Directory Employee Information, education, work experience, office hours

Work Experience

Wor-Wic Community College, Associate Professor of Spanish, 2022-present
Assistant Professor, 2019-2022
Montclair State University, Adjunct Professor of Spanish & Latino Studies, 2009-2020
University of Western Ontario, Course Instructor of Portuguese, 2014-2019
Paramus Catholic High School, Spanish Teacher, 2012-2014
Brookdale Community College, Adjunct Professor of English, 2011-2012

Committees

Current Committees:
Cultural Enrichment Committee Chair
Faculty Mentoring Committee
DEIB Strategic Priority Team Co-Chair
Human Resources Strategic Priority Team
AFACCT
Honors Program
Labor Management Committee

Past
Faculty Council Past President (FY2024)
Faculty Council President (FY2023)
Faculty Council Secretary (FY2021 & 25)
Faculty Council Vice President (FY2022)
Scheduling Implementation Taskforce
Faculty Fundraising Committee
Faculty Fundraising Chair
Professional Development Committee
MHEC Advisory Council

Community Service

Director of Echoes & Visions Reading Series (2024-present)
2025-2026 Authors Featured: Cleyvis Natera, David Viergutz, Lily Tuzroyluke, Tyehimba Jess (Pulitzer Winner)
2024-2025 Authors Featured: David Galef, David Kherdian, Hanay Geiogamah, Jennifer Keates Curtis, Amber Green, Roxana Walker-Canton, Randi Sonenshine, Ada Limón (US Poet Laureate), Ariel Dorfman

Faculty Advisor for Student United Way (2019-2022)

Awards

University of Western Ontario School of Graduate Studies- Graduate Student Teaching Award, 2019

Publications

Books (as editor):

Hispanic and Lusophone Voices of Africa. Wilmington, DE: Vernon Press. 2022.

Book Chapters:

Introduction, in Hispanic & Lusophone Voices of Africa. Wilmington, DE: Vernon Press. 2022.

Cabo Verde from Text to Silver Screen: Germano Almeida’s “The Last Will and Testament of Senhor da Silva Araújo”, in Hispanic & Lusophone Voices of Africa. Wilmington, DE: Vernon Press. 2022.

Peer Reviewed Journal Articles:

M-L, D. and Sarita Addy. When Ogun and Iansan Meet: Gender and Performativity in Karim Aïnouz’s Madame Satã.” Mid-Atlantic Review of Latin American Studies (MARLAS) 3.1: (2019):53-80.

M-L, D. “Authoritarian-Discourse in García Márquez’s-La mala hora & Ruy Guerra’s-O Veneno da Madrugada.” Delaware Review of Latin American Studies. 16.2 (2015): 5-19.

M-L, D. “Animating a Legend: El Cid.” Contemporary World Literature: Journal of the Arts 1.7 (2011): 55-69.

M-L, D. “Shattered Hopes and Dreams: The Timeless Realities of Immigration in David Riker’s La Ciudad”- Urbana: Urban Affairs and Public Policy 9.1 (2011).

Presentations

Conference Papers:
“Supporting Students on the Spectrum” (with Dana Bunnell-Young). AFACCT Conference, January 8, 2026.

“Innocence Interrupted: Class, Ideology, and Coming of-Age under Authoritarianism in Machuca and Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress”. LASA/Oceania-Asia Conference, November 18, 2025.

“Resurrecting Laurie Strode: Halloween H20 The True Anniversary Sequel”. Northeast Popular Culture Association Conference (virtual), October 9, 2025. (co-authored with Daisy Harper)

“Crimson Saints and Sapphire Deities: Color Symbolism in Moulin Rouge!”. Mid-Atlantic Popular Culture Association Virtual Symposium, July 20, 2025.

“Unearthing Chile’s Hidden Past: Patricio Guzmán’s Nostalgia de la luz”. Mid-Atlantic Council of Latin American Studies Conference, University of Delaware, March 28, 2025.

“A Less is More Approach: Depicting Displacement & Violence in Marcelo Piñeryo’s Kamchatka”. Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA) 2025 Convention, La Salle University, March 8, 2025.

“Cinematic Paintings & Landscapes in Vozvrashcheniye”. Mid-Atlantic Popular and American Culture Association Conference, November 8, 2024.

“The Many Faces of Postmodern Horror Films”. Northeast Popular Culture Association Conference, October 3, 2024.

“Finding Justice and Breaking the Cycle of Violence in Ariel Dorfman’s La muerte y la doncella.” Latin American Studies Association (LASA) 2024 Convention, Bogotá, Colombia, June 13, 2024.

“Dialogism, Genre, and Adaptation in the Coen Brothers’ True Grit”. Northeast Popular Culture Association Conference, October 12, 2023.

“Hope and Futurity in Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men”. 6th Annual Racism, Nationalism, and Xenophobia International Interdisciplinary Conference (virtual), The University of São Paulo, May 26, 2023.

“Brazil’s Role in the Production of Luso-African Cinema”. Mid-Atlantic Council of Latin American Studies Conference, Salisbury University, March 11, 2023.

“Religious Depictions and Imagery in Andrey Zvyaginstev’s The Return (2003)” Northeast Popular Culture Association Conference (virtual), October 20, 2022.

“Postmodern Horror: Then & Now.” 4th Annual Postcolonialism, Postcommunism, and Postmodernism International Interdisciplinary Conference (virtual), Norwegian University of Science and Technology, July 29, 2022.

“Literary Representations of the 1989 US Invasion of Panama.” Annual International Conference organized by the Archbishop Desmond Tutu Centre for War and Peace Studies, Liverpool Hope University, 27th June 2022

“Fear, Terror, and Trauma in Enrique Chuez’s Operación Causa Justa”. Mid-Atlantic Council of Latin American Studies Conference, The College of New Jersey, March 18, 2022.

“History and Memory in the Fiction of Patricio Pron”. Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA) 2022 Convention, Johns Hopkins University, March 11, 2022.

“Fiery and Feminine: Gender Fluidity & Yoruba Religion in Karim Ainouz’s Madame Satã”. National Association of African American Studies Conference (Virtual Conference), February 15, 2022.

“Adapting Third World Fiction: Co-productions, Film Festivals, & Politics, The Case of Cabo Verde”. Pacific & Ancient Modern Language Association (PAMLA), University of Nevada, Las Vegas, November 13, 2021.

“Intertextuality in the Coen Brothers’ True Grit (2010)”. Mid-Atlantic Popular and American Culture Association Conference (virtual), November 10, 2021.

“Language and (Mis)Communication in the Coen Brothers’ Fargo”. Northeast Popular Culture Association Conference (virtual), October 22, 2021.

“Peruvian Cinema in Times of Crisis”. Mid-Atlantic Council of Latin American Studies Conference (virtual), The College of New Jersey, March 19, 2021.

“Psychological Trauma for Returning Exiles in Tununa Mercado’s Estado de Memoria”. Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA) 2021 Convention (virtual), University of Pennsylvania, March 11, 2021.

“Roberto Bolaño: el puente entre la Generación Crack y los McOndistas con los escritores del “Boom”. Mid-Atlantic Council of Latin American Studies Conference (virtual), Salisbury University, September 12, 2020.

“The Rise of Basque Cinema”. Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA) 2020 Convention, Boston University, March 6, 2020.

“Espaço, guerra e memória em Terra Sonâmbula de Mia Couto”. Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA) 2019 Convention, Georgetown University, March 22, 2019.

“Depictions of Terrorism and ETA in the Basque Historical Novel”. Losing Our Words: Transformations in Language and Culture, Humber College (Toronto), October 27, 2018.

“Paraguayan Cinema and the Film Festival Circuit” Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association (RMMLA), University of Wyoming, October 5, 2018.

“O gênero, o trabalho e o poder na novela Parque industrial de Patrícia Galvão”. Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA) 2018 Convention, University of Pittsburgh, April 14, 2018.

“An Awful Homecoming: Argentina and Its Returning Exiles”. The State of (In)Equality: Social Justice Under Siege, Humber College (Toronto), October 29, 2017.

“Bakhtin’s Theories of Common Language and Dialogism in Fargo (1996)”. Canadian Comparative Literature Association 2017 Convention, Ryerson University, May 30, 2017.

“A Vendetta Against the Immigrant: Exploitation and Discrimination in Paola Mendoza’s Entre Nos and David Riker’s La Ciudad”. Transatlantic New York Conference, City University of New York (CUNY), May 25, 2017.

“Latin American Archival Fiction Beyond the “Boom”. Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA) 2016 Convention, University of Connecticut, March 19, 2016.

“Cantando de la camaradería en Canto general de Pablo Neruda.” No-Fly Zones & Molotov Cocktails: Annual Modern Languages & Literatures Graduate Student Conference, Western University, March 10, 2016.

“Adapting Garía Márquez: La mala hora.” Mid-Atlantic Council of Latin American Studies Conference, Cycles & Encyclicals in Latin America, Temple University. March 5, 2016.

“Depictions of Violence in Roberto Fuguet’s Tinta roja.” Comparative Literature Forum, Western University, November 25, 2015.

“La resistencia de enfrentarse con la dictadura militar argentina en la ficción de Pron.”Latin American Studies Association (LASA) 2015 Convention, San Juan, Puerto Rico, May 30, 2015.

“Escribir de la Guerra sucia: la estructura de El espíritu de mis padres sigue subiendo en la lluvia”. Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA) 2015 Convention, Ryerson University, May 2, 2015.

“Revolutionary Change: Challenging Gender Roles in Retrato de Teresa.” Mid-Atlantic Council of Latin American Studies Conference, Altered States: Cross-disciplinary explorations of tradition and the emergent in Latin America, Ithaca College. April 18, 2015.

“Afro-Brazilian and Transgender Identity in Madame Satã.” Trans- and Trace: Annual Modern Languages & Literatures Graduate Student Conference, Western University, March 5, 2015.

“Overcoming the Film Crisis of the 1990s: Peruvian Cinema’s Struggle to Break into the Global Market.” Cinema & Media Studies Conference, Imagining Crisis, York University, November 23, 2014.

“Tales of Trauma & Torture in Exile: The Fiction of Tununa Mercado.” Comparative Literature Forum, Western University, October 8, 2014.

“The Media’s Obsession with Violence in Alberto Fuguet’s Tinta Roja.” Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA) 2014 Convention, Susquehanna University, April 5, 2014.

“Voices from Afar: Trauma in Argentine Dirty War Literature Written in Exile” Mid-Atlantic Council of Latin American Studies Conference, Rethinking Social Justice in Latin America: From the Vatican to the Street, Rutgers University. March 7, 2014.

“The Failed Journey Home: Exile, Trauma, and Recovery in Tununa Mercado’s Estado de memoria”. Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA) 2013 Convention, Tufts University, March 22, 2013.

“I smell… a ghost! Olfactory Eidolons in the Fiction of William Faulkner and Gabriel García Márquez” Mid-Atlantic Council of Latin American Studies Conference: From Xocolatl to Xuxa: Latin America in the World, Lebanon Valley College. March 9, 2013.

“Who Conquered Whom? Spiritual Hybridization in Fernando Carrasco’s La otra conquista”. International Conference on Religion and Spirituality in Society, Arizona State University, March 7, 2013.

“The Postmodern Horror Film of the Late 20th and Early 21st Centuries”. –Film and Television in the 21st Century Conference, Texas Christian University, November 2, 2012.

“Dead Ends, Delays, and Detours: Mexico’s Road to Modernization in María Novaro’s Sin dejar huella”. –Crossroads III Conference: Dead Ends, Delays, and Detours, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, October 6, 2012.

“Harry’s Greatest Escape: Survival and Deterioration of the Middle Class Family in Marcelo Piñeryo’s Kamchatka”. –14th Annual Lusophone and Hispanic Conference: Tiempos de cólera: la literatura, la lingüística y la cultura en tiempos de crisis, University of California, Santa Barbara, May 4, 2012

“Historical, Mythical, and Poetic Space in Carlos Fuentes’s Gringo Viejo” –Mid-Atlantic Council of Latin American Studies Conference: Latin America: Hopes, Dreams and Reality after the Washington Consensus, American University, March 24, 2012.

“Searching for Paradise: The Reality of Life along the U.S. / Mexican Border in María Novaro’s film El Jardín del Edén”- Graduate Portuguese & Hispanic Symposium: [Trans]mission Impossible: Communication Breakdowns, Translation Barriers, Georgetown University, March 16, 2012.

“Breaking the Myth of Macondo: Latin America’s Literary Generation X”- Mid-Atlantic Council of Latin American Studies Conference: Towards a Third Century of Independence, University of Pittsburgh, March 18, 2011.

Interests

Latin American & Brazilian literature & film
Basque culture
Horror movies
Community interpreting
Freemasonry & Scottish Rite