latin American Studies Association (LASA). New York, United States.
2016 (June). “Jorge Volpi’s No será la tierra – The Fate of Cosmopolitanism in the Neoliberal World Order.” Canadian Association for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Calgary.
2015 (June). “El cosmopolitismo como propuesta literaria en la obra de Mario Vargas Llosa.” 50th Congress of the Asociación canadiense de hispanistas. Ottawa.
Professional Activities
2018-2020. President of the Ontario Chapter of American Association of Spanish and Portuguese Teachers.
2018 (November). Main organizer, Annual Conference of the Ontario Chapter of the American Association of Spanish and Portuguese Teachers (AATSP-ON), University of Waterloo.
2018 (March). Co-organizer, International Conference: “Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Contemporary Argentina,” University of Ottawa.
2017 (March). Co-organizer, Octavo Congreso Internacional de Peruanistas en el Extranjero: el Perú en su cultura, University of Ottawa.