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Elena Peña-Argüeso

Ph.D. Student
Spanish

At UNC since 2017
Advised by Professor Carmen Hsu
Dey Hall 217

Education

M.A. in Romance Studies (Spanish), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 2019.

M.A. in Teaching Methodologies of a Foreign Language (English), University of Seville (Spain). 2014.

M.A. in English Studies (Early Modern English Literature), University of Seville (Spain). 2013.

About Elena

Elena is a PhD student specializing in 16th- and 17th-century Spanish literature. Her interests include theatre, flamenco, lives of saints, “relaciones de sucesos” (news pamphlets), nation building, the construction of cultural identities, and European expansions and exchanges between Catholic Spain and the Protestant world. She is particularly interested in the study of cross-national perceptions and images as expressed in literary discourse.

Publications

COLLABORATIONS

2019: ANDA Curso Elemental by Audrey L. Heining-Boynton, Glynis S. Cowell, Sonia S. Torres-Quinones.

ARTICLE-REVISED AND RESUBMITTED

2022: "Hibridación genérica en La Vida de San Pedro Nolasco de Lope de Vega” Bulletin of the Comediantes.

BOOK REVIEWS

2018 Aracil Varón, Beatriz. “Yo, don Hernán Cortés.” Reflexiones en torno a la escritura cortesiana. Iberoamericana/Vervuert, 2016.

https://americasinnombre.ua.es/article/view/2018-n23-beatriz-aracil-varon-yo-don-hernando-cortes

Conferences

Panel Chair

2022 “Lyric as Power: Narratives of Spanish Music.” Carolina Conference for Romance Studies. UNC-Chapel Hill

INVITED TALKS

Andalucía: History and Culture of Muslim Spain

2020: “Contemporary Connections: Issues of in(migration) in Contemporary Spain.” The Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies, UNC Center for European Studies, and National Humanities Center

PAPERS PRESENTED

2023 “Tricks in La vida de Estebanillo González, hombre de buen humor (1646).” MLA, San Francisco

2022 “Comedy-news or dramatized news pamphlets?” The Performance of Genre across Renaissance Europe and Beyond, MEMS conference. UNC-Chapel Hill

2020: “Expansión transoceánica de la Iberia católica y su representación en La conquista de México (1668) de Antonio Enríquez Gómez.” Asociación Internacional Siglo de Oro. ONLINE

2019 “Catarismo, redenciones y milagros en La vida de San Pedro Nolasco de Lope de Vega.” Asociación Internacional de Hispanistas. Hebrew University, Israel

2018 “War and the Supernatural: Shaping Sainthood in La vida de San Pedro Nolasco (1629).” Carolina Conference for Romance Studies. UNC-Chapel Hill

2014: “The Actress and her Character: The Prologues and Epilogues of Charlotte Butler (1680-1693).” 25 International SEDERI Conference. University of Oviedo, Spain

Awards & Honors

FELLOWSHIPS, HONORS & AWARDS – UNC-CHAPEL HILL

2023 Travel Grant, Romance Studies department

2022 Dana B. Drake Summer Fellowship, Romance Studies department

2021 The Graduate School Summer Research Fellowship

2020 GPSF Travel Award, Graduate and Professional Student Government

2020 Gutherie Summer Award, Romance Studies department

2019 The Graduate Student Transportation Grant, Graduate School

2019 GPSF Excellence in Mentoring Graduate Students Award

EXTERNAL GRANTS

2023 MLA Convention Grant

Typical Courses Taught

SPAN 101: Elementary Spanish I

SPAN 105: Spanish for High Beginners

SPAN 203: Intermediate Spanish I

SPAN 255: Spanish Conversation

SPAN 261: Advanced Spanish in Context

SPAN 321: Spanish for Medical Professions

SPAN 329: Spanish for Professional and Community Engagement

PUBH 613: Intermediate Spanish for Health Care

TEACHING ASSISTANT

SPAN 371: Love and Conflict in Spanish Literature