College of Arts and Sciences

Education:

• PhD, Spanish Literature, Penn State, 1999
• MA, Spanish Literature, University of Ottawa - Canada, 1996
• BA, Spanish Literature and Linguistics, University of Valencia - Spain, 1995
• BA, Catalan Linguistics and Literature, University of Valencia - Spain, 1995
• BA, Piano, “Joaquín Rodrigo” Conservatory, Valencia - Spain, 1994

Curriculum Vitae:

Research Interests:

• Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
• Youth and community organizations
• Digital storytelling
• Civic and global engagement

Bio:

Hola! I am a Professor of Spanish and Global Studies and currently serve as Vice Provost for Global Engagement at Drexel University. I am originally from gorgeous Valencia, Spain. At Drexel, I facilitate and oversee global engagement activities that help our students and faculty, on and off campus, to tackle global issues from a transnational, intercultural, and multidisciplinary perspective. Of course, we also look at the effects of globalization on our local communities here in the U.S., and particularly in the Philadelphia region.

In my research I study the role of classic cultural icons, particularly Don Quixote, in 21st century political and social justice discourse. In my scholarship and pedagogy, I explore the interplay between the traditional humanities, youth organizations, and digital storytelling.

My latest book, Living Quixote: Performative Activism in Contemporary Brazil and the Americas (Vanderbilt UP, 2020), examines appropriations of Don Quixote in community and youth activism in contemporary Brazil and other countries in the Americas, including the U.S. Besides my Spanish-language books, La verosimilitud en el Siglo de Oro: Cervantes y la novela corta (Juan de la Cuesta, 2002) and Monstruos que hablan: El discurso de la monstruosidad en Cervantes (U of North Carolina P, Chapel Hill, 2008), I have published dozens of articles and book chapters and lectured in over 20 countries world-wide.

I enjoy travel, music (particularly piano), good food, the empowering awkwardness of learning languages other than your own, and tennis.

Selected Publications:

• Living Quixote: Performative Activism in Contemporary Brazil and the Americas. Nashville: Vanderbilt UP, 2020
• “Kid Quixotes Video” (final cut is 8 minutes), executive producer and co-producer. Directed by Karin Kelly and co-produced with Stephanie Ayanian. 2022
• “The Possible Dream: Fighting for DEIJ in the Barrio with Don Quixote.” Blog post on Cervantes Public Project, March 15, 2022
• “Academia y activismo: Colaboraciones entre universidad y sociedad.” Rogelio Miñana et al. Revista de Alces XXI. In press
• “Don Quijote Latino: Adaptaciones Activistas en los Estados Unidos.” Translation into Spanish of an English-language original essay. Selected Essays XII Jornadas Cervantinas. In press
• “Don Quixote in Brazil: Perceptions and Interpretations.” Don Quixote Around the Globe: Perceptions and Interpretations. Ed. Slav N. Gratchev and Howard Mancing. Newark, DE: Juan de la Cuesta, 2020. 197-222.
• “Kid Quixotes: A Group of Students, Their Teachers, and the One-Room School Where Everything Is Possible. New York: HarperOne, 2020. 304 pp.” Stephen Haff (review). Cervantes 40.1 (2020): 215-18
• “Latina/o Community Media Activism: Digital Storytelling and the Latino Youth Media Institute in Springfield, MA.” The Routledge Companion to Latina/o Media. Ed. María Elena Cepeda and Dolores Inés Casillas. New York: Routledge, 2017. 186-200
• “Making Change Happen: The New Mission and Location of Language Departments.” Anchor Piece With 6 Respondents for “Perspectives” Section of Modern Language Journal 101.02 (2017): 413-23
• “21st-Century Quixotes: Interdisciplinary Approaches and the Global Classroom.” Laberinto Journal 10. Special Issue: Cervantes in His 400th Anniversary in China, 2017. 122-31
• “Lessons From Migrant Youth: A Digital Storytelling Course in Springfield, Massachusetts” Civic Engagement in Diverse Latina/o Communities: Learning From Social Justice Partnerships in Action. Ed. Mari Castañeda and Joseph Krupczynski. New York: Peter Lang, 2017. 269-85
• “The Global Classroom at Drexel: Connecting Language Learners Through Technology.” With Adam Zahn. Selected Proceedings of the 6th Annual International Conference on Language, Literature & Linguistics (L3 2017), Singapore, June 5-6, 2017. Ed. Li Zeng. Singapore: Global Science and Technology Forum, 236-41.
• “Beyond the Classroom Wall: Guidelines for Engaging Local Communities in Multilingual Contexts.” ADFL Bulletin 44.1 (2016): 27-38
• “Seeing Quixote: Teaching Don Quixote in the 21st Century.” Approaches to Teaching Don Quixote. Ed. James A. Parr and Lisa Vollendorf. New York: MLA, 2015. 359-64
• “The New Mission and Location of Spanish Departments in the United States: The Mount Holyoke Experience.” Profession 2013 (December 2013): 1-15
• “Righting Wrongs: Don Quixote’s ‘Other History’ in Brazilian Youth Theater.” Don Quixote: Interdisciplinary Connections. Ed. James A. Parr and Matthew Warshawsky. Newark: Juan de la Cuesta, 2013. 203-22.
• “The ‘Don Quixote of the Streets’: Social Justice Theater in São Paulo, Brazil.” Cervantes 31.1 (2011): 159-70
• “O Projeto Quixote em São Paulo: reflexões sobre cultura e transformação social.” Translated into Portuguese by Laura Calejón. Revista UNICSUL 15 (2007, published in 2008): 58-65
• “El verdadero protagonista del Quijote.” Cervantes 25.2 (2005): 31-58