Latin American Languages and Societies Commons^™

Voces En Contacto: El Español En La Amazonía Peruana, Margarita Jara, Andrés Napurí

Department of World Languages Faculty Research

Este dossier reúne investigaciones dedicadas al estudio del español amazónico peruano, un conjunto de variedades moldeadas por el contacto con lenguas indígenas y por profundas transformaciones sociopolíticas. Los trabajos aquí compilados abordan fenómenos fonéticos, fonológicos, morfosintácticos y discursivos, así como actitudes e ideologías lingüísticas, con el objetivo de caracterizar la complejidad estructural y social de estas hablas regionales. A través de metodologías que combinan análisis acústico, corpus de habla espontánea, entrevistas sociolingüísticas, herramientas variacionistas y análisis crítico del discurso multimodal, los estudios documentan innovaciones gramaticales y procesos de nivelación típicos del bilingüismo, así como prácticas de resistencia identitaria frente a …

Ya Vuelta En El Español Peruano Amazónico: De Marcador Discursivo A Emblema Subversivo, Alonso Vásquez-Aguilar, Pilar Valenzuela Bismarck, Margarita Jara Yupanqui

Department of World Languages Faculty Research

Este estudio analiza la expresión ya vuelta en el español peruano amazónico (EPA), proponiendo que ha trascendido su función como marcador discursivo mirativo para convertirse en un emblema de identidad regional y un recurso discursivo de resistencia. A partir de un corpus recopilado exclusivamente de interacciones en redes sociales —incluyendo X (antes Twitter), Facebook, Instagram y YouTube— se examinan los usos prototípicos de ya vuelta como marcador de miratividad y sus funciones innovadoras vinculadas a la reafirmación identitaria, la subversión de jerarquías lingüísticas y la autenticidad en contextos comerciales. El análisis muestra que los hablantes del EPA emplean ya vuelta …

To What Extent Do Urban Planning Practices Impact Climate Change In Latin America?, Oliver Orellana, Mitchell Roberts

Student Scholar Symposium

Understanding best practices with regards to urban planning and development is crucial to the success of any city. Given the historical, geographic, and economic state of Latin American countries, the role of these practices in innovation is exceedingly vital. By analyzing sustainability strategies employed in cities to mitigate the effects of climate change, this research will identify which practices are the most sustainable in the long run. Because Latin American countries face their own unique challenges in areas like democratic transition, physical landscape, or economic well-being, gaining understanding as to which practices would most benefit the region is pivotal to …

Driving Social Revolutions In 20th Century Latin America, Oliver Orellana

Student Scholar Symposium

This paper explores various definitions of social revolutions to create one cohesive and operationalized definition that measures success through a numerical rating scale. Once establishing what revolutions were successful or fall into different typological sortings, this research employs qualitative content analysis as well as quantitative methods still being refined, in order to investigate the potential drivers of social revolutionary success in Latin America throughout the 20th century. The findings have implications for whether the masses and political movements should pursue this endeavor and when their efforts will have the highest potential and likelihood of success. On the other hand, these …

A Content Analysis Of Spanish Language Curriculum In Texas, Sarah Moore, Jessica Sanchez, Sarah Herrera

Journal of Global Awareness

The shortage of Spanish-speaking social workers is significant in the United States, especially in border states such as Texas. Experts are calling for Spanish language training in social work education. However, it is unclear whether social work programs are incorporating Spanish into their curriculum at a pace needed to keep up with demand. Using conceptual content analysis, this article examines the frequency of Spanish language courses relevant to social work education across Texas.

Hope, Liberation, And The Search For Shalom: Embracing A Spirit-Led Mission As The Cornerstone Of Hispanic Pentecostal Missiology, Misael Cornelio-Arias

Spiritus: ORU Journal of Theology

This study examines the critical missiological contributions of three influential Hispanic Pentecostal theologians: Eldin Villafañe, Samuel Solivan, and Sammy Alfaro. It also explores the work of two additional notable figures, Darío López and Bernardo Campos, whose impact extends beyond traditional missiology into practical faith application. Each of these individuals has uniquely fused his distinct cultural contexts and biblical understanding with the broader mission of the Hispanic Pentecostal faith, guided by the Holy Spirit. Their work has significantly shaped and expanded the landscape of Hispanic Pentecostal missiology, demonstrating a truly contextual approach to understanding and engaging in the kingdom’s mission. Through …

Propuesta Curricular Para La Asistencia Médica Bilingüe Orientada A La Concordancia De Lenguas Y La Interpretación Médica En Español, David Sanchez-Jimenez, Noemi Rodriguez, Justin Harnandan, Margarita Perez, Melissa Garcia

Publications and Research

Resumen: El presente trabajo describe el proceso para establecer una especialización secundaria bilingüe centrada en la comunicación y la interpretación médica en una universidad de Estados Unidos designada como Institución al Servicio de los Hispanos. Este nuevo título universitario brindará a los estudiantes bilingües de español e inglés especializados en el área de la salud la oportunidad de mejorar sus destrezas comunicativas para convertirse en competentes profesionales de la salud concordantes de lengua.

Abstract:This paper details the process to establish a new bilingual academic minor in health communication and medical interpretation at a United States university designated as a Hispanic-Serving …

Esteban Salinas: Reworking Mono-Epistemological Thought In The Borderlands Through Local Leadership And Legacy, Jose M. Escobedo, Juan Salinas Jr., Griselda Salinas

Organization and School Leadership Faculty Publications

This article examines an ethnographic case study of Esteban Salinas, a local teacher beloved by communities across the mid-Rio Grande Valley. By reconstructing his story and critically examining his legacy, we can achieve a better understanding of the monocultural narratives imposed on the borderlands in his time and seek to challenge them through the examples and legacies of individuals like Esteban Salinas. We also seek to further add contextualization over the Western colonial institutions implemented in the 20th century in the borderlands through which we are still confined, and which require reevaluation and rework and how aspects of his legacy …

Community Approaches To Digitally Documenting And Sharing Conjunto Music In The South Texas Borderlands, René Antonio Ballesteros

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the rich tradition of conjunto music within the South Texas borderlands, examining how integrating community engagement and digital humanities methodologies can effectively enhance the documentation, conservation, and presentation of this place-based expressive culture. Recognizing existing archival gaps, the research employed community-engaged programming to gather and preserve valuable cultural data. A key methodology outcome involved creating digital maps utilizing place-based data related to conjunto music sites and activities, subsequently integrating these maps into an ArcGIS Online story map for public online access. The findings demonstrate the significant potential of community collaboration and digital humanities tools in amplifying cultural …

Volume 8 (2025) The Spanish Language, Language Variations, Cultures And Responsibility

International Journal on Responsibility

This issue reflects an intentional and profound commitment to linguistic inclusion, cultural diversity, and the shared responsibility of scholars to broaden the scope of academic dialogue beyond the boundaries of English. The essays collected here invite us to reimagine bilingualism not only as a communicative skill but also as a moral, social, and institutional responsibility.

Esta edición representa un compromiso intencional y profundo con la inclusión lingüística, la diversidad cultural y la responsabilidad compartida de ampliar los horizontes del diálogo académico más allá de los límites del inglés. Los ensayos aquí reunidos nos invitan a reimaginar el bilingüismo no solo …

Julieta Lanteri And Political Caricature: The Democratic Reach Of Commercial Theater And The Expansion Of The Public Sphere, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Kristen Mccleary

International Journal on Responsibility

In the early twentieth century, popular theater in Buenos Aires appealed to a diverse audience, including immigrants, men, and women from all social classes, workers, as well as the most elite members of the oligarchy. By analyzing one work in particular, La doctora de Lantera, by Armando B. Rillo and Victor Dolard, one of the most well-attended plays of 1919, this article focuses on how theater reveals the social tensions surrounding the role of women in society during an era of dramatic change. It also shows how theater provides an outlet from which to identify, negotiate, and, at times, …

Stolen, Lost, And Replaced: Testimonios Regarding Chicana Responsibilities To The Spanish Language, Fawn-Amber Montoya, Ashley Martinez

International Journal on Responsibility

Using testimonio, the authors address how the Spanish language represents a component of Chicana identity. They illustrate how geography, history, and colonization impact Chicanas’ relationship with the Spanish language. Using testimonio allows the writers to explore the Spanish language in the United States through their personal experiences.

Resumen

Usando “testimonio”, las autoras abordan cómo el idioma español representa un componente de la identidad chicana. Ilustran cómo la geografía, la historia y la colonización afectan la relación de las chicanas con el idioma español. El uso de “testimonio” permite a las autoras explorar el idioma español en los Estados Unidos a …

Femtoring Book Club: Turning Pages, Uplifting Latinas, Heather A. Hathaway Miranda

Gatherings

Amid the social isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic, I initiated Learn, Laugh, Lead, and Self-Love, a virtual femtoring program designed for Latina women aged 19 to 25. This weekly space incorporated interactive elements such as icebreakers, creative responses to visual art, and intentional community-building practices to cultivate trust and solidarity. After one year, the virtual gatherings transitioned into a monthly femtoring book club for women of color, launching with The Four Agreements and centering themes of gratitude, affirmation, and the reflective practice of sharing tunas and espinas© (joys and challenges). Drawing on my prior participation and support of an in-person …

Terminating Pregnancies In Boccaccio, Anne C. Leone

Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics - All Scholarship

Analyzing examples from the Decameron (1349-51), De mulieribus claris (1361), and the Corbaccio (1365), I argue that Boccaccio (1313-75) demonstrates an awareness of theological, legal and medical opinions on abortion and contraception at the time. However, he is more attuned to the practical concerns of pregnancy than are many of his contemporaries. Acknowledging the variety of situations facing pregnant people and some parts of their lived experience that were ignored by many religious and legal authorities, Boccaccio highlights a disconnection between theory and practice, and thereby raises questions about the limits of abstract knowledge in the face of practical concerns.

Women’S Bonds And Chance Encounters: An Analogical Reading Of The Book Of Ruth And Joshua Marston’S Film Maria Full Of Grace, Luigi De Angelis Soriano

Journal of Religion & Film

This article offers an analogical reading of the biblical book of Ruth and Joshua Marston’s 2004 film Maria Full of Grace, examining how both narratives portray migrant women who form strategic social bonds to navigate precariousness within limiting power structures. While Ruth and María inhabit vastly different cultural and historical contexts, their stories meet in their emphasis on female solidarity and human agency. Focusing on key verses from Ruth and pivotal scenes from Maria Full of Grace, this study highlights how emotional and ethical relationships among women—whether covenantal or born of desperation—become sources of strength in the absence …

Herejías En La Ciudad Global: Legados De Tercermundismo, Asimilación Y Desplazamiento Urbano En Las Narrativas Literarias Contemporáneas Latinx Y Afroportuguesa (2000-2022)., Ricardo Martín Coloma

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Esta tesis examina de manera comparativa dos corpus de novelas contemporáneas que interrogan los múltiples espacios de poder y vulnerabilidad que experimentan las diásporas latinx y africanas que logran movilidad social a través del trabajo en las ciudades globales de Nueva York y Lisboa. Mediante el análisis de autores tan diversos como la mexicano-puertorriqueña Xochitl González, la dominicana Cleyvis Natera, el puertorriqueño-ecuatoriano Ernesto Quiñonez, la angoleña-portuguesa Telma Tvon, la angoleña-portuguesa Djamilia Pereira y el angoleño Kalaf Epalanga, establezco un diálogo entre las narrativas literarias de autores caribeños de la diáspora sobre la ciudad de Nueva York y las diásporas africanas …

Sharing And Preserving Sociolinguistic Corpora On The U.S.-Mexico Border, Katherine Christoffersen, Isabella Calafate, Julio Ciller, Ana M. Carvalho, Ryan M. Bessett, Brandon J. Martínez, Hannia Rojas Barreda, William Flores, Richard Quiroz

Writing and Language Studies Faculty Publications

Since William Labov outlined the methodology for the sociolinguistic interview in 1972, sociolinguistic corpora have been used widely in the field of sociolinguistics to study diverse speech communities and linguistic features. However, most of these invaluable sociolinguistic collections have been available only to the individual researcher or research group, and these data sets usually disappear from use with that individual scholar. More recently, there has been a push towards data sharing in sociolinguistics, reflective of data sharing and the open science movement in other fields. Still, accessible online sociolinguistic corpora are few and far between, in part due to the …

A Constructive Engagement Between Oxford Ordinary Language Philosophy And Latin American & Latine Liberatory Philosophy, Alessandro R. Moscaritolo Palacio

Comparative Philosophy

In this paper, I bring into dialogue a movement in Latin American social and political philosophy – which I have named Latin American and Latine Liberatory Philosophy – and a Western, or more precisely global North, philosophical movement sometimes called Ordinary Language Philosophy. By ‘Latin American and Latine Liberatory Philosophy’, I refer to a movement, adumbrated at the dawn of the 19^th century and developed during the 20^th century, whose guiding theme is the political, social, and cultural liberation of Latin America (and global South peoples more generally). By ‘Ordinary Language Philosophy’, on the other hand, I refer …

Dr. Alison Krӧgel Faculty Spotlight, Rachel Jaeger

DU Undergraduate Research Journal Archive

An interview with Dr. Alison Krӧgel of the University of Denver's Department of Spanish Language, Literary & Cultural Studies.

The Extraction Unconscious: Solar-Powered Utopias In Catching The Sun (2015) And In The Name Of Lithium (2021), Isidora Cortés-Monroy

Critical Humanities

By comparing the depictions of future energy regimes in the two ecodocumentaries, Catching the Sun (2015) and In the Name of Lithium (2021), this article explores representations of post-carbon futures from the US and Argentina. Read closely alongside Frederic Jameson’s notions of utopias, the article delineates the extent to which a solar powered future challenges and reiterates current neocolonial extractivist structures. Basing myself on Patricia Yaeger’s concept of an “energy unconscious,” I argue that these solar utopias maintain an “extraction unconscious” that continues to produce sacrifice zones where primary commodities needed for the energy transition can be found. By analysing …

On The Edge Of The Abyss: Cultural Responses To Extractivism In The Andes, Jack Martinez Arias

Critical Humanities

This work examines the contemporary cultural productions of Cerro de Pasco, a city in constant destruction due to an ever-expanding open pit mine that has grown to over a mile wide since the 1950s. Drawing on Latin American environmental humanities and discursive analysis, I conduct a close reading of poems, stories, performances, and audiovisual works by local artists responding to this largely overlooked apocalyptic scenario. By analyzing narrative strategies such as repetition and irony, I identify recurring themes and establish common concerns related to extractivism, urban extinction, illness, and death. This study seeks to understand how these cultural productions envision …

Alexander Von Humboldt: Rescate Patrimonial Y Escritos Para Una Memoria De Justicia Social Latinoamericana, Gladys Ilarregui

Homage to Alexander von Humboldt: Travels to and from Spain Throughout the Centuries / Homenaje a Alexander von Humboldt: Viajes hacia y desde España de todos los siglos

Un códice, una estatuilla en piedra, un dibujo estelar en un papel plegado, el ocre y el rojo ladrillo decorando figuras extrañas. Un grupo familiar en una ceremonia, mujeres con glosas que salen de la boca, rostros con orejeras, el humo de los tiempos. Estas cosas agujereadas, maltratadas por la humedad y muchas veces rotas han soportado ya varios siglos, pero el coleccionismo europeo de la Ilustración las revisa, selecciona e interpreta. Desde la modernidad que Byung- Chul-Han describe como el momento de las “no-cosas”, cuando las cosas que estabilizaban la vida humana y le daban continuidad pierden su efecto …

An X-Ray Of Mẽbêngôkre Houses In Terms Of Matrimonial Alliance, Vanessa R. Lea, Leandro Mahalem De Lima

Tipití: Journal of the Society for the Anthropology of Lowland South America

This article examines the matrimonial implications of the Houses, or matrihouses, of the Mẽtyktire subgroup of the Mẽbêngôkre (Kayapó-Jê) with the assistance of Puck (Program for the Use and Computation of Kinship Data) and Pajek software. In accordance with the greater legibility of graphics, statistical results have been converted into graphics whenever possible. The analysis is based on a revised version of a dataset spanning the years 1978 to 1982 and published on the site Kinsources. What began as a village census later morphed into genealogies, which served as the basis for the digital dataset. The matrihouses …

"La Vida Es Un Carnaval": An Exploration Of Cuban Identity And Nostalgia Through Dance/Movement Therapy - A Community Engagement Project, Maria Fernanda Mendez Mendoza

Expressive Therapies Theses

“La Vida Es Un Carnaval” is a community engagement project and thesis that explores how identity and nostalgic resilience show up through dance/movement therapy with Cuban immigrants living in the United States, specifically Massachusetts. This project brought together six Cuban-born participants, ages 26 to 67, each with their own unique migration stories; from the Rafter Balsero Crisis of 1994, to the “Wet-Foot/Dry-Foot” policy, and family reunification. Through a mix of in-person and online sessions, participants explored their experiences using intermodal activities including dance/movement therapy techniques, conversation, journaling, artwork, and music. Themes of cultural pride, “Cubanía” – Cuban-ness, culture shock, and …

El Presidio Hispano-Colonial: Estudio Del Discurso Moderno De Fortificación Del Imperio Español A Traves De Planos Y Mapas, Javier E. Astorga Villarroel Ph.D.

Latin American Studies ETDs

This dissertation project delves into the processes of ideation, design, projection, and knowledge-transfer around the Presidio, an iconoclastic fortification system deployed by the Spanish Empire while projecting its colonial power toward the Transatlantic region. Based on Bruno Latour’s classic theory on the agency of networks of meanings (also known as new materialism) applied to historical cartography, my investigation examines the production of techno-military knowledge around the presidios as they were depicted through plans, maps, and manuals while mapping out border areas over North America and the Caribbean, from the 17th to the 19th centuries. With archival research work performed at …

Imágenes De Silencio, Compromiso, Persecución Y Tortura: La Teología De La Liberación Y Su Encrucijada Con Las Dictaduras Del Cono Sur Desde Una Representación Cinematográfica, Marcial Martínez

Spanish and Portuguese ETDs

This dissertation examines the interaction between liberation theology and the

dictatorships of the Southern Cone from the 1960s to the 1980s through cinematic

representation. Filmmakers from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay

depict the political upheavals of the time, including the rise of leftist movements,

military regimes, and the influence of liberation theology, a progressive religious

ideology advocating for the oppressed. The study focuses on what is defined here

as the "cinematic canon of liberation theology," a body of films and documentaries

that legitimize, contest, or obscure ideologies tied to this movement vis-à-vis the

dictatorships. These films contest the silence …

Weaving An Alternative Food System: The Implications Of‬‭ Campesino‬‭ Community‬ Structures For Food Sovereignty In New England‬, Torrance Wagner

CISLA Senior Integrative Projects

This exploration seeks to detangle the diverse lines of thinking, reasoning, and acting that make up the concept of food sovereignty, and to do so with the intention of understanding what its most actionable principles are. The topic is inspired by the traditional community-scale agriculture of campesino communities throughout Latin America, but specifically in the Valles Centrales of Oaxaca, Mexico. The ultimate questions are if and how the collectivity that often exists in these cultures can be applied to local food systems in New England to support regional food sovereignty. The ideas presented are drawn from personal experience, theoretical academic …

Rootless - The Body Remembers What The Mind Has Forgotten, Helena Omana-Zapata

Latin American Studies ETDs

In repurposing academic spaces for healing, this project is meant to culminate in an artefact that aligns with decolonial educational practices, focusing on accessibility. In doing so, this project braids multimodality, re-represented history, and testimonio of various genres: personal narrative, Latinx story and resistance, critical examination of history and reproductions of information to depict my experience of detaching from cultural identity through assimilation and acculturation in the United States in education. In what I have called the process of leaving me rootless, I no longer had access to the places, people, identity, or language that established belonging. However, through …

A Movement In Process: The Effects Of Post-Dictatorship Politics On The Legalization Of Abortion In Argentina, Corinne J. Robbins

CISLA Senior Integrative Projects

Access to abortion is an inherently critical aspect of sexual and reproductive rights. That is to say that access to safe abortions is of equal importance to guaranteeing a person’s right to safety during the pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum period. This research primarily focuses on the trajectory of the legalization of abortion in Argentina after the end of the last military Dictatorship (1976-1983), the factors that impacted the movement, and how the movement is received in Argentina today. Argentina’s current administration has been unsupportive of the current abortion law, but past successes demonstrate that abortion rights activists in Argentina are …

Trans-Pacific Connections: Chinese Porcelain And Aztec Motifs In Colonial Mexico, Natalia Ramirez

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

This research explores artworks within the Global Baroque as visual and ideological evidence through which colonial power, trade, and cross-cultural influence shaped the material culture of the early modern world. Centering on blue and white ceramics as a key medium of transcultural and trans-local exchange, the study analyzes how global motifs, particularly those drawn from Aztec and Chinese traditions, were reinterpreted, aestheticized, and circulated in Aztec and Novohispanic artistic practices.

Through a close observational comparison of Aztec and Chinese decorative systems, the study recognizes contrasting systems of cultural documentation embedded within similar visual forms. Aztec motifs, rooted in ritual, calendrical, …