Service
To Case Western Reserve University
Director. International Studies Program. July 2022-on
Chair. Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. August 2020-present
Executive Sponsor. Alianza Latina/Latin Alliance (AL/LA), 2020-on
Study Abroad
Director of the Spanish in Spain Study Abroad Program, 2022-present
Founder and Director of the Case Western Reserve University Study-Abroad Program “Multicultural Spain: Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Coexistence”, 2020-present
Founder and Director of the Case Western Reserve University Study-Abroad May-term Program in Cuba, 2012-present
Committees and Other Services
Representative, College of Arts and Sciences, visit the United Arab Emirates University to explore collaboration agreements ––coordinated by the Center for International Affairs at CWRU. Grant provided by the US Embassy in the UAE. March 11-18, 2023
Member, Diversity Strategic Action Plan committee, Jan. 2022-on
Member, various search committees (Directorship for the Baker Nord for the Humanities; Directorship for the Writing Center; Japanese and Chinese lecturers –DMLL–; Hoffman Endowed Professorship; Borve Endowed Professorship; French Assistant professor)
Ad hoc Member, Faculty Senate Committee for Minority Affairs, 2020-2022
Member of the Diversity Leadership Council at CWRU, 2020-on
Member of the Curriculum Committee, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, 2019-2020; ex officio member 2020-on
Member of the International Studies Program Steering Committee, 2018-2022
Member of the Planning and Oversight Committee (POC) from the College of Arts and Sciences and Cleveland Community College for the development of engagement opportunities for Tri-C and CWRU, based on a $1,550,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation. This is a grant that the College received to create a pipeline for talented Tri-C students to transfer to CWRU to major in the humanities, 2015-2017
Arts and Sciences ad hoc Committee for General Educational Requirement-Breadth Proposal. Fall 2016
Speakers Committee. Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. Case Western Reserve University, 2014-2017
Faculty Liaison. Alianza Latina/Latin Alliance (Latino Employee Resource Group.) Case Western Reserve University, 2013-2020
Students Awards Committee. Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. Case Western Reserve University, 2013-2014; 2011-2012
International Tea Committee. Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. Case Western Reserve University, 2012-2013
Planning Committee of the event: Jean Donovan International Social Justice Conference “Repression, Resistance, and Transformation in Central America.” Social Justice Institute. Case Western Reserve University, 2011-2012
Ethnic Studies Program Faculty Advisory Committee. College of Arts and Sciences. Case Western Reserve University, 2011-present
Advising
Adviser for more than 50 majors in International Studies; more than 25 minors and majors in Spanish; 1 in WLit, AY 2022-23
Member of the advisory board for the Ph.D.’s thesis of graduate student Elisa Borrero. Her dissertation examines the relationship between bilingualism, emotion regulation (e.g., socioemotional flexibility), and internalizing symptoms (e.g., anxiety, depression) in U.S.-based Latinx youth. Project supervised by Dr. Amy Przeworski. Department of Psychological Sciences, AYs 2022–2025
Member of the advisory board for the master’s thesis of graduate student Hailey Chu. Title of the project: “Parenting, cultural values, racial-ethnic socialization, social justice functions, and psychological symptoms,” supervised by Dr. Amy Przeworski. Department of Psychological Sciences, AY 2022-23
Invited Faculty, 2022 Arts and Sciences Dissertation Seminar, coordinated by Prof. Jonathan Sadowsky (Department of History). External reader for the master’s thesis of graduate student Samuel Nemeth (Department of Music)
Faculty Adviser for the Eta Theta chapter of Sigma Iota Rho group, CWRU
Faculty Adviser for the Latinx Law Student Association
Faculty Adviser for the Polyglot Gathering Student Group
Open Houses, Choices Fairs, and Recruiting Activities
International Studies Representative for the College of Arts and Sciences Open House Spring 2024 (Feb. 19, March 28, March 29)
Humanities Admissions Webinars. Feb. 12, 2024
Humanities Admissions Webinars. Oct. 12 and Nov. 21, 2023
Choices Fair on behalf of the International Studies program. Sept. 29, 2023
International Studies Program Representative for the College of Arts and Sciences Open House (March 30, April 6, April 13, April 20, 2023; Nov. 13, 2023; April 5, 2019; March 29, 2019)
Dreaming of Summer (To promote summer classes and study abroad programs). Feb. 8, 2024 (in person); March 6, 2023; Feb. 9, 2022. (Online)
Humanities Admissions Webinars. Oct. 11 and Nov. 7, 2022
Choices Fair on behalf of the International Studies program. Sept. 30, 2022
International Studies Program representative for the Study Abroad Fair. Sept. 9, 2022
International Studies Program representative for the College of Arts and Sciences Discover Week welcome event for new students, CWRU. August 23, 2022
Departmental Representative for the College of Arts and Sciences Open House (Feb. 21, April 14, April 21, 2022; April 7, 2017; Nov. 9, 2015; October 13, 2014; April 11, 2014; March 21, 2013; April 7, 8, 15, 21 and 23, 2011)
Humanities Admissions Webinars. March 9, April 12, April 23, 2021
Departmental Representative for the Students’ Awards Ceremony. College of Arts and Sciences. Case Western Reserve University. May 17, 2014; April 27, 2012
Public Presentations and Talks
Presenter, “Writers Center Stage Series: Hernan Diaz.” Milton and Tamar Maltz Performing Arts Center, March 7, 2024
Interviewed for the podcast Latin@ Stories. It went live on Monday, March 4, 2024. https://on.soundcloud.com/Go44czfhTLxaPKMq6
Moderator. “CWRU Faculty Perspectives on the War in Gaza and Israel.” Mandel Center. Feb. 15, 2024
Invited Speaker, Division of Student Affairs Coffee and Chat at CWRU honoring Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month. Talk: “Being a Hispanic in the United States.” Oct. 6, 2023
Panelist, Women in Networks (WIN), “Solo Success: How to Thrive in the Academy When You're the Only [Blank] in Your Department,” National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity. Workshop for underrepresented minority women. Flora Stone Mather Center for Women and the Office for Faculty Development, CWRU, March 31, 2023
Panelist, Navigating the Tenure Process. To Tenure and Beyond Program: Building an Intentional Career at CWRU. March 20, 2023
Presentation to the Polyglot Gathering Club at CWRU on the importance of learning foreign languages. Sept. 6, 2022
First-Generation Student Luncheon. Welcome to new students on behalf of the CWRU faculty. Thwing Center Ballroom, CWRU. August 23, 2022
Unity Banquet Speech for the Excellence in Leadership Award granted to student Vianni Bustos, on behalf of Alianza Latina/Latin Alliance. Unity Week 2022, Scholarship Day. Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). April 8, 2022
Invited Faculty Speaker, University Welcome event (for first-year, transfer, and new exchange students.) CWRU, Jan. 6, 2022 (Online)
Invited Faculty Speaker, Gala Latina (an event organized by the students’ groups La Alianza, The Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), and the LatinX Alumni Organization. Participated via online from Saint Petersburg, Russia. Oct. 8, 2021
Invited panelist, WKYC TV Station - Panel Discussion. Cleveland, Oct. 1, 2021
MOC “Understanding the Hispanic Experience at CWRU”. Event coordinated by Alianza Latina/Latin Alliance and the Office for Inclusion, Diversity and Equal Opportunity. Sept. 10, 2021 (Online)
Presentation to the Polyglot Gathering Club at CWRU on the importance of learning foreign languages. Sept. 8, 2021, Crawford 9A
Unity Banquet Speech for the Excellence in Leadership Award granted to student Ambar Solis-Fuentes, on behalf of Alianza Latina/Latin Alliance. Unity Week 2021, Scholarship Day. Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). April 8, 2021 (Online)
Invited Presenter. Integrity Week 2021 Faculty Panel. Academic Integrity Board (AIB) at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). Feb. 25, 2021 (Online)
Invited Speaker Latinx Graduation, Class of 2020. Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). May 16, 2020 (Online)
Presentation to the Polyglot Gathering Club at CWRU on the importance of learning foreign languages. Sept. 5, 2020 (Online)
“Cuba from Inside. Facts and Myths.” Voices around the Globe event, organized by the Kelvin Smith Library and the Center for International Affairs. Kelvin Smith Library. Nov. 20, 2019.
Moderator for Roundtable Discussion, “Pulling from the Headlines: Poetry Written After Media" (with poets Marcelo Hernandez Castillo and Javier Zamora.) Event organized by Sarah Gridley, Department of English. Case Western Reserve University. Nov. 5, 2019
Invited Panelist: “Define America: Borders Between Neighbors.” Case Western Reserve University. Oct. 31, 2019
Invited Speaker. “Traveling without Luggage.” Cultural Café-bar “El Savoy.” Zamora, Spain. September 1, 2017
“Cuba Today: An Inventory of Unexplored Possibilities?” Cuba Program at Shaker Heights Public Library. June 21, 2017
Collaborator and curator of the exhibit “From the San Juan to the Cuyahoga. Artist Books of Ediciones Vigía,” at Waterloo Arts Gallery; discussant in the panel about artist-designed small press books. Spring 2017
“The Cuban Thaw: Reestablishing Relations with a Former Adversary.” Eastside Conversations. Siegal Lifelong Learning, Case Western Reserve University. June 15, 2016
“From Translation and its Aftermath: The Soviet Legacy in a Post-Socialist Cuba.” The Baker Nord Center for the Humanities. March 1, 2016
“Extreme Commuting.” Flora Stone Mather Center for Women. Spartan Room at Thwing Building. Case Western Reserve University. May 1, 2014
Speaker at the “Think Seminar.” Title: “Study Abroad in Cuba: A Unique Experience.” Guilford 301. Case Western Reserve University. August 24, 2012
Speaker at the “Meet the Faculty Seminar.” Title: “Soviet Traces in the Contemporary Cuban Cultural Production.” KHSM 123. Case Western Reserve University. August 25, 2011
To the Profession
Panels and Workshops Organized
Organizer of the panel: If Cuba Were a Normal Country: Speculation about a (Im) Possibility. The Hispanic Association for the Humanities X International Congress. Malaga, Spain. June 24-26, 2022
Organizer of the workshop “The Collapse of a World: End of European Socialism and its Impact on the Cultural and Scientific Dynamics between the Eastern Bloc and Latin America.” Fifth International Congress “Russia and Iberoamerica in the Global World.” The State University of Saint Petersburg, Oct. 4-6, 2021
Chair of the panel Latin America and the Second World: Cross-Cultural Encounters and Exchanges. 2020 Latin American Studies Association –LASA– International Congress. May 26-29, 2021 (Online)
Chair and organizer of the panel Geopolíticas de la literatura: para una sociología de la institución literaria en condiciones socialistas. XIX Congress of the International Federation of Studies on Latin American and the Caribbean. University of Szeged. June 24-28, 2019
Chair and organizer (with Professor Bruno Gomide, The University of Sao Paulo) of the panel “The Geopolitics of Translation: From Cultural Dialogue to Cultural Imposition. Relations Between the Former Soviet Union and Russia with Latin America.” Third International Congress “Russia and Iberoamerica in the Global World.” The State University of Saint Petersburg, Oct. 2-4, 2017
Chair and organizer of the panel “Culturas en traducción: interacciones literarias entre la Unión Soviética/Rusia y América Latina.” Second International Congress “Russia and Iberoamerica in the Global World.” The State University of Saint Petersburg, Russia. Oct. 2015
Chair and organizer of the panel “Epistemologías urbanas: formas de habitar el Caribe.” Latin American Studies Association, LASA. Puerto Rico. May 27-30, 2015 (I could not personally attend it, but the panel was accepted and successfully presented)
Chair and organizer of the panel Approaches to Cuban Culture. XIV Ohio Latin Americanists Conference, OLAC 2015. Feb. 27-28, 2015
Chair of the panel: Critical Roots. Conference: Radical Caribbean. Repositioning Caribbean Life. University of Tulane, New Orleans. October 3-5, 2013
Chair and organizer of the panel El Atlántico como frontera. Mediaciones y cruces culturales entre España y las ínsulas caribeñas. XXXIX Congreso del Instituto Internacional de Literatura Iberoamericana (IILI) Diálogos culturales. Cádiz, España. July 3-6, 2012
Chair and organizer of Session Diálogos caribeños: el flujo de saberes en la zona del caos. Latin American Studies Association, LASA, XXIX International Congress. Toronto, Canada. Oct. 6-9, 2010
Chair and organizer of Session: Queer Cuba: ¿una producción cultural al margen de la oficialidad? Latin American Studies Association. XXVII International Congress. Montreal, Canada, Sept. 5-8, 2007
Editing, refereeing, and translation activities
External Referee for Colindancias. Revista de la Red de Hispanistas de Europa Central.” January 2024.
External Referee for MARLAS (Middle Atlantic Review of Latin American Studies), October 2023.
External Referee for a book on the reception of Pablo Neruda in the former Socialist bloc. Editors: Ilinca Ilian and Maja Sabec, Peter Lang Publishing House, 2023
External Referee for Transmodernity. Journal of Peripheral Cultural Production of the Luso-Hispanic World (University of California, Merced), 2022
Interviews’ Translator. Grifas (Afrocaribeñas al habla). (Grifas (Afro-Caribbean speaking)). Selection, introduction, and interviews by Laura Ruiz Montes. La Habana: Casa de las Américas, 2021
External Referee for MARLAS (Middle Atlantic Review of Latin American Studies), 2021
External Referee for Atenea (University of Concepción, Chile), 2020
External Referee for Decimonónica. Journal of Nineteenth-Century Hispanic Cultural Production, 2020.
External Referee for Revista Literatura y Lingüística. (Universidad Católica Silva Henríquez, Chile), 2019
External Reviewer for the book El poder de la palabra. Diálogos entre la literatura y el derecho (Word’s Power. Dialogues between Literature and Law) (Ed. Diego Falconí.) Valencia: Tirant lo Blanch, 2019
External Referee for Caracol (Revista do Programa de Pós-graduação em Língua Espanhola e Literaturas Espanhola e Hispano-Americana, Universidade de São Paolo, Brasil), 2019
External Referee for Anuario de Estudios Americanos (Escuela de Estudios Hispano-Americanos de Sevilla, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas,) 2019
External Referee for Istmo. Revista virtual de estudios literarios y culturales centroamericanos (University of Costa Rica,) 2019
External Referee for Letras Hispanas (Texas State University,) 2017
External Referee for Revista Chilena de Literatura, 2016
External Referee for Letras Hispanas (Texas State University,) 2016
External Referee for the anthology NUESTRO CARIBE. Poder, Raza y Postnacionalismos para dinamitar el archipiélago LGBTQ (San Juan: Editorial Isla Negra, 2016,) 2015
External Referee for Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hispánicos, 2015
External Referee for Historia Crítica. (Department of History. Los Andes University, Bogota, Colombia,) 2014
Editor. Special Dossier “Cuba: el sabor soviético de una isla tropical. Una visita 20 años después,” for La Habana Elegante. Revista semestral de literatura y cultura cubana, caribeña, latinoamericana, y de estética 51. Spring-Summer 2012.Web
External Referee for Caribbean Studies Journal (University of Puerto Rico,) 2011
Editorial Boards, Regional, National and International Organizations
External Referee (part of the Scientific Board) for the Congress “Escritores latinoamericanos en el socialismo europeo durante la Guerra Fría” (“Latin American Writers in European Socialism during the Cold War”) to be held in Spain in April 2024
Member of the Editorial Board of Caribe. Revista de Cultura y Literatura, 2016 to present
External Referee for the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship (Research Foundation. Flanders, Belgium (Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek-Vlaanderen, FWO,) 2016
Scientific Committee for Evaluating Proposals for the III Coloquio Internacional de Jóvenes Investigadores de Literatura Hispanoamericana (III International Colloquium of Young Researchers of Hispano-American Literature.) Complutense University, Madrid, Spain, 2015
Advisory Board Member in the Ohio Latin–Americanists Conference, 2013-2017
Elected Delegate to the Modern Languages Association. Great Lakes Region, 2012-2015
Co-Founder, Co-Director, and Co-Editor, academic journal Trasatlántica. Poetry and Scholarship. Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio (2012–2018)
Permanent Referee for L’Érudit Franco-Espagnol (LEF-E,) An Electronic Journal of French and Hispanic Literatures, 2011-present
To the Community
President, Founder, and Member of the Board of Directors of Trasatlantica. Poetry and Scholarship Non-Profit Organization, 2021-2024
Member of the Board of Directors of LatinUS Theater Experience Company, in Cleveland, 2021-2023
Member of the “100 LATINOS CLEVELAND MUST KNOW” cohort, 2020. (https://www.ammore.us/2020)
Regular op-ed writer for El Día de Zamora, (Newspaper in Spain)
Writer and translator for CAN Journal, 2020-2023:
-<http://canjournal.org/2020/11/the-music-that-brings-us-together/>
-<http://canjournal.org/2020/08/counting-through-the-arts-the-why-we-count-project/>
-<http://canjournal.org/2020/03/census-2020-we-are-all-equal-but-are-some-more-equal-than-others/>
Curator, organizer, and translator of my students’ interviews with Hispanic artists from Cleveland for CAN Journal (printed and online versions):
-“Hispanic Artists in Cleveland” PART 1 (CAN Journal May 2019) <http://canjournal.org/2019/05/hispanic-artists-in-cleveland/> (four artists / 12 students)
-“Hispanic Artists in Cleveland” PART 2 (CAN Journal August 2019) <http://canjournal.org/2019/08/hispanic-artists-in-cleveland-part-2/> (four artists / 14 students)
Writer for CAN Journal. Article: “Creative Fusion: Three Banners, Four Artists, One River on Fire”. CAN Journal May 2019 <http://canjournal.org/2019/05/creative-fusion-three-banners-four-artists-one-river-on-fire/>
Translator of nine articles about and by Cuban artists in Cleveland during the spring and summer of 2017, for CAN, the Cleveland Arts Network journal, as part of the Creative Fusion: Cuba Edition program, by the Cleveland Foundation, 2017
Curator of the art exhibit “From the San Juan to the Cuyahoga” with hand-made books from Vigía Publishing House (Matanzas, Cuba), at the Waterloo Arts Gallery. April 7-May 19, 2017
Host of Estación Ñ, a radio program –in Spanish– at WRUW FM 91.1. Every Wednesday from 3–4 pm. (Case Western Reserve University radio station). Spring 2013; Spring 2014
Spanish Translator. WIC facilities (Women, Infant and Children). Iowa City, 2007–2010
Spanish Instructor. After School Program. Lemme Elementary School, Iowa City, 2006
Spanish Instructor. After School Program. Longfellow Elementary School, Iowa City, 2005
Community Involvement and Other Events and Groups Organized
Member of the Cleveland Foundation cohort for the organization of Creative Fusion: Cuba Edition Spring 2017, through the Collective Arts Network (CAN) Journal. We brought six Cuban artists to Cleveland to a creative residence. Trip to Cuba in January to coordinate efforts regarding the program. Jan. 8-13, 2017
Co-Organizer of the poetry reading by invited Portuguese poet Tiago Ribeiro Patricio. Case Western Reserve University. Dec. 2, 2014
Co-Organizer of the art show exhibition: “Latino’s Artists at CWRU.” Kelvin Smith Library. Case Western Reserve University. September 12-October 24, 2014
Organizer and facilitator for the conversation via Skype between Dr. Margarita Mateo Palmer and students from SPAN 333: Contemporary Caribbean Culture Caribbean (the conversation was about her book that students were reading at the moment, El Caribe en su discurso literario.) April 17, 2012