Sonia Mereles Olivera, Ph.D.
Web Page: http://www.merelesolivera.com
EMPLOYMENT
2012 Associate Professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies. Sweet Briar College
2007- 2012 Assistant Professor of Spanish and Latin American Studies. Sweet Briar College
2004- 2007 Assistant Professor of Romance Languages. Washington and Lee University
2003- 2004 Senior Lecturer of Spanish. Ohio State University
Fall 2002 Adjunct Assistant Professor of Spanish. Indiana Univ.-Purdue Univ., Indianapolis
1994- 1997 Associate Instructor of Spanish. Indiana University, Bloomington
EDUCATION
2001 Ph.D. Indiana University, Bloomington. Hispanic Literature and Culture
Major: Spanish American Literature and Culture
Minor: Brazilian Literature& Portuguese. Doctoral Exams passed with distinction
1992 M.A. Universidad de Navarra, Pamplona-Spain. Master in Literature
1989 Architect Universidad Católica Nuestra Señora de la Asunción.
Certificates
2009 Oxford/ Berkeley program at Merton College
1989 First Certificate in English Cambridge University, UK
Published Books
2009 ¡Cerraron las Puertas! Narremas de la Tragedia de Ycuá Bolaños Asunción: Amambay. ISBN: 978-0-615-24168-5. Based on historical events of the national tragedy, the voice of the victims is strong in the Guaraní “Hymn of the Bones”. Presented at the IV International Congress of Europe and the Americas of the University of British Columbia.
2008 Piel de Ángel. Asunción: Amambay. ISBN: 978–0-615-22363. ABC Newspaper of Paraguay published a review praising the book and its new style. Click on link to access an excerpt http://www.abc.com.py/nota/un-libro-muy-intimo-y-especial/
2007 En tu mundo deshabitado. Madrid: Torremozas. ISBN: 978- 84-7839-383-1. Featured by the Virginia Poetry Center to celebrate national Poetry Month. Presented in poster format and sound recording at the exhibit.
2005 Volviendo a Omega. Madrid: Torremozas. ISBN 84-7839-338-2. Awarded work that entails a vision of Spanish American ancient beliefs, while also devoting a contemporary look at the Southern Cone society.
2004 Puros cuentos. Madrid: Torremozas. ISBN: 84-7839-306-4. Paraguayan socio-historical contemporary background. Although based on traces of the spoken Spanish of the region, it was accepted with praise in Spain as being “a very engaging text, easy to follow by both Paraguayans and foreigners”. The book is now part of a critical study published by Scott A. Schwenter; also elected for a revised version of Puntos de Vista, textbook by Jill K. Welch as “exemplary Spanish American Contemporary Narrative”; and reviewed in Europe by German literary critic Kurt Spang.
2003 Cumbres poéticas latinoamericanas: Nicanor Parra y Ernesto Cardenal. Currents in Comparative Romance Languages and Literatures. New York, Frankfurt, Berlin, Brussels, Vienna, Oxford: Lang. ISBN: 08204-6323-X. In-depth study of the various Spanish-American poetry icons from 1950 to the present days. The first chapter shows an emphasis on South American representatives such as Pablo Neruda, Gabriela Mistral, Vicente Huidobro, César Vallejo and Jorge Luis Borges, amongst others. The second chapter is a study of Chilean representatives such as Ariel Dorfman, Enrique Lihn, Juan Cameron, Raúl Zurita, and in particular, Nicanor Parra’s literary trajectory. The third chapter presents Central America through its Nicaraguan figures: Gioconda Belli, José Antonio Cuadra, Ernesto Mejía Sánchez, and more specifically, Ernesto Cardenal’s illustrious career. The analysis includes a vision of the contemporary literature in Argentina, Perú, Chile, and Puerto Rico, among others. It also provides a chapter devoted to Latino Studies in the U.S. with emphasis in Chicano and Nuyorican expressions, new age electronic literature with its poetry on-line, and literature written by women. Available worldwide ~284 pages~
Books and Articles as Solicited Reviewer
2010 That’s the Way We See It: Intermediate Spanish / Así lo veo: Gente, Perspectivas, Comunicación. McGraw-Hill by Michael Leeser, Bill Van Patten and Gregory Keatting. ISBN-10: 00-735-344-04. ~480 pages~
2010 Amerindian Elements in the Poetry of Ernesto Cardenal: Mythic Foundations of the Colloquial Narrative. Mellen Press by John Morrow. ISBN-10: 077-343-660-X. ~356 pages~
2008 “Remembering Things Past: Reading History, Writing Memory, and the Poetics of Agency in Ernesto Cardenal” by Robin M. Bower. Solicited Reviewer by PMLA Journal of the Modern Language Association of America, published by Bulletin of Hispanic Studies (85:3). 361-382.
2004 Solicited reviewer by Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hispánicos for the article “La voz creacionista”, concerning Chilean Vicente Huidobro.
PUBLISHED ARTICLES
2012 “Ser-con-los-demás: Comunión cósmica en el Cántico de Ernesto Cardenal”. Revista de Estudios Hispánicos. XXXVI (2009).
2010 “Cruzando las fronteras del género: Mario Benedetti y Ariel Dorfman”. Cuadernos Americanos. 131 Vol. 1. 24 (Enero-Marzo, 2010): 47-70.
2007 “Reflejo de circunstancias: Victoria Ocampo, mujer testimonio”. Cuadernos Americanos. 120 Vol. 2. 21 (Abril-Junio 2007): 173-186.
2003 “Prácticas de descentramiento: Estrategias de coexistencia en el Cántico cósmico de Ernesto Cardenal”. Encuentros de viejos y nuevos mundos. Asociación Estudios Culturales Hispánicos (2003): 67-77.
2002 “Ernesto Cardenal: Un amor en todos los sentidos”. Revista Brasileira do Caribe. Universidad Federal de Goiás. 4 (2002): 7-22
2000 “América natural en la trayectoria poética de Pablo Neruda”. Selected Proceedings of the Tenth Annual Symposium on Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Literature, Language and Culture (2000): 55-60.
PUBLISHED SHORT STORY IN TEXTBOOK
2011 “La despedida” Puros cuentos short story in Puntos de Vista textbook by Jill K. Welch at Ohio State University as exemplar Contemporary Latin American Literature.
PUBLISHED TRANSLATION OF A POEM
2004 “Poems” by J. Remington Roberts. Translated by Sonia Mereles Olivera. Ariel: Journal of Art and Literature (Fall 2004): 10-11.
HONORS AND AWARDS
2012-2013 Fulbright Scholar Committee Member –Invited by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars to serve on the U.S. Fulbright Regional Committee, an honor bestowed to only four representatives of this regional board. Committee members generally serve for three years.
2011 Gilpin Faculty Grant to present a conference and the second edition of my book at the “XXXIV Simposio Internacional de Literatura: Discursos e interpelaciones- Las voces de America en las producciones de las mujeres (escritoras, personajes, lectoras)” organized by the California State University, Dominguez Hill and by the Universidad del Norte in Asuncion on August 8-12.
2010-2011 Fulbright Award –Lecture and Research appointment to benefit the Catholic University of Asunción. June 27th, 2010 to January 7th. 2011.
2010 Sigma Delta Pi Sociedad National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society / Sociedad Nacional Honoraria Hispánica Inducted Honorary Member on April 26th.
2009 Louise Garrard Davis Blanchard Memorial Fund Fellow for the Oxford/ Berkeley Program Scholarship for “Scientific Imagination: From Antiquity to Quantum Physics” July 6th – 25th at Merton College, in Oxford-UK.
2009 Sweet Briar College Faculty Grant to present at the VIII International Conference of Hispanic Literature from March 9th – 12th in Costa Rica.
2008 SBC Faculty Grant to present at Congreso Internacional de Literatura in Perú. March 3-6.
2007 Keynote Speaker at Lafayette College. Second Latino Awareness Conference: Testimonial Literature and Social Movements in Latin America, March 22nd-25th to present “Ernesto Cardenal’s Denunciation, Ideology and History: Stylistic Devices of Testimonial Literature”.
2006 Selected for the Associated Colleges of the South Teaching and Learning Workshop June 6-11.
2006 Glenn Grant WLU Research Award –Article on Victoria Ocampo which was later published.
2006 Invited poet Virginia Poetry Center’s April Event to celebrate National Poetry Month.
My poem was presented both in poster format and sound recording format at the exhibit.
2001 Indiana University - Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies Travel Grant to Managua to interview Nobel Prize Nominee Ernesto Cardenal, published along with a book and article.
•International Poetry Award 1992“Concurso de Poesía de la Universidad de Navarra” (Spain)
•International Poetry Award 1990 “Concurso de Poesía del Instituto Cultural Amigos del Arte”
•International Poetry Award 1988 “Concurso de Poesía Internacional”
•International Fellowship Award 1985 Government of Argentina to attend Univ. La Plata
•International Poetry Award 1983 “Olimpíadas Literarias”
•International Travel Grant Award 1981 to attend the Bienal Argentina in Buenos Aires
Courses proposed and/or taught in the US at
SBC, WLU, OSU, IU-Bloomington, and IUPUI-Indianapolis
- The Culture of the Southern Cone: A course that examines the cultures of Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay focusing on contemporary artistic production in the areas of art, dance, music, architecture, and literature including authors such as Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortázar, Griselda Gambaro, Isabel Allende, Ariel Dorfman, Augusto Roa Bastos, Horacio Quiroga, Mario Benedetti, Alfonsina Storni, Pablo Neruda. Both national and regional characteristics are studied as a way to understand what makes this region different from other Latin American regions.
- Spanish American Contemporary Prose: Foundational course that studies Latin American short stories and a novel by important contemporary authors. The course consists of the literary analysis of the texts to be examined in individual discussions with the Professor. Attention is paid to the originality of narrative style and the socio-historical context.
- US Hispanic Literature: A seminar course in translation offering a view of the rich and complex culture of Latinos, Chicanos, Nuyoricans, and US Hispanics through its 20th Century literature: short story, novel, poetry, autobiography. Hispanic identity studied as a concept via cultural, historical, and linguistic approaches.
- Latin American Women Writers. A course that presents contemporary female voices of Spanish American countries via Essays by Victoria Ocampo (Argentina); Testimonial Literature by Gloria Anzaldúa (Chicana), Rigoberta Menchú (Guatemala) and Domitila Barrios (Bolivia); Short Stories by Isabel Allende (Chile), Ángeles Mastretta (México), Carmen Naranjo (Costa Rica), Claribel Alegría (Nicaragua/El Salvador), Rosario Ferré and Ana Lydia Vega (Puerto Rico); Novel by Laura Esquivel (Mexico); Poetry by Susy Delgado (Paraguay), Delmira Agustini (Uruguay), Gabriela Mistral (Chile), and Alfonsina Storni (Argentina); and Theater by Griselda Gambaro (Argentina), Lucía Quintero (Puerto Rico).
- Paraguayan Women: History and Education. An introduction to the study of gender, and women’s roles in Paraguay throughout its history and education, offered through the Introduction to Gender Studies class, with guest speakers and lectures.
- Spanish American Poetry Icons. The seminar provides advanced analysis of the most relevant poets in the Hispanic speaking world including U.S. Hispanic poetry. Includes representative works by Octavio Paz, Gabriela Mistral, Pablo Neruda, Vicente Huidobro, Luis Palés Matos, Nicolás Guillén, Nicanor Parra, Ernesto Cardenal, Raúl Zurita, amongst others. Interactive analysis approach with daily paper assignments: critical analysis of the texts, and peer reviews.
- Spanish American Essay. The seminar course encompasses readings in Spanish-American Essay with emphasis in the development of thought in literature and culture throughout its history. Special emphasis on prominent writers such as José Carlos Mariátegui, Octavio Paz, José Martí, José Vasconcelos, Victoria Ocampo, amongst others.
- Spanish American Civilization and Culture. It includes a new component that placed each student in charge of preparing and broadcasting a Spanish Radio program presenting literature in conjunction with culture of different Spanish American countries.
- México, Central America and the Caribbean Region. The course explores some of the major cultural developments, and its expressions through visual aids and literary texts, as well as films. The study presents the past of the Spanish American civilizations through the art, religion and culture of their most prominent indigenous groups such as the Aztecs, and Mayas. It includes the post-conquest and post-revolutionary periods through some of its major historical events.
- South America. Interdisciplinary approach to cultural developments and its expressions through visual aids and literary texts, as well as films. The study presents the past of civilizations through the art, religion and culture of the Incas, and Guaraní. It includes the post-conquest and post-independence periods through some of its major historical events and dictatorships.
- Latin American Short Story and Essay. A panoramic view with emphasis on the twentieth-century. It focuses on discussion of literary texts, and it is reading and writing intensive. Includes representative works by Horacio Quiroga, Mario Benedetti, Juan Rulfo, Julio Cortázar, Octavio Paz, Victoria Ocampo, Elena Poniatowska, Ana Lydia Vega, Rosario Ferré, José Martí, José Enrique Rodó, José Vasconcelos, Gabriel García Márquez, Isabel Allende, Jorge Luis Borges.
- Reinventing America: The Hispanic Identity. A Seminar course in translation that includes a variety of genres, literature, essay, film, drama/performance, poetry, dance, music, and visual arts. The topic of this course is Spanish American Cultures in its re-invention of identities first in situ, and then in the US. First, we study the past of the Spanish American identity through the art, religion, and culture of their most prominent indigenous groups: Aztecs, Mayas, and Incas. Second, we analyze the present situation of the individual Spanish American countries and their national identities, as re-inventions that accompanied the post-conquest and post-revolutionary periods. Third, we explore the U.S. Latino identity, the way it is perceived in the U.S. today.
- Spanish Composition. The course examines the writing processes to develop and increase students’ proficiency in written expression in Spanish models of a variety of genres presented to pattern compositions after them. Major projects include: drama, poetry, advertisements, biographical portraits, short stories, interviews, and a literary essay.
- Spanish Conversation. The first time the course was taught, it included a Service-Learning component to gear students to aid Hispanics within the community. A course designed to improve the student's conversational ability through the reading and discussion of literary and cultural texts. I implemented a strong emphasis in weekly Spanish Table, group/pair talk, video, and inter-active multimedia. Listening, reading and writing language skills are used as a base for further development of the speaking and conversational skills while providing opportunities to learn more about Hispanic Cultures.
- A Reading Course in Spanish. A developmental reading class designed to teach students appropriate strategies for reading Spanish as a second language and provide them with intensive reading practice on a variety of authentic texts, ranging from short journalistic texts (newspaper and magazine articles) to a longer literary text (short novel: Aura by Carlos Fuentes)
- Augusto Roa Bastos: Supremo Hijo de hombre. Through the prose and poetry of its Paraguayan icon, we explore Paraguayan literature in history. The course focuses on Augusto Roa Bastos’ Works Hijo de Hombre and Yo, el Supremo as ways of presenting and discussing the culture of Paraguay reflected in these novels.
- The Hydroptics of Love: Building Bridges to Soul Learning. This course analyzes images and roles of love in selected texts from Latin America and the United States. The first part of the course is based on Miguel Ruiz’s The Four Agreements: A Toltec Wisdom Book and Carlos Castaneda’s The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge as means of discussing scripts people live, and ways on becoming a person. The second part of the course includes a packet with selected segments from R. D. Laing’s Politics of Experience, Raymond A. Moody’s Life After Life, David Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence, C. Alexander Simpkins’ Simple Zen, Simple Taoism, Simple Tibetan Budhism; Cary Baynes’ The I Ching or Book of Changes, and Ralph Blum’s The Book of Runes: Ancient Oracle. The third part of the course appreciates these metaphorical images in segment considerations of the Mexican novel The Law of Love (Laura Esquivel), and Spanish American short stories collected in the book A Hammock between the Mangoes: Stories from Latin America by Horacio Quiroga, Jorge Luis Borges, Julio Cortázar, Jorge Amado, Adolfo Bioy Casares, Juan Carlos Onetti, Manuel Puig, and Isabel Allende amongst many others. Spanish majors may do their required writing/reading in Spanish in this course. This course requires students to design their own web-page, to keep a journal of critical thinking, and to keep up with the daily discussion based seminar class. Requirements include exams, papers, and a final portfolio due at the end of the course.
- Introduction to Spanish American Literature. Includes extensive writing and in-depth oral analysis of texts with new components such as a required Journal with a total of 25 entries (around 80 pages in Spanish) as well as a required Graphic timeline. It analyzes Spanish-American literary masterpieces from colonial times through the present.
- Media in Latin America. The course examines the role of contemporary media in the cultures of Spanish American countries. Readings will be drawn from interdisciplinary sources exploring how media representations define and re-shape national images and identities, remapping the ethno-social, economic, political and educational infrastructure via the film industry, TV broadcasting, internet (from the wireless through digital), and other instant cyber media as communicators that influence and recreate a social image of Spanish American societies. Readings are in its original English version as it counts for Spanish majors and minors, as well as Latin American Studies and Journalism minors.
- Hispanic Themes in Latin America. Developmental reading class designed to teach appropriate strategies for reading Spanish on a variety of texts that offer intrinsic culture of a wide spectrum of Latin American countries. An Honors Variant was offered. Extensive writing and in-depth oral analysis of texts in Spanish are requisites, as well as oral presentations and exams.
- Don Quijote. The course is a study of Miguel de Cervantes “Don Quijote”. Emphasis is placed on the analysis of its literary resources, historical topics, narrative techniques, and masterful synthesis of genres. The course focuses on literary criticism, reading and writing.
Language classes consistently offered:
- Elementary Spanish I-II
- Intermediate Spanish I-II
- All levels of Spanish Composition, Conversation, and Reading. Cultures of Hispanic Countries
CONFERENCES
2011 XXXIV International Symposium of Women’s Literature: Voices of the American Continent organized by the California State University, Dominguez Hill and by the University of the North in Asunción. August 8-12. Presented the second edition of my book Puros cuentos.
2010 “Cosmic Quilt: Religious Thread in the Poetic Science of Cardenal’s Music of the Spheres” presented in Oxford-England at Merton College on July 23rd
2009 “La matriz del Cántico Cósmico: una Antropología Filosófica de Ernesto Cardenal”. VIII International Conference of Hispanic Literature. Puntarenas, Costa Rica. March 9-12th.
2008 “All about the Heart: The Cultural Body and Mind of Paraguay”. Honors Colloquium at Sweet Briar College. April 16th.
2008 “Casi un poema: Estereotipos en Woman Hollering Creek de Sandra Cisneros”. VII International Conference for Hispanic Literature. Cuzco, Perú. March 3-6.
2007 “Ernesto Cardenal’s Denunciation, Ideology and History: Stylistic Devices of Testimonial Literature”. Keynote Speaker at Lafayette College for the Second Annual Latino Awareness Conference: Testimonial Literature and Social Movements in Latin America. March 22-25.
2007 “Voz destemplada: Concretando el derecho femenino en los ensayos de Victoria Ocampo”. VI Congreso Internacional de Literatura Hispánica. Riviera Maya, México. March 7-9.
2006 “Cruzando las fronteras del género: Mario Benedetti y Ariel Dorfman”. IV International Congress of Europe and the Americas. The University of British Columbia, Canada. May 22-25
2006 “Una lectura del concepto de Narremas: La tragedia de Ycuá Bolaños”. IV International Congress of the Hispanic Poetry of Europe and the Americas”. The University of British Columbia, Canada. May 22-25.
2006 “Reconceptualizando imágenes mitológicas de los Mbyá-Guaraní y Ayvu Rapyta: Augusto Roa Bastos, Hijo de hombre”. XVII International Symposium of Latin American Indigenous Literatures. The Ohio State University. May 10-13.
2005 “La sufrida mujer paraguaya: ¿liberación o complot subversivo?” Women Studies Symposium. Washington and Lee University, November 10.
2005 “Ser-con-los demás: Homilía cósmica de Ernesto Cardenal”. Simposio Internacional del Comité Pro-Celebración de Ernesto Cardenal – Granada, Nicaragua. May 19-22.
2005 “La lucha por ser el conocimiento encarnado: Aspectos de la finitud de la vida en el Cántico cósmico de Ernesto Cardenal”. Congreso Literatura Hispánica.Dominican Republic. March 2-4
2004 “América: ¿Descubrimiento o reinvención?”. Keynote Speaker for the Celebration of Columbus Day organized by the Hispanic House at Washington and Lee University, October 12.
2002 “Nicanor Parra: De la poesía kamikaze, el suicidio de la poesía: De la desintegración a la pulverización, a la plástica del ave fénix”. Twenty-second Annual Cincinnati Conference on Romance Languages and Literatures - University of Cincinnati, May 2002.
2002 “La revolución digital y el texto virtual en la era electrónica: la poesía online”. Tenth International Conference on Romance Studies. Boston College, April 2002.
2002 “Visiones periféricas en la poesía: La experiencia latinoamericana en los Estados Unidos”. Hispanic Conference. Brown University, March 2002.
2002 “Prácticas de descentramiento: Estrategias de coexistencia en el Cántico cósmico de Ernesto Cardenal”. Congreso Internacional de Literatura Hispánica en Lima, Perú - Instituto de Estudios Internacionales. Lock Haven University, February 2002.
2002 “Antiguas crónicas, nueva didáctica: La síntesis informativa de El estrecho dudoso de Ernesto Cardenal”. Graduate Conference. Miami University, Oxford, January 2002.
2000 “América natural en la trayectoria poética de Pablo Neruda”. Tenth Annual Symposium on Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Literature, Language and Culture. University of Arizona, 2000.
1996 “Las Odas elementales de Neruda”. 49th Annual Kentucky Foreign Language Conference. University of Kentucky, 1996.
Chaired Conference Panels
2009 “Women’s Maternal Role, Masculinity and the Fight for the Rights”. VIII Conferencia Internacional de Literatura en Puntarenas, Costa Rica. March 10th.
2008 “Explorando el Teatro de Lorca”. VII Conference for Hispanic Literature. Cuzco, Perú March 4
2007 “La diáspora árabe y el desborde de fronteras culturales”. Congreso Internacional de Literatura Hispánica. Universidad de Pennsylvania, LH. Riviera Maya, March 9.
2006 “Ars Poética: Neruda, Aleixandre, Valente y Pizarnik”. Fourth International Congress of the Hispanic Poetry of Europe and the Americas. University of British Columbia, Canada. May.
2005 “Hispanic Studies”. 19th National Conference for Undergraduate Research. Washington and Lee University. April.
2005 “Los hispanos en los Estados Unidos”. IV Congreso Internacional de Literatura Hispánica. Dominican Republic. March 2
2005 “De Borges y Octavio Paz”. IV CILH. Dominican Republic. March 3
2005 “Estudios en torno a la poesía hispánica”. IV Congreso Internacional de Literatura Hispánica Dominican Republic. March 4.
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITY and SERVICE
2011-2014 Fulbright Committee Member
2010-2011 Fulbright Award for a Lecture and Research appointment to benefit the Center of Post-Graduate Studies of the Catholic University June 27th, 2010 - January 7th, 2011.
2011 Honors Committee working with the Honors Students Program and Advanced Learning
2009-2011 Faculty Grants Committee
2009-2012 First-Year and Continuing Students Advisor
2008-2011 Gender Studies Committee
2010 Sigma Delta Pi National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society, Inducted Member April 26.
2007-2011 Sweet Briar Academic Fairs: Foreign Languages Representative
2007-2011 Spanish Table
2007-2010 Spanish Club Advisor
2005-2010 Chair of Conference Panels
2008 Inter Club Council Jury Duty
2006 Associated Colleges of the South, ACS Teacher’s Workshop at Rollins College
2006 Coordinator Poetry Night for the Languages
2006-2007 International Education Committee
2005-2006 Latin American and Caribbean Proponent Committee for Interdisciplinary Studies
2005-2006 Science, Society and the Arts Committee
2005 Women’s Writer’s Harvest Committee
2005 Individual Tutoring of Portuguese and Italian to Spanish native speaker
2004-2007 First Washington and Lee Spanish Radio Program “Conexión Latina” WLUR 91.5 FM Radio Program. Art, culture, literature and music of the Spanish American countries including Brazil.
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
Fulbright Scholar Alumni Association
Sigma Delta Pi National Collegiate Hispanic Honor Society
Modern Languages Association
Asociación Internacional de Hispanistas
Asociación Hispánica de Humanistas
Instituto Internacional de Literatura Iberoamericana
Experience abroad
2012 Chile
2011 Firenze, Italy. Book presentation.
2010 Asunción, Paraguay. Fulbright Award for Lecture and Research.
2009 Costa Rica. Interview with National Prize Poet Mayra Jiménez in San Juan de Heredia.
England & France. Summer Seminar, Merton College – Oxford, UK
2008 Cuzco & Machu Picchu, Perú. Conferences
2007 Riviera Maya, México. Conference
2006 Vancouver, Canada. Conference, and presentation of a book
2005 Bayahibe, Dominican Republic and Granada, Nicaragua. Conference and Interview
2000 & 2005 Nicaragua. Interviews with Nobel Prize Nominee Ernesto Cardenal in Managua.
1997-2000 Peru. Canada, Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina
1990-1992 Spain. Universidad de Navarra
1978 & 1981 US student (Youth for Understanding Program)
1991 Spain. Summer Seminar, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, at El Escorial