I completed my BA International in Spanish and French at NUI Galway in 2009, before completing my MA in Spanish there in 2010, and my PhD in 2016. Funded by the Irish Research Council and the Hardiman Scholarship (NUI Galway), I undertook a structured PhD in Latin American Studies with a focus on representations of genders and ethnicities in Chilean historical fiction. From there, I took up a lectureship in Hispanic Studies in Cardiff University between 2016 and 2018. I started in UCC as a Lecturer in Latin American Studies in 2018 and became a Senior Lecturer/Associate Professor in 2025.

My research interests are broadly related to gendered approaches in Latin American cultural studies, with a focus on Chile. I research feminist cultural activists whose work contributes to the struggles against socio-historical and geopolitical challenges. My monograph, Colonial Legacies and Contemporary Identities in Chile: Revisiting Catalina de los Ríos y Lisperguer (2021), explores traditional and contemporary concerns surrounding gender and ethnicity in Chile through a textual analysis of historical novels depicting seventeenth-century figure, Catalina de los Ríos y Lisperguer. Much of my work has focused on feminist readings of marginalisation in Chilean culture, but more recently my passion for cultural activism and the impetus to explore the learnings acquired through cross-cultural comparisons from decolonial feminist perspectives have motivated a focus on comparing experiences in Ireland and Latin America. I have promoted the cross-cultural exploration of social justice issues across Ireland and Latin America in my role as researcher on the Critical Epistemologies Across Borders (CEAB) project and as Co-PI on Trans/Actions: Translation as Activism. I am an active member of the Violence, Conflict and Gender research cluster, based in the Centre for Advanced Studies in Languages and Cultures, and was co-convenor between 2020 and 2024.

 

I have taught on a range of courses related to Spanish language and Latin American culture. This includes Spanish language grammar, conversation, Business Spanish, and translation bilaterally between English and Spanish for language-learning and specialist purposes. I have contributed to and coordinated a variety of modules with focuses on Latin American literature, film and history, as well as some work on Spanish fiction. At postgraduate level, I contribute to a range of taught Masters programmes, delivering more general research skills support, as well as focusing on decolonial feminist theory, feminist activism, and intersectional struggles against marginalisation more broadly.

Module code	Module title	UG/PG	Role
HS1010	Business and Society in the Spanish-speaking World	UG	Coordinator/Lecturer
HS2007	Business and Society in the Spanish-speaking World II	UG	Coordinator/Lecturer
HS2014	Understanding Latin America	UG	Coordinator/Lecture
HS2016	Creative Practices on Social Justice and Marginalisation in Latin America	UG	Coordinator/Lecturer
HS2057	Cinema and Identity in Spain and Latin America	UG	Lecturer
HS3001	Final Year Spanish Language	UG	Lecturer
HS5011	Landmarks in Spanish and Latin American Literature	PG	Coordinator/Lecturer
HS5017	Cultural Responses to Global Challenges in the Spanish-Speaking World	PG	Coordinator/Lecturer
HS5021	Understanding Latin America: Texts and Contexts	PG	Coordinator/Lecturer
LL6111	Theorising the Global: Migration Studies, Postcolonialism and Critical Theory	PG	Coordinator/Lecturer
LL6903	Research Skills in Migration, Mobility and Culture	PG	Coordinator/Lecturer
WS6002	Feminist Theory	PG	Lecturer
PG7044	Researching through Gendered and Intersectional Lenses: An Interdisciplinary Introduction	PG	Lecturer

 

Past teaching: LL6008 Mobility, Plurilingualism and Intercultural Communication in the Globalized World; HS1102 First Year Spanish Language for Non-Beginners; HS2007 Business and Society in the Spanish-speaking World I (Coordinator);  HS3058 Human Rights, Memory, and the Post-Dictatorship Generation in the Southern Cone

'Monstrosity, biopolitics, resistance and selfhood in contemporary Mexican speculative fiction' by Edyta Andzel-O'Shanahan. Funded by IRC. Co-supervision with Professor Nuala Finnegan.
'Writing and Representation: Towards a New Literary Paradigm through Escrevivência and Quilombismo' by Beatriz Dantas Vieira. Funded by ARTFICTIONS (IRC Laureate). Co-supervision with Dr Carlos Garrido Castellano.
'Exploring crime fiction translation from a gender and minority culture perspective' by Anna Cruzado Sanders. Funded by NUI Travelling Scholarship. Co-supervision with Professor Helena Buffery.

'Translating for a Fairer Future: A Critical Creative Approach to the Translation of Young Adult Literature from Latin America' by Ruth Donnelly. Funded by UCC SPLAS Scholarship. Co-supervision with Professor Helena Buffery.