About
I’m a scholar of contemporary Spain and a Professor of Hispanic Studies at Oklahoma State University. My research studies how people make sense of time and identity through literature, music, and films, especially after major historical or social upheavals that reshape collective worldviews. I work across disciplines, combining literature with political and cultural theory, and I pay particular attention to minoritized languages like Asturian.
I have examined narratives written in exile following the Spanish Civil War, and cultural production—especially fantasy and sci-fi cinema—in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. My current work explores cultural activism and how traditional music is being reimagined in present-day Asturias. My research has appeared in journals such as Bulletin of Hispanic Studies, MLN, Catalan Review, Lletres Asturianes, and Linguistic Minorities in Europe Online. I have three forthcoming edited volumes: one on Asturian Studies in the 21st century, and two collections on Asturian women writers and migration. My work has been supported by grants from the Spanish Ministry of Education (Hispanex) and by Oklahoma State University, among others.
I serve as President of Asturian Studies / SAnTINA, an international research network that promotes scholarship on Asturias. I organized the network’s second international conference at OSU in 2023. I’m also part of the Modern Language Association liaison group within ALCESXXI (Asociación de Literatura y Cine Español Siglo XXI), and I serve on the scientific committees of ARLAS (Archivu de la Represión Llingüística del Asturianu) and the Textos UEXcollection at the Universidad de Extremadura. I co-edit the Asturiana Studies book series at De Gruyter, and I currently direct the Spanish program at OSU. As co-founder and coordinator of Voces y versos-Tulsa, I promote Spanish-language poetry and music performances in the local community.
Before arriving at OSU, I taught at Central Michigan University and at the Univerzitet Džemal Bijedic´ in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. I earned my PhD in Hispanic Cultural Studies from Michigan State University, and my BA and MA in Hispanic Philology from the Universidá d’Uviéu in Spain.
In addition to my academic work, I translate and write creatively in Spanish, English, and Asturian. I bring this multilingual and multicultural approach to my teaching, where I aim to engage students with the richness and complexity of Iberian languages and cultures.