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Ph.D. Candidate
Natalia Álvarez Zanza
Ph.D. Candidate

Ph.D. Candidate, Spanish, University of California, Irvine, 2023
M.A in Literary Studies (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)
B.A. in Education, (Universidad de Valladolid)
B.A in Literary Theory and Comparative Literature (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)

Research Interests

Medical Humanities, Modern and Contemporary Spanish Literature, Literature and Cinema, Literature and Music, Critical Theory

Erika Casillas Spanish PhD
Graduate Student
Erika Casillas
Graduate Student

M.A., Spanish, Middlebury College, Vermont, 2023.
B.A., Spanish, California State University, Channel Islands, 2022. 

Research Interests

20th-21st Century Mexican Literature and Culture

FDLC PhD Student in Spanish
Ph.D. Candidate
Fer de la Cruz Herrera
Ph.D. Candidate

Ph.D. Candidate, Spanish, University of California, Irvine, 2023
M.A., Spanish, Ohio University.
B.A., Humanidades y Filosofía, Universidad Mesoamericana de San Agustín, Yucatán, México.

Research Interests

Pedagogy, creative writing, literary translation, & language teaching/acquisition.
Poetry in its many forms, particularly in native Mexican languages. I have published over twenty titles mostly of poetry ( (lyric, satirical, and for children). I believe in a sense of community based on understanding and unconditional love. I also believe that poetry (and the arts) can be an instrument for that (for building community and understanding), but not always is.

FDP PhD Student in Spanish
Graduate Student
Federico De Palma
Graduate Student

M.A., Spanish, University of California, Irvine, 2025.
B.A., University of California, Irvine, 2023.

Julia Gomez PhD Spanish
Ph.D. Candidate
Julia Verónica Gómez Rodríguez
Ph.D. Candidate

Ph.D. Candidate, Spanish, University of California, Irvine, 2024.
M.A., Comunicación de la Ciencia y la Cultura, ITESO, México.
B.A., Letras Hispánicas, Universidad de Guadalajara, México,

Research Interests

Representations of violence in non-fiction narratives, particularly in contemporary Mexican Chronicles.

Fernanda Hdz PhD Spanish
Ph.D. Candidate
Fernanda Hernández Paredes
Ph.D. Candidate

Ph.D. Candidate, Spanish, University of California, Irvine, 2024.
M.A. in Spanish, University of California, Irvine, 2023.
B.A. in Hispanic Literature, Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey. 

Research Interests

Her work focuses on material poetics, the intersections between activism and literature, and women writers of the 20th and 21st century in Mexico. Along with her academic work, she also writes fiction and non-fiction exploring themes such as language, pain, and violence.

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Ph.D. Candidate
Juan Nelson Marcos Villahoz
Ph.D. Candidate
MassenaElizabeth
Ph.D. Candidate
María Elizabeth Massena
Ph.D. Candidate

Ph.D. Candidate, Spanish, University of California, Irvine, 2025
M.A., Spanish, California State University, Northridge, 2020.
M.A., Education, Universidad Adventista de Chile, 2016.
B.A., History, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, 2010. 

Research Interests

Latin American Chronicles, 20th Century Latin American literature, Narcoliterature, Narcoviolence and Feminist Literature in the Southern Cone. 

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Graduate Student
Isabel Medina
Graduate Student

M.A., Spanish Language and Literature, San Diego State University, 2024
B.A. Spanish, Minor in Teaching English as a Second Language, San Diego State University 2022.

Research Interests

Women writers in the 20th and 21st century in Latin America with an emphasis in Mexico; Latin American feminist violence; Feminist theory.

Munrayos
Graduate Student
Robert Munrayos
Graduate Student

M.A., Hispanic Studies, Boston College, 2024.
B.A., Spanish, French and Italian, University of Rhode Island, 2015

Fiona Oconnor
Graduate Student
Fiona O'Connor
Graduate Student

M.A., Spanish, University of California, Irvine, 2025.
B.A. in Comparative Literature and International Political Economy, Fordham University, 2019.
Minors in Spanish and Philosophy.

Romo PhD Student
Graduate Student
Raúl Romo
Graduate Student

M.A., Spanish, California State University, Bakersfield, 2023.
B.A., Design & Spanish, University of California, Davis, 2016. 

Research Interests

My research explores contemporary Latin American and Latinx literature, film, and visual culture through the lenses of queer/trans theory, and urban studies. I examine LGBTTQIA+ activisms and queer futurity as portrayed by artists, writers, and filmmakers from Mexico and Latinx communities in U.S.

Carina Saiiidi
Ph.D. Candidate
Carina Saiidi Padilla
Ph.D. Candidate

Ph.D, Candidate, University of California, Irvine, 2024.
M.A., Urban Education, Language & Culture, Loyola Marymount University, 2014.
B.A., History, Spanish & Portuguese, UCLA, 2011.

Research Interests

Representations of addictions, particularly, alcoholism, intergenerational trauma, and healing practices in Mexican and Chicano literature and culture.

SanchezCano PhD Spanish
Graduate Student
Marco Antonio Sánchez-Cano
Graduate Student

M.A., Spanish Language and Literature, San Diego State University, 2023
B.A., Spanish, Minor in Latin American Studies, San Diego State University, 2021
B.A., Communications, San Diego State University, 2021

Research Interests

20th-21st century Latin American literature (México and Argentina), Mexican Revolution, dictatorships, violence, pain, nationalism, critical theory, psychoanalysis.

Vasquez PhD Spanish
Ph.D. Candidate
Jennifer Vasquez
Ph.D. Candidate

Ph.D. Candidate, Spanish, University of California, Irvine, 2024
M.A., Spanish, University of New Mexico, 2019
B.A., English Comparative & Literary Studies / Spanish Literary Studies, Occidental College, 2016.

Research Interests

Latin American literature and culture in the 20th and 21st century; Central American immigration; Post-colonial studies; Feminist theory

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Graduate Student
Landon Yanez
Graduate Student