Contact: andrea_nate@brown.edu
- Hometown: Deptford, NJ
- Educational Background & Degrees
- B.A. The College of New Jersey (Spanish, Minor in Women and Gender Studies), 2006.
- M.A. Middlebury College, (Spanish, Concentration in Spanish and Hispanic American Literature), 2007.
- A.M. Brown University (Hispanic Studies), 2012.
- Diplomas:
- D.E.L.E. Nivel Superior: Apto, 2007; licensed examiner, A1-2, 2011.
- ACTFL OPI, Spanish: Superior; 2007.
- Corpus Escrito del Español L2 (CEDEL2), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid Spanish grammar achievement test: Upper Advanced, 2007.
Major Paper Title: The Celestine Nucleus: a New World Reading of the Medieval Spanish Go-Between
Research Interests
My research focuses on the early modern appropriation and adaptation of medieval Iberian literary characters, tropes, motifs, and styles on either side of the Atlantic and Mediterranean and across various genres. In particular, I am interested in the figure and literary functions of the alcahueta, or the go-between, and her evolution from Ibn Hazm’s ajuza (The Ring of the Dove, c.1023) to Juan Ruiz’s Urraca Trotaconventos (Libro de buen amor 1330, 1343), Fernando de Roja’s Celestina (La Celestina, 1499), Cervantes’s Marialonso (El Celoso extremeño,1613), Lope de Vega’s Fabia (El Caballero de Olmedo, c. 1620) and Gerarda (La Dorotea, 1632), López de Úbeda’s pícara (La pícara Justina), and Juan Rodríguez Freyle’s Juana García (El Carnero, 1638). In future work, I hope to trace a literary and cultural history of the go-between and other elements of courtly love and cuckoldry rooted in mudejarismo and the fabliaux that flourished in Castilian and New World literature. I have explored the go-between and the female picaresque as a literary means of transgression and a vehicle for misogyny through her relationship to scandal. More broadly, I consider La Celestina a foundational social criticism and one of the gateways to Hispanic Humanism. Therefore, my work often takes a comparative approach, considering other descendents of and reactions to the Celestinesque archetype, such as La Lozana andaluza (1528), La pícara Justina (1605) and Salas de Barbillo’s La hija de Celestina (1612). My other interests include the memory and manifestations of late medieval historical personas in the Spanish Golden Age comedia, specifically Isabella the Catholic, Catherine of Lancaster, Enrique de Trastámara, Álvaro de Luna, and Reconquest heroes such as Francisco Ramírez de Madrid.
Translation and other Collaborative Projects
- Spanish-English translation and literary analysis and critique of contemporary Latin American women’s writing under dictator and censorship with Professor Lisa Ortiz, The College of New Jersey Department of English, 2011-2012.
- “The Illusiveness of Counting Victims.” Professor Kay Warren, Brown University Anthropology Dept., English-Spanish, Fall 2011.
- Various court files from Professor Kay Warren’s Colombian legal research on human trafficking. English-Spanish, Summer 2011.
- “Damning Female Portraits: Barrionuevo’s Avisos”. Prof. Deborah Compte, The College of New Jersey Modern Languages Dept. English-Spanish, Summer 2011.
- “Distortions: Contemporary Media Art from Mexico, Distorsiones: arte contemporáneo mediático de México.” The College of New Jersey Art Gallery and Patronato de Arte Contemporáneo, A.C. (Board of Contemporary Art), Fall 2009.
Selected Colloquium Paper
- "'Remembering Isabel: the Baroque Dramatists’ Homage to the Warrior Queen" Renaissance and Early Modern Studies Graduate Student Colloquium Series. Brown University, April 19, 2011.
Courses Taught
Teaching Assistantships and Fellowships at Brown
- HISP 100: Basic Spanish I (Fall 2011).
- HISP 200: Basic Spanish II (Spring 2012)
- HISP 300: Intermediate Spanish I (Fall 2012 Teaching Fellow)
Courses Taught at The College of New Jersey
Adjunct Instructor
- SPAN 103: Basic Spanish III (Fall 2009).
- SPAN 101: Basic Spanish I (Fall 2009) as Conversation Hour Leader.
- SPAN 102: Intermediate Spanish II (Spring 2010) as Conversation Hour Leader.
- SPAN 203: Grammar and Composition Review (Spring 2004, Fall 2005, Fall 2009, Spring 2010) as Conversation Hour Leader.
Course Taught at Monongahela Middle School
Long Term Substitute Teacher
- Eighth Grade Spanish
Courses Taught at Colegio de Educación Infantil y Primaria Hermanos Torá
Language Assistant
- ESL, Science, Social Studies, Arts & Crafts: Pre-kindergarten through 4th Grade
- Cambridge University Trinity English Exam Intensive Preparation: 2nd Grade