Anna Torres-Cacoullos is an Assistant Professor of Spanish in the Department of Spanish & Portuguese at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
What is the focus of your current work and/or subject of your current research?
My research interests are interdisciplinary and span a broad range of topics in literature, film, and philosophy. While I specialize in late 19th/early 20th centuy Spanish literature and culture, particularly the interrelation between modernist literature and early silent film, my work has also considered questions about gender, race, and body politics in contemporary literary and filmic productions emerging from Spain.
What classes do you teach? What are some of the topics of those classes?
I teach both lower and upper division undergraduate and graduate courses on the literatary and cultural output of Spain, from the late 18th century to the present. Since my research foregrounds the relationship of literary studies with other fields of discourse, including film and media studies and cultural studies, I approach pedagogy through a comparative, cross-curricular framework to develop strategies that promote historical, cultural, and artistic connection. In my teaching, I strive to familiarize students with major social and political issues at stake in Spain’s history and international relations. For example, in the undergraduate course I am currently teaching, SPAN 312 “Modern Spanish Literatures and Cultures,” the special topic of ‘otherness’ frames a number of units which consider questions of immigration, cultural difference, and tourism in the 21st century in Spain, such as through a study of recent graphic novels negotiating with these issues (Ana Peynas’ Todo bajo el sol and Quan Zhou Wu’s Gente de aquí, gente de allí).
Do you have any recent awards, honors, or publications that you would like to highlight?
I’m thrilled about a forthcoming article in the Bulletin of Spanish Studies on the contemporary mistic poetry of Clara Janés and the way it envisions the texture of social experience, selfhood, and creativity in the digital age. An abstract can be found here: https://annatorrescacoullos.weebly.com/uploads/4/2/8/3/42833027/janés_website_abstract.pdf
What is a book (academic or non-academic, in or outside your field) that you think should be more widely read?
As a literary scholar, I find it difficult to narrow it down to one text. I'd have to say the work of Ramón Gómez de la Serna, generally. The breadth of his work and his humor is widely undervalued!
Is there any additional information or advice you'd like to share?
If you like to read modernist works and watch films, I'd love to chat with you!
Check out my personal webpage to learn more about the type of research I do: https://annatorrescacoullos.weebly.com