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Modern Languages and Literatures
Mercedes Mayna-Medrano

Mercedes Mayna-Medrano

Assistant Professor of Spanish and Hispanic Studies
Karp Hall 218
(518)388-6803
maynamem@union.edu
MLL, LACS, Gender, Sexuality & Women's Studies

Areas of expertise

Hi! I’m Meche and I’m originally from Lima, Peru. Since childhood, I have been passionate about fiction. After finishing high school, I decided to major in Literature, which deeping my enthusiasm for learning languages and literature. Then I pursued a master's degree in Linguistics and, eventually, moved to the US to achieve my goal to get a doctorate in Hispanic Studies. As an international student and teacher, I feel a strong connection with people who are on a similar journey to mine in the US.

Biography

I am an Assistant Professor at Union College, and a member of the Latin American and Caribbean Studies program (LACS) and Gender, Sexuality, and the Women Studies Program (GSW). I received her B.A. and Licenciatura in Hispanic Literature from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP) and an M.A. in Linguistics at PUCP. In 2022, I gained a Ph.D. in Hispanic Studies from the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA). I am the co-founder and leader of the Andean-Amazonian Reading Group. This community discusses and analyzes diverse topics related to the Andes and Amazon regions through diverse cultural productions, and it was awarded the NY6 Seed Grant in 2023 and 2024. I am currently working on my first book project, tentatively titled, Melodrama and Fear: (Mis)representing Indigenous People in 19th-Century Andean Literature.

Follow me: https://www.instagram.com/classes_with_profe_meche_

Research interests

My areas of interest are Andean-Amazonian Studies, Gender Studies, Ethnicity and Decoloniality, especially in 19th Century Latin American Literatures, Narrative in the Andes, Representation and Self-representation of Minoritized Communities, and Popular Culture in Latin America.

Teaching interests

These are some of the exciting classes that Prof. Mayna-Medrano teaches:

These are some of the exciting classes that I teach:

  • Spanish for beginners
  • Intermediate Spanish
  • Rethinking Latin America through Music, Dance and Food
  • (Mis)representation of ‘Minority’ Groups in Latin America
  • Contemporary Hispanic Women’s Fiction
  • Decolonizing the Hispanic World: Health, Environment and Indigeneity
  • “Yo no nací para amar”: Melodrama in Latin American and Latine Culture

Publications

Some of my recent publications include:

  • Melodrama and Fear: (Mis)representing Indigenous People in 19th-Century Andean Literature (forthcoming book project)
  • “El trabajo femenino en épocas modernistas: un estudio de Vencida de Angélica Palma” in Vencida by Angélica Palma. Centro de Estudios Literarios Antonio Cornejo Polar (Forthcoming)
  • “Juan de la Rosa o el huérfano hispanizado como fachada de modernidad” in Decimonónica (2022)
  • “El ensayo y la novela de Mercedes Cabello.” Marcel Velázquez and Raquel Chang-Rodríguez (eds.) in Historia de las literaturas en el Perú III (2021)
  • “No todos los subalternos son iguales: el miedo en Herencia de Clorinda Matto” in Boletín de la Academia Peruana de la Lengua No 67 (2020)
  • “‘…porque conformes en nuestros afectos ya solo una cosa anhelamos: la felicidad…’. Una crítica social melodramática desde el espacio regional: El padre Horán. Escenas de la vida del Cuzco de Narciso Aréstegui Zuzunaga” in the critical edition of El padre Horán. Escenas de la vida del Cuzco, by Narciso Aréstegui (2019)

Additional media

Academic credentials

B.A., M.A., Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú; Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania
Karp Hall

Karp Hall 120

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Fax: (518) 388-6462