Affiliated Departments & Programs
Marta Sierra is a professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at Kenyon College, specializing in contemporary Latin American literature, history, and culture. Her research and teaching focus on the intersections of gender, race and ethnicity in Latin America, with a particular emphasis on South America, including Argentina and Chile.
Sierra’s scholarship examines issues of colonial domination, cultural representation and spatial dynamics in literature and the arts. Her first book, "Gendered Spaces in Argentine Women’s Literature" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), explores the gendered dimensions of spatial relations and their influence on literary production. It investigates concepts such as home and exile, displacement, and the quest for place in Argentine women’s writing from the 1920s to the present. Her second book, "Geografías Imaginarias: Espacios de Resistencia y Crisis en América Latina" (Editorial Cuarto Propio, 2014), analyzes the processes of spatialization as cultural representations in Latin American literature and the arts.
In addition to her monographs, Sierra has co-edited several volumes, including "Feminismos Libertarios" (with María Andre, Ediciones Biblos, 2016); "Legados, Genealogías y Memorias Poscoloniales en América Latina: Escrituras Fronterizas desde el Sur" (Ediciones Godot, 2014); "Postales Femeninas desde el Fin del Mundo: El Sur y las Políticas de la Memoria" (Ediciones Godot, 2012); and "Fronteras de la Memoria: Cartografías de Género en Artes Visuales, Cine y Literatura en las Américas y España" (Editorial Cuarto Propio and FLACSO- Ecuador, 2012). Her articles have appeared in Revista Iberoamericana, Revista de Estudios Hispánicos and Revista Chilena de Literatura, among other scholarly publications.
Sierra’s current research focuses on ecopoetics of fear and the Gothic in Latin America, a project that examines the intersections of environmental humanities, aesthetics and cultural critique in the region.
Education
2000 — Doctor of Philosophy from Rutgers University
1997 — Master of Arts from Rutgers University
1992 — Bachelor of Arts from National University of Tucuman
Courses Recently Taught
This first half of a yearlong course is focused on the self in a broader social context for students who are beginning the study of Spanish or have had minimal exposure to the language. The course offers the equivalent of conventional beginning and intermediate language study. The first semester's work comprises an introduction to Spanish as a spoken and written language. The work includes practice in understanding and using the spoken language. Written exercises and reading materials serve to reinforce communicative skills, build vocabulary and enhance discussion of the individual and community. This course includes required practice sessions with a teaching assistant, which are scheduled at the beginning of the semester. Students enrolled in this course are automatically added to SPAN 112Y for the spring semester. No prerequisite. Offered every year.
This second half of a yearlong course is a continuation of SPAN 111Y. The second semester consists of continued study of the fundamentals of Spanish, while incorporating literary and cultural materials to develop techniques of reading, cultural awareness and mastery of the spoken and written language. The work includes practice in understanding and using the spoken language. Written exercises and reading materials serve to reinforce communicative skills, build vocabulary and enhance discussion of the individual and community. This course includes required practice sessions with a teaching assistant, which are scheduled at the beginning of the semester. Prerequisite: SPAN 111Y or equivalent. Offered every year.
This second half of the yearlong intermediate-level language course builds on the concepts and skills addressed in the first semester, with a continued focus on language and culture for students who are interested in developing their ability to speak, read, write and understand Spanish. Students are exposed to more complex Spanish grammar while also expanding their vocabulary in context, using authentic materials similar to those of the first semester (including short novels, stories, essays, newspaper articles, films, television series, and songs). Students produce more advanced analytic and creative writing assignments, and are asked to actively discuss a range of challenging topics in class with increased proficiency (compared to fall semester). Like SPAN 213Y, this course includes required practice sessions with a teaching assistant, though the days and times for these may be different from the fall semester. Prerequisite: SPAN 213Y or equivalent. Offered every year.
This course uses literature and film to give advanced students the opportunity to strengthen their ability to write analytically and creatively in Spanish. The course also strongly emphasizes speaking and reading in Spanish. Works from various literary genres and selected Spanish-language films are among the materials on which class discussion and writing assignments are centered. To deploy this content, we use digital technology that supports the acquisition of advanced vocabulary, the development of reading comprehension and writing. A grammar review, focused mainly on typical areas of difficulty, may also be included. Prerequisite: SPAN 213Y-214Y or equivalent. Offered every year.
This is a foundational survey of Spanish American literature from its pre-Hispanic manifestations to the present. The course covers major historical periods and literary movements, including the narrative of discovery and conquest; Renaissance and Baroque poetry; and the literatures of Romanticism, modernism, the avant-gardes, the Boom and postmodernity. Fundamental concepts of literary theory and techniques of literary analysis are discussed. Historical readings, critical essays and films provide the background for textual analysis. The course is recommended for Spanish and international studies majors. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every other year.
Traditionally, Latin American and Iberian literatures are taught separately. However, in this course students are given the opportunity to study and analyze the similarities and rich connections between Spain and Latin America's artistic expressions (literature and visual arts) of the 19th and 20th centuries in order to better understand the overall evolution of artistic trends on both sides of the Atlantic. In this way, students not only can observe the wide network of influential collaborations and conflicts among several intellectuals and artists of the Spanish-speaking world, but also have the chance to explore many works by great authors of Spain and Latin America in a single course, such as Miguel de Unamuno, Rubén Darío, Jorge Luis Borges, Salvador Dalí, Federico García Lorca, Luis Buñuel, Pablo Neruda and Octavio Paz. The course is recommended for Spanish and international studies majors. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.
This course examines the history, culture and literature of Argentina since the war of independence. Our study proceeds thematically and chronologically, focusing primarily on works that deal with the theme of nation-building. We examine an array of issues: early nation-building, the theme of civilization against barbarism, the loss of the frontier and of innocence, the region's export-oriented agricultural economy, urbanization and industrialization, and dictatorships and revolutions as they are portrayed in a variety of representative works of literature. The course focuses on how particular Argentine communities experienced and responded to these processes. The course includes many of the most celebrated and influential works of Argentine literature. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every three years.
This course is a study of how cities are represented in different Latin American cultural manifestations. We study primarily literary texts, but since the study of cities requires an interdisciplinary approach, our discussions draw on readings about architecture, urbanism, film, visual arts, popular culture and music. This class seeks to challenge the idea that Latin America is a rural paradise, given that, as authors such as Luis Restrepo state, 70 percent of the population of Latin America lives in cities. Massive immigration from Latin America to the U.S. and Europe challenges historical divisions of city/country, modernity/primitivism and development/underdevelopment. We focus on four representations of urban space in Latin America: the impressionist and futuristic city of the 1920s and 1930s; migration and urban space during the 1950s and 1960s; in more contemporary representations, the "massive" city as depicted in urban chronicles and testimonials; and the postnational metropolis. We review how cities have come to represent social, political and economic utopias and failed social encounters among their inhabitants. Prerequisite: SPAN 321 or equivalent. Generally offered every two years.
This course examines the Latin American Gothic as a hybrid genre influenced by horror genres from Europe, the United States, Africa and Asia. Born out of the Romantic revolt against the Enlightenment, the Gothic novel articulated the hidden fears and desires of Victorian culture. In Latin America, writers and artists reworked the genre by including important literary traditions from the region. From the horror tales of Modernista writers to the Gothic stories conceived in the midst of political or social violence in Central America and the Southern Cone, writers and artists used the genre to explore the conflicting realities of Latin America. Established as a genre during the late 19th century, the Latin American Gothic explores fears and desires of modernity and postmodernity, the anxiety of social contact, gender tensions and redefinition of gendered identity, and finally the dark side of globalization. Many works written during the most violent periods of Latin American history employed the Gothic as a way of processing the scars of social trauma. This course includes a variety of genres: short stories, novels, film and art, and covers different moments in Latin American history from the 19th to the 21st century. In addition, we establish a transnational dialogue with some works from Spain. Prerequisite: SPAN 321.
This course offers an opportunity to study on an individual basis an area of special interest — literary, cultural or linguistic — under the regular supervision of a faculty member. It is offered primarily to candidates for honors, to majors and, under special circumstances, to potential majors and minors. Individual study is intended to supplement, not to take the place of, regular courses in the curriculum of each language program. Staff limitations restrict this offering to a very few students. To enroll in an individual study, a student must identify a member of the MLL department willing to direct the project and, in consultation with him or her, write a one-page proposal for the IS, which must be approved by the department chair before it can go forward. The proposal should specify the schedule of reading and/or writing assignments and the schedule of meeting periods. The amount of work in an IS should approximate that required on average in regular courses of corresponding levels. Typically, an IS earns the student 0.25 or 0.5 units of credit. At a minimum, the department expects the student to meet with the instructor one hour per week. Because students must enroll for individual studies by the end of the seventh class day of each semester, they should begin discussion of the proposed individual study by the semester before, so that there is time to devise the proposal and seek departmental approval.
The major who wishes to participate in the Honors Program must have an overall GPA of 3.33 and a GPA of 3.5 in the major. The candidate in honors completes all requirements for the major, the Senior Capstone and two semesters of independent study and designs and completes a research project. This project should integrate feminist theory and methodologies as well as the student’s chosen disciplinary or interdisciplinary cluster. Each honors student prepares an annotated bibliography on the chosen project midway through the fall semester. After approval, the senior honors project is undertaken in consultation with a project advisor. Students are encouraged to think boldly and innovatively about the kinds of projects they undertake and about how those projects interact with and benefit their communities. Senior honors projects might include gender-focused sociological or historical studies undertaken locally; exhibitions, productions or installations of gender-exploratory art, music or theater; or political, social and/or environmental service-oriented or activist work. Students are closely mentored throughout their projects and, in the spring, are evaluated by an external evaluator and faculty in the program and in relevant disciplines. The evaluators assess the strength of the students’ overall work, as well as the strength of their self-designed, project-appropriate public presentations of that work. Permission of instructor and department chair required.
The major who wishes to participate in the Honors Program must have an overall GPA of 3.33 and a GPA of 3.5 in the major. The candidate in honors completes all requirements for the major, the Senior Capstone and two semesters of independent study and designs and completes a research project. This project should integrate feminist theory and methodologies as well as the student’s chosen disciplinary or interdisciplinary cluster. Each honors student prepares an annotated bibliography on the chosen project midway through the fall semester. After approval, the senior honors project is undertaken in consultation with a project advisor. Students are encouraged to think boldly and innovatively about the kinds of projects they undertake and about how those projects interact with and benefit their communities. Senior honors projects might include gender-focused sociological or historical studies undertaken locally; exhibitions, productions or installations of gender-exploratory art, music or theater; or political, social and/or environmental service-oriented or activist work. Students are closely mentored throughout their projects and, in the spring, are evaluated by an external evaluator and faculty in the program and in relevant disciplines. The evaluators assess the strength of the students’ overall work, as well as the strength of their self-designed, project-appropriate public presentations of that work. Permission of instructor and department chair required.