Judith Sierra-Rivera
Visiting Assistant Professor
Email: jsierrarivera@middlebury.edu
Phone: work802.443.5277
Office Hours: Tuesdays & Thursdays 10:30am-12:00pm, and by appointment
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Judith Sierra-Rivera is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Spanish. She holds a B.A. in Latin American Studies (1996) and an M.A. in Comparative Literature (2005) from the University of Puerto Rico and a PhD in Hispanic Studies (2012) from the University of Pennsylvania. She also worked as a Spanish editor for Ediciones Santillana and Ediciones SM in Puerto Rico. Her primary field of study is 20th Century and Contemporary Latin American and Caribbean literatures and cultures. She has presented and published on her teaching and research interests: affects theory and the reconfiguration of intellectual genealogies; spaces of catastrophe, everyday life, and the reshaping of social space in literature, music, and architecture; and gender and queer studies in contemporary Caribbean literature. Focusing on spaces of catastrophe in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico, and Chile, she is working on a project that studies affects in intellectual discourses (“affective locus of enunciation”) and their potential to redefine our conception of “intellectual” and “intellectualism” as well as to call for and conform wider and more heterogeneous debate communities.
Courses
Courses offered in the past four years.
▲ indicates offered in the current term
▹ indicates offered in the upcoming term[s]
SPAN 0101 - Beginning Spanish I
Beginning Spanish I
This course is an introduction to the fundamentals of grammar and focuses on the development of four skills in Spanish: comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing. Emphasis will be placed on active communication aimed at the development of oral and comprehension skills. This course is for students who have not previously studied Spanish. Students are expected to continue with SPAN 0102 and SPAN 0103 after successful completion of SPAN 0101. 5 hrs. lect./disc.
Fall 2012
SPAN 0103 - Beginning Spanish III
Beginning Spanish III
This course is a continuation of SPAN 0102. Intensive reading, writing, and oral activities will advance students' proficiency in Spanish in an academic setting. (SPAN 0102) 5 hrs. lect./disc.
Spring 2013
SPAN 0210 - Intermediate Spanish I
Intermediate Spanish I
A course designed to consolidate the skills attained in SPAN 0101, SPAN 0102, and 0103 or the equivalent (0105). A grammar review will accompany an intensive component of readings, discussions, and compositions. (SPAN 0103, SPAN 0105, or placement) 3 hrs. lect./disc.
Fall 2012
SPAN 0394 - Contemp Youth Cultures-LatAm
Contemporary Youth Cultures in Latin America
Music bazaars, DJs, and rave parties, barras de fútbol (soccer fan clubs), and loitering are some of the manifestations associated with young people in Latin American literature, film, music, and journalism. How do these literary, artistic, and media representations of youth enter into dialogue with recent events in which young people have been at the center of efforts to bring about political changes in Latin America? How do those representations compare with the ones produced by young people in political movements such as revolución de los pingüinos in Chile and Yo Soy 132 in Mexico? Examining short fiction, film and documentaries, rock and reggaeton songs, blogs, and other cultural materials (YouTube clips, images, graffiti), we will identify and compare different contemporary youth cultures in Latin America in relation to their productions, representations, and actions in the public sphere. (At least two Spanish courses numbered 0300 or above, or by waiver).
Winter 2013
SPAN 0444 - Sex, Violence, and Culture
Sex, Violence, and Culture
In this course we will critically investigate the historical and contemporary manifestations of sexual violence within their cultural, biological, and individual expressions. We will also examine how gender--as a powerful category that shapes the way we see others and others see us-can be used to create a context for the justification of gender-based violence. Discussion and analysis of a wide variety of materials, including literary texts, essays, films, music, and videos, will form the basis of our exploration of the representation of sexual violence in Hispanic literature. Readings will include literary texts by authors Antonio Muñoz Molina, Roberto Bolaño, and Juan Bonilla, as well as theoretical texts by Fausto-Sterling, Katz, Brownmiller, Jensen, and O'Toole. (Two Spanish courses numbered 0350 or above, or by waiver.) 3 hrs. sem.
Spring 2013
SPAN 0500 - Independent Study ▲ ▹
Independent Study
The department will consider requests by qualified juniors and senior majors to engage in independent work. (Approval only)
Fall 2013, Spring 2014
SPAN 0705 - Senior Honors Thesis ▲ ▹
Senior Honors Thesis
The department will award honors, high honors, or highest honors on the basis of a student's work in the department and performance in SPAN 0705. (Approval only)
Fall 2013, Spring 2014
