Spanish Faculty

Full-time Faculty

Jorge Ata, Instructor
MA, George Mason University
ata@american.edu

Lilian Baeza, Instructor
MS, Georgetown University
baezamen@american.edu
Professor Lilian Baeza is a native of Chile, but she has spent most of her life in the US. She holds a BA from George Mason University and a MS from Georgetown University. During her years as an educator, she has focused on Golden Age Theater, Second Language Acquisition, and Learning Disabilities. She is also interested in pop culture and domestic politics. Besides teaching, she has served as a translator for different nonprofit organizations in the D.C. area. She is currently working on the use of Media as a tool for language learning.

Jack Child, Professor
PhD, American University
jchild@American.edu
Professor Jack Child was born of American parents in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and lived in South America for 18 years before coming to the United States to attend Yale University. Following graduation from Yale he entered the U.S. Army, and served for 20 years as an Army Latin American specialist until his retirement as a lieutenant colonel. In 1982 he joined the Department of Language and Foreign Studies, where he teaches a variety of courses (in both English and Spanish) dealing with translation and Latin American studies, with an emphasis on popular culture. (Read more)

Consuelo Hernandez, Associate Professor
PhD, New York University
chdez@american.edu
Professor Consuelo Hernández teaches courses on XXe Latin American Literature, poetry, Central América, Colombia and Afro-Latin America. She has around 50 publications in prestigious journals. Professor Hernández has published works such as Álvaro Mutis: Una estética del deterioro and has articles featured in professional journals such as: Revista Iberoamericana, MACLAS. Latin American Essays, and Revista de Lingüística y Literatura. (Read more)

María Esther Ibáñez-Holtermann, Instructor
MA, American University
eholter@american.edu
Professor Maria Esther Ibáñez-Holtermann teaches language and topic courses in Spanish at American University.  She is fluent in German and Spanish and graduated from Reutlingen Business School (Germany) in international business.  She was awarded 2 ERASMUS (European Union) grants to study one semester at the Université de Savoie (France) and one semester at Wolverhampton University (England). In previous positions she has worked as administrator for the German government in Washington, D.C. and as translator for Daimler-Benz in Germany.  She holds a graduate certificate in Spanish-English translation.  Professor Ibáñez-Holtermann’s research interests focus on immigration and the Latino community.  She is currently pursuing a PhD in Cultural Anthropology at American University.

Amy Oliver, Associate Professor
PhD, University of Massachusetts
aoliver@american.edu
Professor Amy Oliver's teaching and research on Latin America explore philosophical treatments of marginality, feminism, hybridity, alterity, "nepantlismo," and "transfronterismo." She works on the Hispanic essay of ideas and Latin American narrative. She has lived in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and Spain, and traveled extensively in Latin America and the Caribbean. She serves on the International Editorial Board of Cuadernos Americanos, and on several committees of the American Philosophical Association. She has been President of the Society for Iberian and Latin American Thought and Director of American University's Women's and Gender Studies Program. Her latest book is Feminist Philosophy in Latin America and Spain. (Read more)

Marie Piñeiro, Instructor
MA, American University
mpineiro@american.edu
Professor Piñeiro teaches Spanish Conversation and Composition and Elementary and Intermediate Spanish. She has served as Coordinating Professor for the Intermediate Spanish program for the past two years, and as the Spanish Club advisor for the past four. Professor Piñeiro is interested in the study of instructional methods of Spanish as a Second Language. She is also interested in Literature of Latin American and Spanish Women Writers. Professor Piñeiro was recently credited for reviewing two chapters of the 3rd edition of Atando cabos, an intermediate level Spanish textbook by Prentice Hall.

Juan Pablo Rivera, Assistant Professor
PhD, Harvard University
BA, Yale University, Magna Cum Laude
jrivera@american.edu
Professor Rivera's research interests include non-monolingual linguistic practices and studies of gender and sexuality in Latin America and the United States. He has published articles on contemporary Latin American literature and intellectual history. Currently, Professor Rivera is completing a book project on Puerto Rico's premiere novelist and public intellectual, Mayra Santos Febres. He is also revising for publication his doctoral dissertation, entitled Sexuality, Multilingualism and the Latin American Diaspora.

Ana Serra, Associate Professor
PhD, George Washington University
aserra@american.edu
Professor Serra's scholarship focuses on Literary Theory and Cultural Studies in the field of Latin American Studies, specifically, theory concerning the politics of identity in Latin American culture. Her teaching interests include Latin American Cultural Studies, Latin American literature in conflict areas, and Latin American testimonials. Her area of specialization is the culture of the Cuban Revolution. (Read more)

Kristi Velleman, Instructor
MA, American University
velleman@american.edu
Professor Kristi Velleman holds a BA from the University of Virginia and a MA in Spanish and Latin American Studies from American University.  She began instructing Spanish at American during her graduate studies in 2003 and currently teaches Intermediate Spanish and Proyecto Amistad, an internship program. Her main interests include language and linguistics and cultural studies, particularly the impact and evolution of dance in Hispanic societies.

Brenda Werth, Assistant Professor
PhD, Rutgers University
werth@american.edu
Professor Werth specializes in contemporary Latin American Theatre and Southern Cone Studies. In 2003-4 She spent a year on a Fulbright Hays grant to conduct her dissertation research on memory politics and Argentine theatre in Buenos Aires. Her areas of interest include postdictatorial literary and cultural production (in particular, theatre and film), performance and reception theory, memory studies, and identity politics. (Read more)

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Adjunct Faculty

Emil Alvarado
Doctorate, Ecoles des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris, France
alvarado@american.edu

Stephanie Bekhor
MA, University of Arizona
MDiv, Southern Methodist University
bekhor@american.edu

Mariá José Bravo-Cubillán
MA, University of Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain
cubillan@verizon.net

Susan Casarez
MS, Towson University, Towson, MD
MA, Georgetown University
casarez@american.edu

Tatevik Gevorgyan
PhD, Yerevan State University, Armenia
gevorgyan@american.edu

Lamar Graham
MA Candidate, American University
MAED, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg
lg0515a@american.edu

Emelina Hoyos
MA, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX
hoyos@american.edu

Allison Lima
MA, University of Oregon
lima@american.edu

Meaghan Long
MA Candidate, American University
Ml0354a@american.edu

Ana Martinez
MA, Universidad de las Americas, Puebla, Mexico
amartine@american.edu

Pablo Martinez
MS, Georgetown University
pmartine@american.edu

Isabel Rodriguez Melguizo
MA, University of Sussex, UK

Betty Mitchell
MA, University of Louisville
betty.mitchell@american.edu

Maria Luisa Rosenblat de Olaizola
MA, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas, Venezuela
mrosenbl@american.edu

Camilla Bozzoli Rudolph
Doctorate, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
bozzolir@american.edu

Mariá Tamayo
MA, Georgetown University
marotabas@hotmail.com

Meghan Tiernan
MA Candidate, American University
Mt6410a@american.edu

Edward Warner
MA, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
ew0145a@american.edu

Jessie Yaun
MA, International University of Japan at Minami Uonuma-Shai, Niigata, Japan
yaun@american.edu