People

Alexis Jimenez, PhD
Title/Position
Assistant Professor of Instruction
Alexis Jimenez is an Assistant Professor of Instruction within the field of Spanish at the University of Iowa.

Paula Kempchinsky, PhD
Title/Position
Associate Professor
Paula Kempchinsky (1954-2021), Associate Professor of Spanish and Linguistics, was born on August 11, 1954. Paula received her MA from the University of Minnesota in Spanish literature and then moved to Los Angeles to start her PhD at UCLA in Romance Linguistics.

Philip Klein, PhD
Title/Position
Associate Professor Emeritus
Philip W. Klein is Associate Professor Emeritus of Spanish grammar and linguistics in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Iowa, with publications in phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pedagogy and computer applications.

Rachel Klevar, PhD
Title/Position
Assistant Professor of Instruction
Director of Curriculum
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Rachel Klevar is the supervisor of the GE CLAS Core elementary Spanish courses and teaches a wide variety of face-to-face and online Spanish classes.

Tom Lewis, PhD
Title/Position
Professor Emeritus
Collegiate Fellow Emeritus
Tom Lewis was Professor and Collegiate Fellow in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Iowa, specializing in contemporary literary theory and Spanish literature and culture after 1700.

Judith Liskin-Gasparro, PhD
Title/Position
Associate Professor Emeritus
Judith Liskin-Gasparro is Associate Professor Emerita in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, where she taught for 22 years (1993–2015). During that time she served as Director of the General Education Program in Spanish (1993–2006) and co-directed FLARE, the UI’s interdisciplinary doctoral program in Second Language Acquisition (2000–2015). She taught courses in second language acquisition, applied linguistics, and Spanish language. Her research interests include the development of second language speaking skills in classroom and study abroad contexts, oral proficiency assessment, and program evaluation and the assessment of student learning outcomes. Her publications include articles and edited volumes on these topics, as well as co-authorship of three college-level Spanish textbooks.

Rommel Paul Manosalvas
Title/Position
Graduate Student in Master of Fine Arts in Spanish Creative Writing
Rommel Paul Manosalvas is a graduate student at the University of Iowa.

Pilar Marcé, PhD
Title/Position
Associate Professor of Instruction
Dr. Pilar Marcé is an Associate Professor of Instruction, who specializes in Spanish for Specific Purposes (SSP).

Luis Martín-Estudillo, PhD
Title/Position
Professor and Collegiate Scholar
Director of the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies
Luis Martín-Estudillo is Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Iowa, specializing in modern and contemporary Spanish cultural and intellectual history and criticism.

Adriana Méndez Rodenas, PhD
Title/Position
Professor Emeritus
A professor in the Department of Spanish & Portuguese at the University of Iowa, Adriana Méndez Rodenas specializes in nineteenth and twentieth century Latin American literature.

Ana Merino, PhD
Title/Position
Adjunct Professor
Ana Merino is an Adjunct Professor of Hispanic Studies and 2016 Collegiate Scholar. In 2009, Merino left her position at Dartmouth College to create the Spanish MFA program at the University of Iowa. She was its director since her foundation in March 2011 until December 2018. Between 2001-2011 she was a Member of the ICAF (International Comic Arts Forum) Executive Committee; and between 2004 and 2014 Directors Board Member at The Center for Cartoon Studies.

Kristine Muñoz, PhD
Title/Position
Professor
Global Health Studies Director
Dr. Kristine Muñoz's research and theory are centered in the ethnography of speaking based on fieldwork in Colombia. She works on topics related to peace education and health humanities, specifically the use of health narratives in teaching and publicly engaged scholarship of health care and caregiving.

Luis Muñoz, PhD
Title/Position
Associate Professor
Director of MFA in Spanish Creative Writing
Luis Muñoz was born in Granada, Spain. In his hometown, he directed the University of Granada’s Aula de Literatura (1992-2000), as well as the poetry magazine Hélice, from its founding until its closure (1992-2002). Between 2001 and 2012, he worked in Madrid as an advisor to the Residencia de Estudiantes.

Kathleen Newman, PhD
Title/Position
Associate Professor
Professor Newman’s research and teaching focuses on Latin American, Chicano, and Spanish cinemas as well as on theoretical questions regarding the relation between fictional narrative and politics and the relation between cinema and globalization.

Mercedes Niño-Murcia, PhD
Title/Position
Professor Emeritus
Mercedes Niño-Murcia, Professor in the Department of Spanish & Portuguese at the University of Iowa, is a sociocultural linguist. Her work focuses on the consequences of linguistic contact and nationalist language ideologies upon bilingual communities in Latin America and the United States. She has done research on inequalities of language policy and how sociolinguistic inequalities affect indigenous and/or immigrant groups in both rural and urban settings. She has also written about vernacular literacies. Her current research contributes to forensic linguistics (the study of interactions between language and legal institutions) and focuses especially on contexts that shape class and race hierarchies around Latino immigrants in the USA.

Sue Otto, PhD
Title/Position
Associate Professor Emeritus
Sue was the Director of the Language Media Center (now Center for Language and Culture Learning) and Co-Director of the FLARE doctoral program in Second Language Acquisition at the University of Iowa.

Maricelle Pinto-Tomas, PhD
Title/Position
Assistant Professor of Instruction
Maricelle was born and raised in San José, Costa Rica. She joined the University of Iowa after receiving her PhD. She also works as a French and Spanish interpreter for the Iowa City Community School District. Her teaching responsibilities include Portuguese and Spanish languages, literatures, and cultures.

Claudia Pozzobon Potratz, PhD
Title/Position
Visiting Assistant Professor
Claudia Pozzobon Potratz has a MSc in Teaching/Learning Foreign Languages from la Universidad de los Andes in Mérida, Venezuela, and a PhD in Language, Literacy, and Culture from the University of Iowa. She is an experienced instructor and researcher in higher education and teacher education in both Venezuela and the US. She is skilled in biliteracy, multilingual literacy, and teaching Spanish as a heritage language (HL).

Monica Quintero Restrepo
Title/Position
Graduate Student in Master of Fine Arts in Spanish Creative Writing
Iowa Arts Fellow
Mónica Quintero Restrepo is a cultural journalist with a Master's degree in Literary Hermeneutics. Her primary interests include poetry, fiction, cultural journalism, and pastry.

Jenny Ritchie
Title/Position
University Shared Services Accountant
Learn more about Jenny Ritchie, University Shared Services Accountant at the University of Iowa.

Rene Rocha, PhD
Title/Position
Latina/o/x Studies Program Director
Herman J. and Eileen S. Schmidt Chair
Professor
Dr. Rene Rocha is Herman J. and Eileen S. Schmidt Chair, Professor of Political Science, and Director of the Latina/o/x Studies Program at the University of Iowa.

Stephani Rodriguez
Stephani Rodriguez is a graduate student at the University of Iowa.

Ana M. Rodríguez-Rodríguez, PhD
Title/Position
Associate Professor
Graduate College Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Graduate Student Success
Ana M. Rodríguez-Rodríguez is an Associate Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Iowa, specializing in Early Modern Spanish Literature.
Abraham Salas
Title/Position
PhD Candidate in Spanish
Graduate Teaching Assistant in Spanish
Abraham Salas is a PhD student and teaching assistant at the University of Iowa.

Judith Santopietro
Title/Position
Graduate Teaching Assistant in Spanish
Judith Santopietro is a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Iowa.

Christine Shea, PhD
Title/Position
Associate Professor
Director of Graduate Studies
Christine Shea is interested in how age, experience and the native language sound system interact with the perception and production of a second language.
Allison Stickley
Title/Position
PhD Candidate in Spanish
Graduate Teaching Assistant in Spanish
Allison Stickley is a Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of Iowa.

Ciara Tapanes
Ciara Tapanes is a graduate student at the University of Iowa.

Diana Vélez, PhD
Title/Position
Associate Professor Emeritus
Diana Vélez is Associate Professor Emeritus in the Department of Spanish & Portuguese at the University of Iowa, specializing in contemporary Spanish American narrative, Caribbean literature, Chicano literature & culture, translation studies, and women's studies.
Karen Vizcarra-Madrigal
Title/Position
Graduate Student in Master of Fine Arts in Spanish Creative Writing
She goes back and forth between Mexico and the United States so she's fluent in Spanglish although she writes mostly in Spanish. Currently a Spanish Creative Writing, MFA candidate.
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