Awards, Fellowships, Grants, and Other Funding

Awards

1. Flora Stone Mather Woman of Achievement and Mather Spotlight Award, Fall 2021

2. Nominee, Carl F. Wittke Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. Case Western Reserve University, 2011

Grants

External

1. Cleveland Foundation Grant to start the cultural project Trasatlántica. Poetry and Scholarship (part of a nonprofit organization of the same name, of which she is the president). The main objective of this grant is to create the proper structure to manage the organization. Cleveland Foundation, 2024-2025 

2. Fulbright U.S. Scholar grant to spend a semester in Russia working on the project “Flow and Circulation of Socialist Literature in Cuba: The Geopolitics of Translation,” Spring 2018. 

Internal (CWRU)

3. Expanding Horizons Initiative, Finish Line Grant: for the publication of Códigos rojos: geopolíticas de la traducción durante la Guerra Fría. Cuba y el bloque del Este. (Red Codes: Geopolitics of Translation during the Cold War. Cuba and the Eastern Bloc.) by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM.) Fall 2023 

4. Expanding Horizons Initiative Grant, Manuscript or Performance Pre-Review Fund (PRE) for the review of a book in preparation. Fall 2021 

5. Expanding Horizons Initiative Grant, for organizing the international symposium “Translation Practices during the Cold War: A Multidisciplinary Approach.” Principal Investigator. CWRU. Spring 2020-Fall 2022. (https://mll.case.edu/translating-socialism/) 

6. Catalyst Award (Office for Research, Case Western Reserve University) for publishing a book on Cuban culture. Almenara Press, Leiden, Netherlands, 2018. (Book published in 2020) 

7. Eirik Borve Fund of Foreign Language Instruction for the “CWRU: The Cuba Initiative” project in collaboration with Tatiana Zilotina. The Baker Nord for the Humanities, 2017. (Total Funding: $18,000)

8. ACES+ ADVANCE Opportunity Grant Awards for publishing a volume of essays at the Karolinum Press, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic, on the relationship between culture and power in Revolutionary Cuba, 2016. (Book published in 2018) 

9. The Baker Nord Center Faculty Affiliate for the Spring semester, 2016. 

10. Office of Research and Technology Management. Funds for the publication of El Atlántico como frontera: mediaciones culturales entre Cuba y España. Case Western Reserve University, 2014. 

11. The Baker Nord Center for the Humanities: Travel to Foreign Conferences. Case Western Reserve University, 2014. 

12. Stimulus Research Fund for the presentation and promotion of my book Escrito en cirílico. El ideal soviético en la cultura cubana posnoventa. College of Arts and Sciences. Case Western Reserve University, 2013. 

13. ACES+ ADVANCE Opportunity Grant for a Photo Exhibit “Cuba Today: A Soviet Inventory,” Art Studio: Case Western Reserve University, October 15-November 2, 2012. Photographer, curator, and presenter

14. W. P. Jones Presidential Faculty Development Fund –for publication of the book Escrito en cirílico. El ideal soviético en la producción cultural cubana posnoventa. College of Arts and Sciences. Case Western Reserve University, 2012. 

15. W. P. Jones Presidential Faculty Development Fund –for research and travel related to a manuscript on the influence of the Soviet culture in Cuba. College of Arts and Sciences. Case Western Reserve University, 2010. 

Fellowships

1. Humanities in Leadership Learning Series (HILLS) Faculty Fellow for the 2021-22 academic year. Case Western Reserve University.

2. Anisfield-Wolf Seminar, “Reconstructing Race: Remembering, Redressing, & Redeeming American Democracy.” The Baker Nord Center for the Humanities. August 10-14, 2020. 

3. Summer Seminar “Carl B. Stokes and Black Political Power in Cleveland: A 50-Year Retrospective.” The Baker Nord for the Humanities, 2017. 

4. The Baker Nord Seminar participant. “Revolution!” Case Western Reserve University, Spring 2013. 

5. Learning Fellowship Grant, Spring 2012. The University Center for Innovation in Teaching and Education, UCITE. Case Western Reserve University, 2011. 

Events and Research Groups Organized and Funded

1. “Forgive me, Miami,” a talk by Dr. Mabel Cuesta (University of Houston). Mather House 100, March 6, 2024. Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, Alianza Latina/Latin Alliance, International Studies Program. Organizer.

2. Art Exhibit by Camilo Villalvilla, Polyhedral. Kelvin Smith Library, Sept. 15–Oct. 20, 2023. Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, Alianza Latina/Latin Alliance. Organizer and curator.

3. “Al-Andalus in Medieval and Mahŷar Writing Practices.” A talk by Professor Marcus Palmer, Texas A&M University, San Antonio. Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. Dec. 1, 2022. Organizer.

4. “Amor, honor y religión. Teatro del Siglo de oro.” A talk by Professor and playwright Raul Alfonso on Baroque Theater in Spain. Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. March 15, 2022. Organizer.

5. “Picasso’s Visions of Celestina.” A talk by Dr. Carol Salus (Kent State University). Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. Feb. 24, 2022. Organizer.

6. “From Sefarad to La Nação. A Brief History of Spanish and Portuguese Jews,” a talk by Dr. Jesus Jambrina (Viterbo University), director and founder of the Isaac Campanton Center for the Study of Jewish Presence and Influence in Northern Spain. Department of Modern Languages and Literatures (Speakers Committee,) the Baker Nord Center for the Humanities, and Judaic Studies Program. October 12, 2021.  Main organizer.

7. “Literature against the Pandemic: A Multilingual Reading,” an international online festival with 12 writers from different languages/countries (Austria, Cameroon, Canada, Cuba, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Russia, Spain, Ukraine, and the United States) to present their creative production. Our students translated the pieces with our faculty’s help and supervision. April 30th and May 7th, 2021. (Borve Endowment Funds) Main organizer

8. “Moving across Cultures: Writing between Russia and Cuba,” a talk by Russian/Cuban writer Anna Lidia Vega Serova. She also participated in Russian and Spanish classes. Event coordinated with several universities across the USA. Department of Modern Languages and Literatures (Speakers Committee,) the Baker Nord Center for the Humanities, the Office of Multicultural Affairs, and Alianza Latina/Latin Alliance, September 23-24, 2019. Co-organized with Professor Tatiana Zilotina

9. “Lives in the Margins: neither Militia Mothers nor Normalized Lesbians. The Constant Act of Queering the Cuban Revolution,” a public talk by Mabel Cuesta, University of Houston.  She also participated in four Spanish classes. Department of Modern Languages and Literatures (Speakers Committee,) the Baker Nord Center for the Humanities, and the Office of Multicultural Affairs, Oct. 31- Nov. 2, 2018. Sole organizer

10. “Alternative Cultural Spaces in Cuba Today: Ways of Producing Culture,” a public talk by Laura Ruiz Montes, poet, literary critic, translator and editor of Vigía Publishing House in Matanzas, Cuba. Department of Modern Languages and Literatures (Speakers Committee,) April 21, 2017. Sole organizer

11. “Mambo and Dámaso Pérez Prado: A Dialogue between Cuban and American Cultures,” a public talk by Ulises Rodríguez Febles, Cuban author, playwright, and director of the House of the Theater’s Memory in Cuba. He also talked to students from SPAN 333 (Contemporary Caribbean Culture) who were reading his novel Minsk. Department of Modern Languages and Literatures (Speakers Committee,) the Baker Nord Center for the Humanities, Jan. 23-25, 2017. Sole organizer

12. XV Ohio Latin Americanists Conference, OLAC 2016, held at Case Western Reserve University. More than 60 presenters from different higher education institutions (regional, national, and international) participated. Keynote Speaker: John Flores, Case Western Reserve University. Talk: “European Immigrants Then, Latin American Immigrants Now: Reconceptualizing Mexican and Latin American Immigration to the United States.” Oct. 21-22, 2016. (Office of the Provost, Office of Multicultural Affairs, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures -Speakers Committee.) Main organizer and presenter

13. “Ecological Imaginations in Latin America, 20th Century,” a talk by Tania Perez-Cano, University of Pittsburgh. April 13, 2016. (Department of Modern Languages and Literatures -Speakers Committee.) Sole organizer     

14. “Cuba Online: The Challenge of Knowing and Communicating in an Offline Country” and “Tales about Cuba: Santiago Feliú’s Songs, between Epic and Hippie,” two public talks by Xenia Reloba de la Cruz, Editor of Casa de las Américas Journal, Cuba. The Baker Nord Center for the Humanities, through Co-Sponsorship; The Baker Nord Center for the Humanities, through Cuban Studies Research Working Group; Office of Inclusion, Diversity and Equal Opportunity, President’s Advisory Council on Minorities, Office of Multicultural Affairs, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures (Speakers Committee,) Oct. 14-15, 2015. Sole organizer

15. The Cuban Studies Research Working Group with the participation of 14 faculty from different regional institutions of higher education (Bowling Green State University, University of Pittsburgh, Cleveland State University, and Case Western Reserve University.) The Baker Nord Center for the Humanities, Case Western Reserve University, Fall Semester 2015-Spring semester 2016. Sole organizer

16. XIV Ohio Latin Americanists Conference, OLAC 2015, held at Case Western Reserve University. More than 80 presenters from different higher education institutions (regional, national, and international) participated. Keynote Speaker: Idelber Avelar, University of Tulane. Talk: “The Protests in Brazil and the Recolonization of the Amazon.” (Office of the Provost, Office of Multicultural Affairs, Office of Inclusion, Diversity and Equal Opportunity, President's Advisory Council on Minorities, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures -Speakers Committee-, Ohio State University, University of Wittenberg.) Feb. 27-28, 2015. Main organizer and presenter

17. Seminar “Neoliberal Practices and Cultural Production in Latin America in the Past 40 Years,” with the participation of 20 faculty members from regional institutions of higher education (Bowling Green State University, University of Pittsburgh, Lake Erie College, Cleveland State University, and Case Western Reserve University.) The Baker Nord Center for the Humanities, Fall Semester 2024-Spring Semester 2015. Main organizer

18. US Inaugural Poet Richard Blanco’s lecture and poetry reading (as part of the activities to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month.) The Baker Nord Center for the Humanities; Office of Multicultural Affairs; English Department; President’s Advisory Council on Minorities; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Center; Office of Inclusion, Diversity and Equal Opportunity; Department of Modern Languages and Literatures (Speakers Committee;) Cleveland State University, Oct. 15, 2014. Sole organizer at CWRU

19. The Latin American/Caribbean Research Working Group, with 22 faculty from regional higher education institutions (Case Western Reserve University, Bowling Green State University, John Carroll University, and Cleveland State University.) The Baker Nord Center for the Humanities, Case Western Reserve University, Spring Semester 2014. Sole organizer

20. “Jose Kozer at CWRU: Poetry in Exile,” a public talk by poet Jose Kozer. The Baker Nord Center for the Humanities, Office of Inclusion, Diversity and Equal Opportunity, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures (Students’ Funds,) English Department, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures (Speakers Committee,) April 14-17, 2014. Co-organizer

21. “A High Art: Soviet and Post–Soviet School of Literary Translation dealing with the Latin American Fiction,” a public talk by Daria Sinitsyna, translator, literary critic, and professor from the State University of Saint Petersburg. Department of Modern Languages and Literatures (Speakers Committee) April 2-3, 2014. Sole organizer

22. “Cuba at Case,” Official Transfer of 17 books donated by Vigía Publishing House to Kelvin Smith Library’s special collection, after completing the CWRU first study abroad in Cuba. “Editing the Poverty: Book and Culture in Cuba,” a public talk by Cuban poet Alfredo Zaldivar, founder of Vigía Publishing House, with the participation of students who translated and read Zaldivar’s paper. Department of Modern Languages and Literatures (Speakers Committee), Ethnic Studies Program, Office of Study Abroad, The Baker Nord Center for the Humanities, April 19, 2013. Sole organizer

23. “A Discourse on Method: How Borges Wrote,” a talk by Daniel Balderston, Mellon Professor of Modern Languages at the University of Pittsburgh. Department of Modern Languages and Literatures (Speakers Committee), Ethnic Studies Program, The Baker Nord Center for the Humanities, October 11, 2012. Sole organizer

24. “Imaging a Matria: Women, Literature and Nation,” a public talk by Madeline Camara-Betancourt, University of South Florida. She also participated in poetry readings and Spanish classes. ACES + Distinguished Lectureships. Case Western Reserve University, April 4-6, 2012. Sole organizer

25. “Toward a New History of the Cuban Cinema,” a public talk by Cuban cinema critic Juan Antonio García Borrero. Department of Modern Languages and Literatures (Speakers Committee), Ethnic Studies Program, The Baker Nord Center for the Humanities, February 9-10, 2012. Sole organizer

26. “Rethinking the Caribbean,” a public talk by Mamadou Badiane, University of Missouri-Columbia. He also participated in the class SPAN 333, where students were reading his book The Changing Face of Caribbean Cultural Identity. Negrismo and Negritud. Department of Modern Languages and Literatures (Speakers Committee), Ethnic Studies Program, The Baker Nord Center for the Humanities, November 2, 2010. Sole organizer