Program Director, 2024-2025
León Narváez
Professor of Romance Languages – Spanish
Hispanic culture, language, and literature; Hispanic migration; race/ethnic studies
Catalina Ahumada Escobar
Visiting Assistant Professor of Romance Languages – Spanish
colonial Latin America, early Modern Latin America, 19th century Latin America, writing and daily life
practices, visual culture.
Seth I. Binder
Associate Professor of Economics and Environmental Studies
environmental and natural resource economics and policy; development economics; sustainable
development
Maggie A. Broner
National Endowment for the Humanities Professor of Romance Language
Hispanic linguistics; culture; second language acquisition
Christopher L. Chiappari
Associate Professor of Sociology/Anthropology
Guatemala; religion; immigration
Kris A. Cropsey
Instructor of Romance Languages – Spanish
Hispanic linguistics; sociolinguistics; second language acquisition; teacher education
Jessica Haugsland
Visiting Instructor of Romance Languages – Spanish
Kristina Medina-Vilariño
Associate Professor of Romance Languages – Spanish; O.C. and Patricia Boldt Distinguished Teaching
Professor of the Humanities
Caribbean Studies; 20th- and 21st-century Latin American studies; contemporary Latino studies; race and
ethnic studies
Jonathan P. O’Conner (on sabbatical 2024-25)
Associate Professor of Romance Languages – Spanish
Peninsular early modern/golden age literature and cultures; cultural and intellectual histories; humanism;
colonial Latin America
Ariel T. Strichartz
Professor of Romance Languages – Spanish
contemporary Latin American theater and narrative; Argentine theater; literary food studies; memory
studies
Kris E. Thalhammer
Professor of Political Science
comparative politics; Latin American politics; political tolerance; human rights
Brendon Westler
Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Latin American philosophy
Mariana Reyes Payán
Assistant Professor of Romance Languages – Spanish
Joseph Sepulveda Ortiz
Assistant Professor of English