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Literatures and Cultures of Spain

Our Program

The Peninsular Program of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at The Ohio State University focuses on the literatures and cultures of Spain, past and present. Our faculty has a long and illustrious history that includes such notables as Juan Bautista Avalle-Arce, Carlos Blanco Aguinaga, Stephen Gilman and Elias L. Rivers. The current faculty similarly has wide international research experience and recognition. Some professors have received prestigious research and teaching awards. Others serve on advisory boards and awards committees of international associations, as well as editorial boards of journals published here and abroad. The fields of specialization of our faculty reflect both the historical development of our discipline and the new directions in which it is moving. Our curriculum covers a wide variety of literary and cultural texts from all regions of Spain, including those of the periphery. In addition to a broad range of courses centered on Spanish literature of different periods, there are others that deal with Spanish film, Spanish music and dance, and the plastic arts. The faculty has a keen interest in literary theory, film studies, cultural studies, popular culture, and in the development of new cultural spaces (such as migration studies and transatlantic studies). As individuals we collaborate with other programs and centers on campus, such as the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, the Department of History, the Department of Theater and the Department of Women’s Studies.

Faculty Research Areas

Following are some of the fields of research in which our faculty is actively engaged. Information about individual professors can be found at their respective Web pages and links. The main research areas include: Medieval and Renaissance literature and culture, Early modern (Golden Age) literature and culture, Eighteenth and nineteenth-century literature and culture, Contemporary literatures and cultures, Cultural studies, Spanish arts, cultures and societies, Spanish folklore and popular literature, Theater and performance studies, Film studies, Visual culture, Galician culture, Gender theory and studies, Literary theory, Poetry and poetology, Migration studies, Transatlantic studies, Contemporary Spanish thought, Zarzuela, and Technology and the Humanities.

Graduate Students

Our graduate students come from Ohio and from across the U.S., from Spain and Latin America. The program offers them the opportunity to pursue Peninsular studies in a flexible curriculum easily tailored to their individual needs. After graduation, they have gone on to serve at many other universities and colleges, including first-rate institutions in the U.S. and abroad.

Other Relevant Activities

España Contemporánea: Revista de Literatura y Cultura, founded by Prof. Samuel Amell and directed jointly with Prof. José Carlos Mainer, from the University of Zaragoza, Spain. This journal, published at The Ohio State University, has a wide distribution in the U.S. and abroad. Since its beginnings in 1988, it has been a major factor in bringing international recognition to the Spanish Peninsular Program of Ohio State. It has been an effective venue for multifaceted analysis and scholarly research on a wide range of topics pertaining to contemporary Spanish culture. A number of graduate students have the opportunity to collaborate in the editorial process.

Scholarly meetings periodically organized by members of the faculty. Dealing with themes of vital importance to our research and teaching endeavors, such as modern Spanish film, nationalisms in contemporary Spain, and Renaissance and Baroque Hispanic poetry, these conferences have brought prominent scholars of national and international reputation to the Ohio State campus. Graduate students are always involved in such meetings.