Northern Illinois University
World Languages and Cultures
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Research Interests

My curiosity in Latin American theatre began as an undergraduate at UC Irvine where I was first introduced to theatrical works by renowned dramatists such as Emilio Carballido, Jorge Díaz, Osvaldo Dragún, Griselda Gambaro, Xavier Villaurrutia and many more.

My current research centers on contemporary Latin American literature with a specialization in Mexican theatre, drama and culture. As evidenced by my publications and ongoing research projects, I am engaged primarily in the study of gender identity, postmodernism and womanist theory. My research centers on the study of liberal-minded, strong-willed women protagonists who seek to criticize and engage with historically embedded gender roles seeped in macho paradigms.

It is important for me to integrate my research into the classroom, using it as a framework for collaborative inquiry and for encouraging students to pursue related intellectual interests. I consistently aim to foster an inclusive environment in which students value their diverse perspectives and contribute their experiences to our discussions. Teaching enables me to share my expertise while engaging thoughtfully with students' ideas, and I value the intellectual exchange of the classroom and the opportunity to challenge students to think critically.

Selected Publications

Journal Articles

• "Gender Violence on Stage: Exposing Patriarchal Toxins in Two Mexican Plays" in Middle Atlantic Review of Latin American Studies, vol. 9, no. 2, 2025
• "Mexican Theatre and the Feminist Absurd" in Hispanic Journal, vol. 44, no. 2, 2023.
• "Staging Gendered Perspectives on Mexico's 1968 Social Movements: Elena Garro's Sócrates y los gatos and Pilar Campesino's Octubre terminó hace mucho tiempo" in Middle Atlantic Review of Latin American Studies, vol. 7, no. 1, spring 2023.
• "El Mariachi Is Not Just for Men: A Pan-Latinx Approach to Community, Culture, and Macho Paradigms in José Cruz González's American Mariachi" in LMDA's Review: The Journal of Dramaturgy, vol. 28, no. 1, winter 2022.
• "Transfigurative Spaces and Tantalizing Recipes in Cocinando con Elisa, El Codex Romanoff, and Cocinar hombres" in Latin American Theatre Review, vol. 55, no. 2, Spring 2022.
• "Conversations with the Past: Rearticulating Gendered and Historicized Scripts in Two Contemporary Mexican Plays" in Hispanic Journal, vol. 42, no. 1, Spring 2021.
• "The Role of 'La Chica Moderna' in Three Post-Revolutionary Mexican Plays" in Latin American Theatre Review, vol. 45, no. 2, Spring 2012.
• "Anomalous Representations of Reality in Luis Valdez's The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa and TheMummified Deer" in Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies, vol. 33, no. 1, Spring 2008.

Books and Book Chapters

• Embodying Difference: Scripting Social Images of the Female Body in Latina Theatre, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2012.
• "The Mexican Boom Femenino and the Production of Gendered Theatre in Sabina Berman's El suplicio del placer" in The Boom Femenino in Mexico: Reading Contemporary Women's Writing," Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010.

Recent Courses Taught at NIU

• Beginning to Immediate level Spanish
• Spanish Grammar, Composition, Conversation
• Textual and Media Analysis
• Introduction to Spanish American Literature
• Advanced Oral Proficiency in Spanish
• Women Authors in Hispanic Literature
• Mexican Literature, Culture, and Film
• Spanish American Poetry and Theater
• Seminar on the Cultures of Latin America

Education

• Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Latin American Literature and Culture
• M.A., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Spanish
• B.A., University of California at Irvine, Comparative Literature and Spanish/Chicano Studies