Associate Professor of Spanish
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University Hall 3116
(706) 372-7864

Research and Teaching Interests: Afro-Hispanic Literature and Culture, the Caribbean, US-Brazil-Hispanic Comparisons, Ways of Understanding the Body (Medicine, Gender, Race)

Office Hours: By appointment

Education:

• PhD, Vanderbilt Combined PhD in Spanish and Portuguese

I am from Georgia, but great teachers inspired me to study Spanish so I could be like them. This led me to travel the world: Europe, Mexico, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Cambodia. I taught high school Spanish for five years. Studying the African Diaspora has given unity to my varied interests and gives me a sense of pride in discovering often under-appreciated writers, artists, and approaches.

I try to make my classes a place where students get to hear many voices, including their own. Students talk to international conversation partners via Skype and Zoom in my classes. I have multiple guest speakers each semester. I led a 2016 May mini-term trip to Puerto Rico to do community service and learn about local culture, and I chaperoned a May mini-term trip to Spain in medicine, language, and culture. My Medicine and Literature course uses a student-centered approach to study Latin American history and culture through these two disciplines. I have taught our first courses on Brazil and the Portuguese language. I am founder and co-sponsor of the Latin American Film Club. I am passionate about contemporary Latin American literature and culture, and I enjoy sharing them with my students.