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Ph.D. Students

Nuria Alcaide García

Nuria is a first year Ph.D. student in Hispanic Linguistics at the University of Florida. She holds two BAs in English and in Hispanic Philology, and two MAs in Teaching Spanish as a Foreign Language from the University of Granada (Spain) and in Hispanic Studies from Washington University in St. Louis. She has been a Spanish instructor in different Spanish language schools in Spain and Estonia, and at WashU. Her research interests include second language and heritage language acquisition and teaching methodologies.

 

 

 

 

 

Sergio Casado Ariza

Sergio is a second year Ph.D. student in Hispanic Linguistics at the University of Florida. He holds a dual bachelor’s degree in Hispanic and French Studies and two Minors, in German and in Translation & Interpreting, from the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona (Spain). He also holds an MA in Education in Spanish and Catalan Languages and Literatures from the same university (Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona). His current research interests include syntax, bilingualism, phonetics and phonology in second language acquisition, dialectology, and Romance languages.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Analiz Faife Casas

Analiz Faife Casas is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate of Spanish Literature and Cultural Studies at the Department of Language and Portuguese Studies at the University of Florida. She holds a bachelor’s degree in French and Francophone Studies and a Minor in Spanish from Florida International University. In addition, she holds a MA in Comparative Literature from Florida Atlantic University. Currently, her research interests encompass Latin America and the Caribbean cultural syncretism, literary theory, postcolonial theory, psychoanalysis, feminism, and film studies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nazita Fazlkhah

Nazita is a third-year Ph.D. student of Hispanic Linguistics at the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies at the University of Florida. She holds a bachelor’s degree in the Spanish Language from the University of Allameh Tabatabai (Iran) and She also holds a MA in Spanish Language and Linguistics from the University of Oviedo (Spain). Her current research interests include phonetics and pronunciation in second language acquisition, dialectology, bilingualism, and sociolinguistics. In her spare time, Nazita enjoys doing Yoga and Meditation.

 

 

 

 

 

Ivana M. Frisa

 

Ivana M. Frisa is a third-year Ph.D. student of Hispanic Literatures and Cultural Studies at the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies at the University of Florida. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Spanish from The College of Mount Saint Vincent, and a master’s degree in Languages, Linguistics, and Comparative Literature with a concentration in Spanish from Florida Atlantic University. The focus of her current research projects includes 19th-century Italian immigration in Argentina and its portrayal in literary works from that period.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Juan Manuel Martínez

Juan Manuel Martínez is a second-year PhD student in the literature track at The University of Florida. He holds a BA in English (Creative Writing track) and a BA in Modern Languages from The University of Central Florida. Additionally, he earned an MA in Creative Writing from Universidad Nacional de Colombia and an MA in Spanish and Latin American Literature from Universidad Internacional de la Rioja. His interests include, but are not limited to, Boom and Post-Boom literature, Bilingualism in literature, and the use of literature for language teaching purposes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

María Laura Mecías

 

Maria Laura is a third-year PhD student in the Hispanic Linguistics track at University of Florida. She holds a B.A in Literature from Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina, after that she earned her M.A. in Hispanic Applied Linguistics in Universidad Europea del Atlántico, Spain.  Her research interests include, but are not limited to, the heritage language acquisition and pedagogy, Spanish language education through technology, Spanish for specific purposes, and language teachers training.  Her hobbies include running and gardening.

 

 

 

 

 

Enrique Muñoz-Mantas

Enrique Muñoz-Mantas is a fourth-year Ph.D. Candidate in Hispanic Literatures and Cultures Studies in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies at the University of Florida. He earned his B.A. in Catalan Studies from the University of Barcelona and his M.D. in Education from the Valencian International University. His research interests include, but are not limited to, the Francoist exile, Peninsular and Catalan postwar literature, Migration Studies, and Peninsular and Latin American speculative and crime fiction.

 

 

 

 

 

María Victoria Muñoz

Victoria is a second-year PhD student in the Literature and Culture track at the University of Florida. She holds a BA in English Language and Culture and an MA in Contemporary Literatures in English from the National University of Cuyo (Mendoza, Argentina), and an MA in Spanish Literature at the University of Florida. Her current research interests include Latin American contemporary literature, especially written by women. She enjoys teaching languages, singing in choir, , traveling, and engaging in conversation with people.

 

 

 

 

 

Daniela Nuñez de Alvarez Stransky

 

Daniela is a PhD candidate of Hispanic Linguistics. She holds a B.A. in Hispanic Language and Literatures from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and a M.A. in Applied Linguistics from the same university. Her main research interests include heritage language acquisition and critical pedagogies. Acquisition, loss and reactivation of syntax with special focus on migrants who are returning to Mexico. She is also interested in CDA and the relation between language, race and power. Her hobbies include the practice of psychoanalysis, doing yoga, listening to tango and dancing.

 

 

 

 

 

Gabriela D. Rivera Marín

Gabriela D. Rivera Marín is a second-year doctoral student of Hispanic Linguistics at the University of Florida. She holds a B.A in Comparative Literature, and a second B.A. in Linguistics & Communication from the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras (UPRRP). Her current research interests include bilingualism, heritage language acquisition, psycholinguistics, and sociolinguistics.

 

 

 

 

 

Hannah Treadway

Hannah Treadway is a Ph.D. student in Hispanic Linguistics at the University of Florida. She holds a double B.A. with honors in Spanish and music from Ohio Wesleyan University and an M.A. in Hispanic Linguistics from the University of Florida. Her research interests include bilingual sentence processing, psycholinguistic methodology (i.e. eye-tracking and EEG), the cognitive mechanisms underlying (bilingual) language use, and Spanish-English code-switching. Her hobbies include playing clarinet, teaching music, and hiking with her dog Copland.

 

 

 

 

 

Gustavo Velázquez Lazcano

 

Gustavo is a fourth year PhD candidate of Literature and Culture Studies at the Department of Language and Portuguese Studies at the University of Florida. He holds a B.A. in Literary Studies with a concentration in Creative Writing from Universidad Autónoma de Querétaro (Mexico) and an M.A. in Spanish from Ohio University. His current research interests include Contemporary Mexican and Chicanx Children’s and YA Literature, International Children’s and YA Literature, Mexican Studies, Latinx Studies, Latin American Studies, Comparative Children’s Literature, Decolonialism, Feminism, Indigenous Studies, and Afro-Mexico.

 

 

 

 

 

Allen Zegarra Acevedo

 

Allen Zegarra Acevedo is a  Ph.D. candidate in the Literature and Culture track at the University of Florida. He holds a B.A. in journalism from Universidad Jaime Bausate y Meza (Lima), a specialization in TEFL from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, and an M.A. in Spanish from Auburn University. His research focuses on unraveling the socioeconomic factors that lie behind social phenomena in Latin America such as slavery, exploitation, racism, and classism, and their connections with propaganda and the mass media. He is particularly interested in establishing parallels between reality and fiction. He is also interested in creative writing.

 

 

 

 

 

Josh Higdon

 Josh Higdon is a first year PhD student of Hispanic Linguistics. They hold three BAs from the University of Richmond in Latin America, Latino, and Iberian Studies, Psychology, and Cognitive Science. During their time at the University of Richmond, Josh published a manuscript in Language Learning with two co-authors on regularity effects on heritage speakers’ production of subjunctive mood morphology. Their research interests include heritage Spanish, bilingual sentence processing, code switching, and psycholinguistic methodology. In their free time, Josh enjoys exploring local coffee shops, listening to music and attending concerts, and participating in LGBTQIA+ activism.

 

 

 

 

 

Jenny Paola Hincapié Marín

 Paola is a first year Ph.D. student in Hispanic Linguistics at the University of Florida. She holds a master’s in Social Studies and a bachelor’s degree in Basic Education with an emphasis in Humanities: Spanish and Foreign Languages (English and French), from the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional (Colombia). She is a Fulbrigth Scholar, and has experience in teaching English, French and Spanish as a second language in indigenous communities and as a foreign language, research in the field of interculturality, migration and social dialogue as a pedagogical strategy in the study of gender relations and the construction of citizenship. She is interested in diverse thought systems, feminist social movements and self-education. Her hobbies include dancing, listening to music, traveling, learning languages, and playing drums.

 

 

 

 

 

Ailyn Figueroa Gonzalez

Ailyn is a first year Ph.D. student in Hispanic Linguistics at the University of Florida. She holds BAs in Hispanic Philology from the University of Havana (Cuba), and a MAs in Humanities, Linguistics academic line, from the Autonomous Metropolitan University (Mexico). She has been a Hispanic Linguistics researcher in Cuba and Mexico, and Spanish instructor at the University of Havana. Her research interests include migration linguistics, heritage language acquisition and sociolinguistics.

 

 

 

 

 

Ethan Rutter

Ethan Rutter is a first-year Ph.D student of Hispanic Linguistics at the University of Florida. He holds a B.A. in Spanish Education from BYU-Idaho and an M.A. in Hispanic Linguistics from BYU in Provo, Utah. He is interested in studying second language acquisition and linguistic variation (both synchronic and diachronic). His hobbies include roller skating, listening to music, and juggling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

M.A. Students

 

Andrea Campaña

 Andrea Campaña is a second-year M.A. student in Hispanic Literature at the University of Florida. She holds a B.A. in English Philology and an M.A. in Secondary Education in English from the University of Zaragoza (Spain). She also holds a certified course by the Instituto Cervantes on Spanish as a Foreign Language (ELE). Her current research interests include contemporary Latin American and Spanish horror/thriller literature and cinema with a focus on different representations of women. Her hobbies include reading (especially mystery novels), watching horror and Tim Burton’s films, listening to 80’s music and photographing sunsets and her cat, Björn.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lara Hernandez-Tome

Lara Hernandez-Tome is a first year M.A. student in Hispanic Linguistics at the University of Florida. She holds a dual bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University in Public Policy Studies (concentration in immigration policy) and Spanish, as well as a minor in Latinx studies. She also holds an MA in Political Science from the Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona. Her current research interests include language policy, bilingualism, language rights, and sociolinguistics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daniella Conde

 

Daniella Conde is a first-year M.A. student in Hispanic Linguistics at the University of Florida. She is a double Gator with a B.A. in English with a minor in Spanish from the University of Florida. She is Cuban-American, born and raised in Miami, FL. Her current research interests include heritage language acquisition, raciolinguistics, translanguaging, language variation in Caribbean Spanish speakers, and “Miami English.” Her hobbies include listening to music (mainly Taylor Swift), going to as many concerts as possible, trying new coffee shops, writing, and doing yoga.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Verónica Rosich

Veronica Rosich is a first-year Master student in Hispanic Literature at the University of Florida. She holds a B.A in Philosophy from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Her research fields of interest are related to continental philosophy, assuming a marxist and foucaultian approach that seeks contemporary structures of exclusion. Feminism and psychoanalysis are also solid references in her work. She is currently interested in tracking some of the literary and visual representations of latin american migration, specially venezuelan, in the 21st century.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Guadalupe Giménez

 Guadalupe Giménez is a first-year M.A. student in Hispanic Literature at the University of Florida. She holds a B.A. in English and Spanish translation from Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (Argentina). She holds a certificate of exchange studies at Europa-Universität Flensburg (Germany) where she worked with English literature and cinema and German language. Her current research interests include female horror literature in Latin America and the cultural reciprocity in its translation into English. She is also interested in works on feminism and human rights.