Alicia Nuñez
Assistant Professor of Luso-Hispanic Studies
- Office
- Voter Hall 207
- alician@middlebury.edu
- Office Hours
- Tuesday (10:30-11:30), Wednesday (10-12), or by appointment
Alicia V. Nuñez was raised in Los Angeles, California, and holds both a B.S. and a B.A. from California Lutheran University. She earned her Ph.D. from Northwestern University, where her research focused on Central American migrant children and the survival strategies they develop within systems of detainment.
She teaches courses—such as “Latin American and Latinx Childhoods”, “Migration and Borders”, and “Diasporas of Resistance: Central Americans in the U.S.”—to reflect her transnational commitment to migration, childhood, and resistance across the Americas.
Professor Nuñez held teaching appointments at Northwestern University, the University of Chicago, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Cook County Jail. She also served as Director and Program Coordinator for the Northwestern Prison Education Program, where she worked in partnership with Cook County Jail and youth detention centers under the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice.
Courses Taught
SPAN 0104
Current
Beginning Spanish II
Course Description
Beginning Spanish II
This course is a continuation of SPAN 0101. Intensive reading, writing, and oral activities will advance students’ proficiency in Spanish in an academic setting. (SPAN 0101 or placement exam) 6 hrs. lect./disc.
Terms Taught
SPAN 0201
Intermediate Spanish
Course Description
Intermediate Spanish
This accelerated course is designed to review, reinforce, and consolidate the linguistic structures that students need in order to reach the intermediate level of proficiency in Spanish. A grammar review will accompany intensive language acquisition, vocabulary expansion, readings, discussions, and compositions. (SPAN 0103 or SPAN 0105 or SPAN 0104 or placement tests) 3 hrs. lect., 1 hr. drill.
Terms Taught
Requirements
SPAN 0250
Upcoming
Spanish for Heritage Speakers
Course Description
Spanish for Heritage Speakers
This course is specifically designed for heritage speakers, i.e., individuals who grew up speaking Spanish at home but were formally educated in another language, or individuals from similar contexts. In this course students will learn about different aspects of their own varieties of Spanish, social perceptions towards them, and how these varieties are valid forms of communication. Additionally, students will study grammatical differences between their varieties of Spanish and a more formal, academic Spanish. The grammatical aspects will primarily focus on written Spanish, vocabulary, and verb tenses that tend to vary in different varieties of Spanish. (by placement exam or waiver) 3 hrs. lct.
Terms Taught
Requirements
SPAN 0337
Current
Sound, Race, and Resistance
Course Description
Sound, Race, and Resistance
In this course, we will examine how works from across Latin America address intersections of listening and race. Exploring where sound serves as a site of racialization as well as how the ear can construct and contest difference, we will place films, literary texts, a tape documentary, and even a radio play into conversation with readings from the interdisciplinary field of sound studies. Doing so will allow us to consider how we might counter essentialist notions of sound as we critique misguided understandings of necessary connections between voice and race, to name one key concern. In addition to contemplating these ways that our ears have been tuned or trained, we will also study works that demand we listen differently.
Terms Taught
Requirements
SPAN 0372
Intro U.S.-Mexico Borderlands
Course Description
Introduction to the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands
The U.S.-Mexico borderland is a region of profound cultural and political significance, where connections and divisions have shaped the historical and contemporary landscape. In this course we will explore various forms of border crossing—geographical, racial, cultural, sexual, linguistic, and gendered. We will examine the history of the border, beginning with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the implementation of NAFTA, and the recent crisis of child detainment at the border. Through a combination of readings, music, film, and class discussions, we will analyze how the border is represented in cultural texts and how these portrayals bridge and exacerbate social differences. We will also explore how state and community institutions respond to and navigate these diverse forms of border crossings.3 hrs. lect./disc.
Terms Taught
Requirements
SPAN 0425
Upcoming
Migrant Childhoods
Course Description
Migrant Childhoods & Adolescence
In this course we will examine Latinx and Latin American migrant childhoods and adolescence through literature, cultural production, and interdisciplinary scholarship. While children are often seen as innocent and in need of protection, the racialized and migrant child is represented in more complex ways. We will analyze how childhood and adolescence function in narratives of identity, belonging, and migration, focusing on tensions between vulnerability, protection, and agency. Beyond literature, we will consider film, media, and art to explore how representations of youth intersect with histories of displacement, borders, and globalization. By historicizing ideas of childhood and adolescence, we will study them as social constructions shaped by political economies, international law, migration, and cultural memory, emphasizing ongoing processes of “becoming.” (Any 2 SPAN courses at the 0300-level.)
Terms Taught
Requirements
SPAN 0500
Current
Upcoming
Independent Study
Course Description
Independent Study
The department will consider requests by qualified juniors and senior majors to engage in independent work. (Approval only)
Terms Taught
SPAN 0705
Current
Upcoming
Senior Honors Thesis
Course Description
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)
Terms Taught