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Nadiyah AamerResearch Area20th-21st Century | Iberian Studies | Migration/Diaspora/Border Studies | Postcolonial and Decolonial Studies | Women's Voices Degree(s)M.A. Spanish, Georgia State University BioNadiyah Aamer is a PhD Candidate of Literary, Linguistic, and Cultural Studies at the University of Miami. Her main research interests include: 20th-21st Century Peninsular Iberian Literatures, Arabs and Muslims in the Contemporary Hispanophone World, Hispanic Arabo-Muslim Women Writers, Postcolonial Women's Voices, and Migrant/Diaspora/Border Literatures. Her dissertation focuses on the figure of Scheherazade from the 1001 Arabian Nights as an archetypal "Odalisque" figure of Muslim women in contemporary Spanish-language Iberian literature and graphic novels. She was awarded the Dean's Fellowship in 2019 and 2023 and was awarded the UGrow Center for the Humanities Fellowship in 2020. Recent Publications |
Mauro CazzollaResearch AreaDegree(s)BioRecent Publications |
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Gabriel das ChagasResearch AreaComparative Literature | Cultural Studies | Film Studies | Postcoloniality and Decoloniality | Intersectionality | African Diaspora and Global Black Studies | Queer Studies | 20th Century | American Studies | Brazilian Studies | Latin American Studies Degree(s)Ph.D. Comparative Literature, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
M.A. Comparative Literature, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
B.A. Portuguese and English, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
BioGabriel Chagas (he/him) holds a B.A. in Portuguese and English (magna cum laude) from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. He received his M.A. in Comparative Literature and his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. He is currently pursuing his second Ph.D. at the University of Miami, where he is a Portuguese Instructor and a 3rd-year Ph.D. student. His main research interests are Comparative Literature, Brazilian/Latin American Studies, African American Studies, African Diaspora/Global Black Studies, Postcoloniality, Decoloniality, and Intersectionality. His research interweaves Portuguese, Spanish, and English, offering a transnational perspective of Blackness in the Americas through the works of writers Lima Barreto from Brazil, Langston Hughes from the U.S., and Manuel Zapata Olivella from Colombia. Gabriel has published articles in American and Brazilian academic journals. His book Pérolas Negras na Periferia (Pontes Editores, 2023) was awarded 1st place in the Antonio Candido National Prize for Literary Studies in Brazil. Gabriel was also awarded 1st place in the 2023 postdoctoral and graduate symposium at the University of Miami. In 2023, he was a co-covener in the Center for Humanities at UM and he is now a University of Miami Fellow. Recent Publications2023 Book Pérolas Negras na Periferia (Editora Pontes, Brazil)
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Jacob DennisResearch AreaCultural Studies | Black Feminisms | Indigenous Studies | Queer Studies | Decoloniality | Marxism | Critical Race and Ethnic Studies | Comparative Literature | Critical Geographies | Ecocriticism | Diaspora Studies | Critical Refugee Studies | Digital Humanities | Second Language Pedagogy | Language Policy Degree(s)M.A. in Romance Languages - The University of Alabama B.A. in Foreign Languages and Literature - The University of Alabama B.S. in Mathematics - The University of Alabama BioJacob Dennis (they/them) is a first-year PhD student of Literary, Cultural and Linguistic Studies at the University of Miami. Jacob completed their undergraduate studies in French, Mathematics and Spanish, and they hold a master’s degree in applied (French) linguistics. Jacob’s research focuses broadly on studies of the francophone and hispanic Caribbean-Americas with specific interests in anticolonial and decolonial movements, histories and thought. Recent Publications |
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Catheline Théodora DesireResearch AreaCultural Studies | Caribbean Studies | Haitian Studies | Postcolonial and Decolonial Studies | Languages in the Caribbean | Language Policy | Sociolinguistics Degree(s)M.A. in Didactics of Languages, French as Foreign Language, French as Second Language: Careers in Research, Teaching, Université Paris 3 Sorbonne Nouvelle, France B.S. in Law, Université de Limoges, France B.A. in Arts, Languages, and Literature, Université de Limoges, France Undergraduate Coursework, International Exchange: English Literature, Global Studies, Hood College BioCatheline Desire is a first-year Ph.D. student of Literary, Cultural, and Linguistic Studies at the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at the University of Miami. She was born and raised in Haïti and went to college in France. She is passionate about Languages, Politics, Feminism, and Travel. Catheline has experience teaching French in France and the United States of America. Her research interests focus on the interaction between languages in the Caribbean and their perceptions in postcolonial Societies. Recent Publications |
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Rim El BelkacemiResearch AreaMigration Studies | Postcolonial and Decolonial Studies | Critical Race Studies | Diaspora Studies | Media/Film/Visual Studies | Cultural Studies | Literary and Critical Theory Degree(s)M.A. Communication in Cultural Contexts , Moulay Ismail University, Meknes BioRim El Belkacemi is a PhD student of Literary, Linguistic, and Cultural Studies at the University of Miami. Her main research interests include: Decolonial studies, immigrant/Diaspora studies, Middle eastern and North African Studies/Literatures, Francophone literature, Arab Literature and Urban performance. She is currently a UGrow communication fellow at the Center for the Humanities for the 2020-2021 academic year. Recent Publications |
Diona EspinosaResearch AreaCuban and Latin American Film Studies | Contemporary Performance Arts | Transmedia Narratives Degree(s)B.A Journalism, University of Havana BioDiona Espinosa Teaching Assistant and Ph.D. student at the University of Miami. She has been a speaker in the Latin American Studies Association Conference, the Graduate Student Cuban Studies Symposium at Harvard University, and the Middle Atlantic Council of Latin American Studies, among other symposia and academic events. Recent Publications |
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Marcia Fanti NegriResearch AreaCultural Studies and Post-coloniality | Literary, Theater and Performing Arts | Gender & Sexuality Studies | Aesthetics Degree(s)Ph.D Linguistic Studies, UniversidadeFederal de São Carlos (UFSCar), São Carlos, SP, Brazil M.A. Linguistic Studies, UniversidadeFederal de São Carlos (UFSCar), São Carlos, SP, Brazil BioMarcia Fanti Negri is a PhD candidate in Literary, Cultural and Linguistic Studies at MLL. Her research interests are in Cultural Studies and Post-coloniality; Literary, Theater and Performing Arts; Gender & Sexuality Studies; Aesthetics; Teaching (Portuguese/English/Spanish) as a Second Language and Teacher Education. She holds a PhD and MA in Linguistic Studies from Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar), São Carlos, SP, Brazil. She has served as Portuguese faculty at the Middlebury College Summer Language Programs teaching a variety of language and culture courses in the Lusophone world since 2020. Marcia is very keen on artistic expressions and their educational and political value to society. In her dissertation Re-mapping Women’s Voices in Brazilian Contemporary Writing, she explores inverted migration and intersections of gender, race and social class in the Northeast Brazil through women’s voices in contemporary writing. Recent Publications |
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Eukene Franco LandaResearch AreaSociolinguistics | Morphosyntax | Language Sociology | Language Ideology Degree(s)B.A. in Basque Studies, University of the Basque Country M.A. in Basque Linguistics and Philology, University of the Basque Country BioEukene Franco-Landa (she/her) is a Ph.D. candidate in Literary, Cultural and Linguistic Studies at the University of Miami. She is a Basque speaker and an advocate of minority languages and cultures. Her work focuses on sociolinguistics, language variation and contact, and language ideologies. She has done research on the agreement variation in young Basque speakers and on linguistic identities and attitudes towards Basque. Her dissertation focuses on the variation of the ergative marker in Basque and the language ideologies related to speaker authenticity and legitimacy attached to that feature. More specifically, it compares these phenomena in two Basque communities: the Basque Autonomous Community (Europe) and the Basque diaspora of Boise, Idaho (United States). Recent Publications |
Maytte Hernandez-LorenzoResearch AreaDegree(s)BioRecent Publications |
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Samuel JohnsonResearch AreaLatin American Studies | Luso-Brazilian Studies | Amazonian Studies | Multispecies Justice | Decolonial Theory | Post-colonial Studies | Environmental Humanities | Human and Non-human Rights | Indigenous Studies | Latin American Film | Brazilian Film | Spanish as a Second Language | Portuguese as Second Language Degree(s)M.A. Spanish and Portuguese , University of New Mexico - Albuquerque, NM M.A. Latin American Studies, University of New Mexico - Albuquerque, NM B.A. Spanish and History, Aquinas College BioSamuel Johnson is a PhD candidate in the Literary, Cultural, and Linguistic Studies program in the Department of Modern Languages. His research interests include ecocriticism, climate change, Indigenous peoples, multispecies justice, coloniality, and the intersections of these themes in literature, film, and new media in Latin America. His dissertation, "Amazonian Narratives: Seeking Epistemic and Ecological Justice in the Anthropocene" traces the role of literary, film, and media production emerging from the transnational, intercultural space of the Amazon that preserves, shares, and uplifts of Indigenous ways of knowing and being while seeking justice for the multispecies communities of the Americas. Recent Publications |
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Neta KannyResearch AreaVenezuela | Cultural and Literary Studies | Film and performance studies | Diasporic literature | Migration/border studies | Transnational studies (Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil) | Latin American studies | Identity studies | Cultural policy | Political science | Digital humanities Degree(s)M.S. Applied Languages and Intercultural Studies (Spanish concentration), Georgia Institute of Technology B.A. Spanish and Portuguese, University of Georgia BioNeta Kanny is a Ph.D. student of Literary, Cultural, and Linguistic studies at the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at the University of Miami. Neta graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2020 with an M.S. in Applied Languages and Intercultural Studies (Spanish concentration) and received her B.A. in Spanish and Portuguese in 2017 from the University of Georgia. Neta’s research focuses on transnational representations of the Venezuelan migrant crisis, providing a regional comparative approach to the study of cultural productions (films, theater, diasporic literature, etc.) from Venezuela, Colombia, and Brazil resulting from the crisis. During Summer 2023, Neta worked as the Venezuela Intern of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Western Hemispheric Affairs in the Office of Andean Affairs, where she prepared leadership to engage on Venezuelan issues and current events related to the country’s 2023 opposition primaries and 2024 presidential elections. Additional regional experiences include serving as a research consultant for the Carter Center’s 2021 Nicaraguan election observation project and training as a Spanish Literacy Promoter with the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic. Recent Publications |
Nina LeeResearch AreaColoniality, Postcoloniality, Decoloniality | Cultural Studies | Music and Dance |Identity, Religion, and Belief Systems | Gender and Sexuality Studies Degree(s)M.A. English & Comparative Literature, American University in Cairo
B.A. Spanish Literature, University of North Florida
B.A. French Studies, University of North Florida
BioNina Lee (she/her) is a first-year PhD student in Literary, Cultural, and Linguistic Studies Program in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. Her main research interests include coloniality and decoloniality within overlapping cultural spheres, such as those of belief systems, music, dance, literature, and language. Recent Publications |
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Massiel MedinaResearch AreaCaribbean Studies | Caribbean Literature | Cultural Studies | Latin American Literature and Culture Degree(s)M.A. Foreign Languages and Literatures, North Carolina State University BioMassiel Medina is a PhD student studying Literary, Cultural, and Linguistic Studies. She holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in Psychology and Spanish and a Master of Arts degree in Foreign Languages and Literature from North Carolina State University. Her research interests while at the University of Miami center around Caribbean literature and history, with particular attention to the Hispanic Caribbean. Her main interests include globalization, subalternity, and diasporas. Prior to attending UM, she served as a Program Assistant for an allied health graduate program. Recent Publications |
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Yoán MorenoResearch AreaCaribbean Diaspora | Caribbean Studies | Creolization | Cuban Studies | Performance | Rhetoric | Sound Degree(s)M.A. English, Loyola Marymount University BioYoán Moreno is a PhD student in Literary, Cultural, and Linguistic Studies. He is a McKnight Fellow (2021-2026) and a Dean’s Fellow (2021-2023). He has participated in the MELUS and ACLA conferences, and has published texts in popular media. His work is primarily focused on generating new, useful/usable concepts (mainly rehearsed in Caribbean texts) for the purposes of increasing critical approaches, and sharpening his pedagogy of Writing and Rhetoric. Prior to joining the program, Yoán taught Writing and Rhetorical Arts at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, in addition to working as an independent translator, musician, and Spanish instructor. Recent Publications |
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Vijay NavarroResearch Area
Degree(s)M.A. Latin American Studies, Stanford University
B.S. Latin American Studies, Environmental Engineering, United States Military Academy (West Point)
BioRecent Publications |
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Marisleydi RamosResearch AreaSociolinguistics, Language in society | Spanish in the United States | Dialects in Contact | Language & Identity | Heritage Speakers | Heritage Language Development Degree(s)B.A in Philology specialized in Hispanic Linguistics, University of Havana BioMarisleydi Ramos Borrego is a PhD student in Literary, Cultural and Linguistic Studies. Her work focuses on Spanish varieties and Hispanic communities in the United States. In 2020, with her master’s thesis she contributed to the research on Spanish dialectal contacts by analyzing the Nicaraguan variety in Miami. Her project examined the repertoire of second-generation Spanish and the social factors that influenced its dialectal formation at the lexical level. Her research interests include Spanish dialects in contact in the U.S., the relationship between social factors and dialectal variation, Spanish literacy, linguistic ideologies, heritage speakers and their attitudes toward Spanish varieties. Her current work questions what linguistic form(s) and linguistic ideologies are interwoven in Spanish-language theater and what their social and linguistic implications are in the Miami context. Her purpose is to diminish linguistic and cultural stigmas about the varieties of Spanish and their speakers in this territory and in the United States. Recent Publications |
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Yasamin RezaiResearch AreaNew Media Studies | Digital Humanities | Social Media and Platform Studies | Theatre and Performance | Language & Identity (Persian: Iran and Diaspora) | Electronic Literature | Cultural Studies Degree(s)B.S. Process Engineering, University of Tehran, Iran M.S. Process Engineering, University of Bologna, Italy BioYasamin Rezai (she/they/او) is a Ph.D. candidate in Cultural, Literary, and Linguistic Studies with experience teaching French, Persian, and Italian on campus. She employs digital humanities tools and data-driven approaches to study social media platforms, and her work is theoretically situated at the intersection of critical data feminist studies, new media, and performance studies. Her dissertation analyzes the genre of instapoetry on social media and digital platforms as an emerging literary and cultural wave, exploring its poeticness, performativity, and subversiveness in the Iranian social media ecosystem and diaspora. She also works on the #MeToo movement, and part of her collaborative research on the #metoo movement has been published as a book chapter in the collection "MeToo Movement in Iran" by Bloomsbury Publishing in the series Sex, Family and Culture in the Middle East. She is the co-founder of Instasociety.org, an open-access research resource investigating how social media influences popular culture. Her work has appeared in various academic journals such as European Journal of English Studies, Digital Humanities Quarterly, and Critical Studies in Media Communication. She co-organized panels such as Data Performance and has presented at conferences hosted by organizations such as Cultural Studies Association, International Federation of Theatre Research, and Modern Languages Association. Yasamin has been the recipient of various fellowships and grants, such as Ugrow, Digital Humanities at UM, and the Institute for Data Science and Computing (IDSC) grant. She is also a HASTAC scholar from 2021- 2023. Moreover, Yasamin co-founded and chaired the Iranian Association at the University of Miami to advocate for Iranian students and the Iranian American diaspora on campus. To learn more about Yasamin or to contact her, visit yasaminrezai.com or click here. Recent Publications“Performing Persian Poetics on Instagram: An Interview with @barkhi_az_honarmandan.” European Journal of English Studies, vol. 27, no. 1, 2023, pp. 148–162. |
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Kathy RubioResearch AreaSociolinguistics | Language Ideologies | Caribbean Studies | Language Pedagogy | Creolization | Transculturation | Hybridity | Language Contact | Francophone Studies | Insular Studies | Archipelagic Studies | Oceanic Studies | Cultural Studies | Tourism Degree(s)M.A. in Teaching Languages, The University of Southern Mississippi, MS B.A. in French and Spanish, Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, FL BioKathy Rubio is a PhD student of Literary, Cultural, and Linguistic Studies, with concentrations in Caribbean Studies and Second Language Acquisition and Teaching. Born in Belgium and raised in the USA, Kathy is interested in languages and cultures in contact, especially in the context of the French-administered islands in the Caribbean, Oceania, and Indian Ocean. With professional experience in the fields of education and tourism, Kathy takes an archipelagic approach to study how minorized languages and cultures are sustained and promoted through grassroots education and tourism efforts throughout the DROM-COM. Recent Publications |
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Ernesto RumbautResearch AreaCultural Studies | 20th Century Literature | Latinamerican Literature | Caribbean Literature | Cuban Literature | Performance Studies | Performance | Ritual | Religion | Identity Degree(s)M.A. Spanish, Florida International University, Miami, FL. B.A. Art History, Florida International University, Miami, FL. BioErnesto Rumbaut was born and raised in Cuba. Currently, he is a performer, actor, teacher pursuing a Ph.D. in Literary, Cultural and Linguistic Studies at the University of Miami. He is interested in the study of liminal spaces created in the middle of binary systems and/ or related fields. Such is the case of performance and religion, which is his main focus at the moment with special interest in Afro Cuban religions. Recent Publications |
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Savannah SaavedraResearch Area19th- 21st century Latin American Literary and Cultural Studies | Colombian Literature and Culture| Mexican Literature and Culture | 20th Century Spanish Literature | The Caribbean | Magical Realism/Boom Literary Period | Media/Technology | Urban Studies/Cities | Politics and Migration Degree(s)M.A. Spanish, University of Virginia BioSavannah Saavedra was born in South Africa and raised in Richmond, Virginia. She is a second-year PhD student in Literary, Cultural, and Linguistic Studies at the University of Miami. Her main research interests include: 19th-21st century Latin American literature, (with a specific focus on Colombia and Mexico), 20th century Spanish, literature, magical realism, urban studies, sociology, politics and migration. She is also interested in studying the connections between literary and cultural studies of Colombia’s Caribbean coast in dialogue with the greater Caribbean region. Likewise, she also holds interests in foreign language pedagogy, bilingualism, and second-language acquisition. She is currently pursuing the Digital Humanities and Second Language Acquisition and Teaching (SLAT) certificates. Recent Publications |
Lourdes SchmaderResearch AreaLatin American Studies | Social Movements | Indigenous Studies |Indigenous Feminism | Ecocriticism | Amazonia and Environmental Justice | Decolonial Studies | Kichwa Diaspora in the US | Latin American Literature of the 19th and 21st centuries | Aesthetics | Comparative Literature Digital Humanities | Ecuadorian Literature |Modernism | Medardo Ángel Silva Degree(s)M.A. Spanish, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas BioLourdes Schmader is a Spanish Instructor and a third-year Ph.D. student in literacy, cultural, and linguistic studies at the University of Miami. Her research interests are twofold: her first line of investigation is situated in the Ecuadorian Amazon, where she draws on the ancestral knowledge and Indigenous cosmovision of the Sumak Kawsay (Good Living) and Sacha Kawsay (Living Forest), as well as the Rights of Nature enshrined in the Constitution of Ecuador, to examine the interaction among individuals, Indigenous communities, and the government in order to achieve a consensus that promotes the well-being of local and national ecosystems. Her second research interest centers on the Kichwa diaspora community in Queens, New York, in the United States, where she examines their efforts to revitalize their ancestors' language and consolidate their Indigenous roots outside of Ecuadorian territory, as well as the crucial role that mobility plays in extending their identity. Recently, she was granted the Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship by the United States Department of Education to study the Kichwa language in the Ecuadorian Amazon in the summer of 2023. Recent Publications |
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Euge StummResearch AreaQueer Studies | Transfeminism | Digital Humanities | Fiction | Brazilian Cinema | Video Games | Cultural Studies | New Media | Gender | Sexuality | Decoloniality | Intersectionality | Critical Race and Ethnic Studies | Comparative Literature Degree(s)M.A. in Psychology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul BioEuge Stumm (they/them) is a first-year student of Literary, Cultural, and Linguistic Studies at the University of Miami. Euge holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology from the Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre (UFCSPA), with a thesis on the filmic production of Brazilian trans women and travesti directors. For this research, the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) nominated Euge for the Young Researcher Award. They earned a master’s degree in Psychology from UFRGS, with a dissertation on the poetics of Brazilian Furry Fandoms. Their Ph.D. research will explore the cultural productions made by Brazilian queer dissidences, with an emphasis in new media and cinema. Recent Publications
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Diana ValcarcelDissertationResearch AreaDegree(s)BioRecent Publications |
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Aileen VezeauResearch AreaU.S. Latinx and Caribbean Literatures and Cultures | Puerto Rican Studies | Afro Latinxs | U.S. Panamanians | (Im)migration and Diaspora Studies | Identity Formation Degree(s)M.A., Iberian and Latin American Studies, University of Notre Dame. M.A., Hispanic Studies, University of Georgia. B.A., Spanish, University of Georgia. B.A., Finance, University of Georgia. BioAileen Vezeau is a Ph.D. student in Literary, Cultural, and Linguistic Studies with a concentration in Caribbean Studies. She studies the negotiation of identity and belonging across diasporic movements. Her research interests include twentieth and twenty-first century U.S. Latinx and Caribbean Literatures and Cultures with an emphasis on Puerto Rican and Panamanian (im)migration and the experience of Afro Latinxs. Vezeau is a recipient of the Dean’s Fellowship (2023-2024) and the McKnight Fellowship (2023-2026). Recent Publications“Tensions Between Female Representation and Female Empowerment in Carmen Rivera’s La Gringa.” Chiricú Journal: Latina/o Literatures, Arts, and Cultures, vol 6, no. 2, Spring 2022, pp. 59-78. |
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Ruming YangDissertationResearch AreaRepresentation of Chinese and Chinatowns in Latin American Literatures Degree(s)B.A. Spanish, Beijing Language and Culture University BioRuming Yang is a PhD candidate in Literary, Cultural and Linguistic Studies at University of Miami. Her research interests include orientalism, queer theories and post-colonial theories. She is working on her dissertation on the representation of Chinatowns and Chinese people in Cuban and Peruvian literatures and cultures. Recent Publications |