Meet our Students
Charles George Allen
B.A. in Spanish and History, Lewis and Clark College, Portland, 2011
M.A. Spanish and Portuguese, University of California, Irvine, 2015
Research interests: Latin American film, populism, Peron, and soccer; New Latin American Cinema; Cinema Novo; “Golden Age” Mexican Cinema; Spatial and temporal representation in contemporary Southern Cone film (ex: Guzmán, Martel, Trapero, Alonso, Caetano) in relation to the themes of memory, neoliberalism, and labor in post-dictatorship Latin America; Neorealism, Bazin, and Deleuze; New Materialisms; Psychoanalysis
Email: cgallen@uci.edu
Natalia Álvarez Zanza
Alejandra Castellanos
B.A. in Spanish, an English-Spanish translating certificate, and a minor in Chicano Studies, Cal State University, Channel Islands.
M.A. in Spanish Literature, University of California, Irvine (Spanish Literature)
My research interest is the deconstruction of the narrative of masculinity in contemporary Latin American literature. In addition, I would like to hold literary workshops for immigrants with a focus on the exchange of ideas and experiences of masculinities.
Email: acastel5@uci.edu
Luis Fernando de la Cruz Herrera
Fer de la Cruz, MA is a poet from Yucatan Mexico who got his MA from Ohio University and was a founding professor at the School of Creative Writing of the State Center of Fine Arts, in Mérida. He has published more than 20 books of poetry both lyric and satirical, as well as for children. He is convinced that ostriches can fly and so can you, through books. His full name is Luis Fernando de la Cruz Herrera, but don´t tell anyone.
Manuel Del Alto
Degrees:
M.A. Latin American Studies, University of California, Los Angeles
B.A. English, University of California, Irvine
Karem Delgado
Degrees:
Spanish M.A. at UCR
Spanish B.A. at UCLA
My name is Karem Delgado and I am a PhD student in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. A course in Medieval Spanish literature I took at UCLA as an undergraduate led me to pursue the study of Jewish literature from Spain and Latin America in the UCI Spanish and Portuguese PhD program. I have been lucky enough to have a great mentor, Professor Jacobo Sefamí, who has inspired me even more about Spanish Jewish literature and more specifically Jewish Literature from Latin America that ranges from the Middle Ages up to present-day. My specific interest is in Spanish Early Modern Converso (Jewish converts to Christianity and their descendants) literature from the XVI and XVII centuries. I analyze Inquisition documents against female Conversos and investigate differences in gender, among other topics. I am looking forward to helping other UCI graduate students through the new Humanities Center initiative, so that we can all receive the maximum benefit from our graduate education here at UCI.
Tyler Dutchover
Diego Fernandez
Degrees:
B.A. Spanish, University of RedlandsM.A., Spanish and Portuguese
University of California, Irvine
Areas of research: Research: 19th and 20th-century Latin American poetry; critical theory; film and media studies; gender studies; poetry translation
Pedagogy: Second language acquisition; task-based instruction; heritage language learners; composition; pedagogical training; curriculum design
Email: defernan@uci.edu
Melinda Franke
Degrees:
Spanish & Physics, DePauw UniversityResearch Interests: Research Interests: Early Modern Spanish Literature, Critical Theory
David Fuchs
David obtained his B.A. in Spanish and French (double major) from UCLA as student of the year in the Spanish and Portuguese Department in 2015. David obtained his Masters in Spanish from UCI and passed his Ph.D. qualifying exams with honors. Native of Belgium, David speaks 7 languages and his interests are focused in translation and culture, through knowledge of language (epistemology), being (ontology), and religion (metaphysics). His doctoral thesis encompasses the identity within exile of republicans after the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War and of Jews during and after WW II, while his general research interests include the representation of Judaism in Spanish and potentially French literature as well as the compromised conversion of Jews to Christianity. In 2019, David was named teacher of the year at UCI’s Spanish & Portuguese Dept.
Marco Antonio Huerta-Alardín
Mexican poet, essayist, and translator. I hold an M.F.A. in Cross-genre and Hybrid Writing from the University of California, San Diego, and I am the author of four poetry collections. My work has been published in Mexico, Spain, Poland, Uruguay, Canada, and the United States. My research focus includes Indigenous literatures from Abya Yala, translating queerness across cultures, and language justice. More: @moteltampico
Marlyn Maldonado
Degrees:
M.A. Spanish, San Diego State University
B.A. Social Sciences, Psychology, University of Puerto Rico, Río PiedrasResearch Interests: Caribbean Studies: Illness in Literature and Visual Culture; Feminist Geography; Biopolitics; Medical Humanities.
McKenna Middleton
Degrees:
Spanish and Journalism, Baylor UniversityResearch Interests: 20th Century Spanish Literature; Feminist Theory
Gilberto Nunez
Master’s degree and a Bachelor’s degree in Spanish Literature at California State University, Fresno.
Area of research: My academic interests include masculinity from the 20th century to the present in Mexico and Colombia; Narcoliterature with a particular focus on the novel of sicariato.
email: gilbern@uci.edu
Patricia Quintana
Areas of Interest: Relación de la literatura con la tecnología y las artes, especialmente el cine. Literatura lúdico-fantástica Rioplatense. Periodismo narrativo latinoamericano
Mell Rivera
B.A. Comparative Literature, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras
Research Interests: Contemporary Caribbean Literature, Feminist Theory, Affect Theory, Postcolonial Studies
Email: mriverad@uci.edu
Jeanie Toscano
Degrees:
Spanish Literature, University of California, Irvine
German, Spanish and Social Work, University of PortlandFulbright Research Fellowship to Germany: 2008-2009
Gender & Sexuality, Female Masculinity, Narcoliterature, Mexican Revolution, Power and Violence, Queer Theory, Postcolonial Theory, Feminist Theory.Research Interests: I study depictions of women as agents of violence in Mexican fictions, to include 20th and 21st century literature and film. I focus on two major incidences of widespread national violence in Mexico: the Mexican Revolution and the contemporary context of the so-called Narco State.
Jennifer Vasquez
Degrees:
Spanish, University of New Mexico, 2019
English Comparative & Literary Studies/ Spanish Literary Studies, Occidental College, 2016Research Interests: Latin American literature and culture in the 20th and 21st century; Central American immigration; Post-colonial studies; Feminist theory
Isabella Vergara
Degrees:
M.A. Spanish and Portuguese, University of California, Irvine, 2017.
B.A. in Literature, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, Colombia, 2015.Research Interests: Research interests: The interplay between literature and visuality in Latin America, writing and image. Her topics of interest include visual narratives, theory of the image, the relationship between photography and other media in the work of Latin American writers and artists such as Diamela Eltit, Julio Cortázar, Frida Kahlo, Graciela Iturbide, Oscar Muñoz, Ana Mendieta, Rosângela Rennó, Albertina Carri, Sergio Chejfec, among others.