Gloria González Zenteno
Professor of Luso-Hispanic Studies
- Office
- Robert A. Jones '59 House 111
- Tel
- (802) 443-5074
- gonzalez@middlebury.edu
Professor Gloria Estela González Zenteno was born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico. She has a Licenciatura in Hispanic literatures from the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, an M.A. and a Master’s degree in Latin American literature from the Stony Brook University, and an M.F.A. in creative writing from the Solstice program. An avid slow traveler (not a tourist!), she has lived in Frankfurt (Germany), New York City, La Paz (Mexico) and Cagliari (Italy). She looks forward to moving to Puerto Vallarta, Barcelona, and / or Amsterdam for her next sabbatical.
Professor González has published extensively on the function of animal imagery and the figures of the reader, the writer and the sweep of literary traditions in Augusto Monterroso (Guatemala) and Juan José Arreola (Mexico).
But her passion is in creative writing. She writes in English and Spanish about characters that stand in the intersections of diverse sexualities and natural environments. Her creative work is featured in the Barcelona Review, Cronopio, Flyway, The Fem, the Revista Mexicana de Literatura Contemporánea, Salon, and Solstice Literary Magazine. Her current project, The Age of Aquarius, is a memoir about being gay in conservative Mexican and American societies. At Middlebury, Professor González teaches fiction and nonfiction, Latin American and Latino narrative, and all levels of Spanish language. She lives with her wife, her children, their dog and two cats.
On her free time she likes bailar, pasear, conversar y bien comer.
Courses Taught
IGST 0703
Upcoming
LAS Senior Thesis
Course Description
Latin American Studies Senior Thesis
(Approval Required)
Terms Taught
SPAN 0104
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
Upcoming
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
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 0330
Upcoming
Migrant Oral Narratives
Course Description
Migrant Oral Narratives: Resistance and Self-Care from Central America to Vermont
This course focuses on the oral practices that migrants have developed to care for themselves and their communities as they face the challenges of life in a foreign environment. Using their ears, hands and voices, students will learn through podcasts and videos, but also through service activities, participant observation and conversations as we partner with Vermont organizations such as Migrant Justice, Addison Allies and Viva el Sabor. The product of their work will include team teaching and a podcast. 3 hrs sem.
Terms Taught
Requirements
SPAN 0338
Advanced Conversation
Course Description
Advanced Conversation
In this course we will focus on the development of oral skills in Spanish at the advanced level. Students will also be exposed to cultural context in Spanish, through which they will be introduced to social and political trends in the Spanish-speaking world. Through oral exams, presentations, debates, and other forms of oral assessment, students will deepen their oral skills, as well as their understanding and production of oral expression in the target language. The course will give special attention to communicative skills in Spanish, particularly speaking (including pronunciation) and listening. The instructor may choose specific grammar points for review when necessary. 3 hrs. lect.
Terms Taught
Requirements
SPAN 0433
Creative Writing: Long Form
Course Description
Creative Writing: Long Form Narrative
This course offers students the opportunity to advance in creative writing in Spanish. Students will create a long-form work—a novella, a collection of interrelated short stories, or a collection of interrelated autobiographical narratives. Through workshops and analyses of literary models, students will develop narrative and stylistic techniques to produce at least twenty-five pages of polished creative work around a unified topic. Prior creative writing experience would be helpful. (Senior Majors or by approval) 3 hrs. sem.
Terms Taught
Requirements
SPAN 0500
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
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
Areas of Interest
Creative fiction and non fiction, Latin American contemporary literature.
Latino literature in Spanish / Latin American fantastic literature / magical realism / Augusto Monterroso
Publications
“Maga.” Revista Cronopio. November 2015.
“Arribada.” (Novel excerpt) Flyway: Journal of Writing and Environment. January 2016.
“Open Triangle.” The Fem Literary Magazine. December 2015.
“Maga.” (Fiction, English) Solstice Literary Magazine. Winter 2014.
“Ambistoma mexicanum.” (Fiction, English) Cobalt Review. 2013.
“Ambistoma mexicanum.” (Fiction, Spanish) Revista de literatura mexicana contemporánea 54, 2013. 67-72.
“Bajo el colchón”. The Barcelona Review: International Review of Contemporary Fiction. May 2002.