Trinity Explores Spanish Culture
2017 Alvarez Seminar examines contemporary Spain

Starting Feb. 1, the Mexico, the Americas, and Spain (MAS) program at Trinity University will begin the Alvarez Seminar. The seminar, Contemporary Spanish Culture: Encounters and Transitions, is made possible by the Carlos and Malú Alvarez Fund for MAS. Four lectures will explore Spain’s cinematic tradition and the history of twentieth-century Spanish immigrants in the United States.

Debra Ochoa, associate professor of Spanish in Trinity’s Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, hopes the 2017 seminar will foster an increased interest in Spain and the presence of contemporary Spanish culture in the U.S.

“Every year, MAS concentrates on a different theme related to the Spanish-speaking world,” says Ochoa, who researches contemporary Spanish literature and film. “Trinity has many students interested in Spain, and these events foster dialogues among students, professors, and the community.”

All lectures will take place on the Trinity campus in Northrup Hall, Room 040.

  • Feb. 1: James Fernández, New York University. Inmigrantes invisibles: españoles en Estados Unidos. Note: This lecture is in Spanish. 6 p.m. A reception will follow.
  • Feb. 8: María DiFrancesco, Ithaca College. Space and the Body in Pedro Almodovar’s La piel que habito. 6 p.m. reception, 6:30 p.m. lecture.
  • Feb. 15: Samuel Amago, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Waste and Space in Contemporary Madrid. 6 p.m. reception, 6:30 p.m. lecture.
  • Feb. 22: Barbara Zecchi, University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Mujeres pioneras en el cine español. Note: This lecture is in Spanish. 6 p.m. reception, 6:30 p.m. lecture.

For more information about the Alvarez Seminar, contact Ochoa at dochoa@trinity.edu. The seminar, which began in 2011, has covered the work of Mexican painter David Alfaro Siqueiros, religious practice and belief in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, democracy and human rights in Chile, and other diverse topics.

Carlos Anchondo '14 is an oil and gas reporter for E&E News, based in Washington D.C. A communication and international studies major at Trinity, he received his master's degree in journalism at the University of Texas at Austin.

You might be interested in