Mauricio Parra
Curriculum Vitae
Degrees
PhD Hispanic Languages and Literatures. University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign. 1993
MA Hispanic Languages and Literatures. University of California, Santa Barbara. 1986
BA Hispanic Languages and Literatures. University of California, Santa Barbara. 1982
Fields of Specialization and Research
Latin American Studies (Literary and Cultural Studies). Colombian Literature. Magical Realism. Gabriel García Márquez.
Latin American Film
Latina/o Culture and Film.
University Appointments
2007 - present Professor. Illinois Wesleyan University. Bloomington.
1999-2006 Associate Professor. Illinois Wesleyan University. Bloomington.
1993-1998 Assistant Professor. Illinois Wesleyan University. Bloomington.
1990-1993 Instructor. Illinois Wesleyan University. Bloomington.
1989-1990 Instructor. Bradley University. Peoria, Illinois.
1988-1989 Lecturer. University of California, Davis
1986-1987 Instructor. Santa Barbara City College. California.
1981-1986 Teaching Assistant. University of California, Santa Barbara
Additional Appointments
2006 Resident Director IWU Madrid Program. José Ortega y Gasset Foundation, Madrid, Spain. [spring semester].
1996 Resident Director Summer Study Abroad Program. University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Program sponsored by University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; University of Illinois; University of Texas).
1994 Co-Director with Carmela Ferradáns: Summer Institute for Teachers of Foreign Languages, Illinois Council on Teaching of Foreign Languages. (Southern Illinois University, Carbondale).
1986 Coordinator, Spanish Summer Program. Language Laboratory and Cultural Activities. (University of California Santa Barbara).
Languages
Native Spanish; near native English; reading knowledge and basic conversational Portuguese.
Publications
Editions
Regarding Violence. Spec. issue of Discourse: Journal for Theoretical Studies in Media and Culture 25.3 (2003).
Myths and Legends of Mexico by Luis Leal. Edition and Introduction by Mauricio Parra. Santa Barbara, CA: University of California Center for Chicano Studies, 2002.
The Integration of Language and Culture in the Curriculum. Co-edited with Carmela Ferradáns. Springfield: Illinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, 1994.
Articles
“Regarding Violence.” Discourse: Journal for Theoretical Studies in Media and Culture 25.3 (2003): 3-8.
“La coexistencia de lo irreconciliable: espacios urbanos en la narrativa colombiana contemporánea.” Alba de América: Revista Literaria 22.41-42 (2003): 387-99.
“El cuento de nunca acabar: discurso integrador en la obra de Gabriel García Márquez.” El Colombiano USA 2.32-33 (2000): 6-13.
“La importancia para la comunidad de la Universidad Latinoamericana.” El Colombiano USA 2.45 (2000): 14-16.
“Rewriting the Myths of History: The European Utopia in Gabriel García Márquez’s The General in his Labyrinth.” The European Legacy: Toward New Paradigms. CD-ROM. Cambridge: MIT P, 1998.
“La crítica de la razón instrumental en Cien años de soledad o la posibilidad de excentricidad.” La Torre: Revista de la Universidad de Puerto Rico 2.3 (1997): 73-85.
“En nombre de Bolívar: García Márquez y la proyección de la utopía en Latinoamérica.” Orbis Tertius: Revista de Teoría y Crítica Literaria 2 (1996): 39-49.
“Dos poetas frente a un mismo símbolo: Federico García Lorca y Jorge Luis Borges.” Romance Languages Annual 8 (1996): 633-37.
“Inversión de las polaridades, integración de las disyuntivas en el discurso en Cien años de Soledad.” Lecturas y relecturas de textos españoles, latinoamericanos y U.S. Latinos. Ed. Juan Villegas. Irvine: U of California P, 1994. 347-54.
“E.T. no era UN extranjero: función de los materiales culturales en el currículum comunicativo.” The Integration of Language and Culture in the Curriculum. Ed. Mauricio Parra and Carmela Ferradáns. Springfield: Illinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, 1994. 4-8.
“’El Apellido’ de Nicolás Guillén: una aplicación práctica del Natural Approach a la enseñanza de la cultura.” The Integration of Language and Culture in the Curriculum. Ed. Mauricio Parra and Carmela Ferradáns. Springfield: Illinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, 1994. 12-18.
“Gente, costumbres e instituciones en América Latina: el caso de Argentina.” The Integration of Language and Culture in the Curriculum. Ed. Mauricio Parra and Carmela Ferradáns. Springfield: Illinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, 1994. 23-27.
“Alienación y marginalidad discursiva en la Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España.” Romance Languages Annual 3 (1991): 550-53.
Review-Article:
“The Edges of Latin American Postmodernism: A Review of the Postmodernism Debate in Latin America.” Rev. of the Postmodernism Debate in Latin America, ed. John Beverley, Michael Aronna and J.M. Oviedo. Discourse: Journal for the Theoretical Studies in Media and Culture 21.2 (1999): 182-88.
Translations:
“De Samambé a la ‘Comuna de Chalaco’: La multivocalidad de montoneros piuranos durante el tardío siglo XIX.” By Nils Jacobsen and Alejandro Diez Hurtado. Revista Andina 37 (2003): 137-80.
Video Production:
Dreams of Faith and Wonders: The Pilgrim’s Route to Santiago de Compostela. Bloomington: Illinois Wesleyan University, 1995. [20 minutes].
Work in Progress
Books:
Chief-Editor of Special Edition of the Journal El Buho y El Cuervo (The Owl and The Raven): Creating Communities in Exile: Poetry and Life" (in progress).
Beyond Macondo: Narratives of Displacement in the New Colombian Fiction" (in progress).
Professional Activities
International:
2001 Co-organizer (with Michael Palencia -Roth): “International Association of Colombianists” (12th Conference). University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
1999 Co-organizer (with Rolando Romero, Idelber Avelar and Elena Delgado): “International Conference on Cultural Studies and Disciplinary Boundaries in Latin/o America.” University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
1985-86 Co-organizer of “First and Second Annual Colloquia on Mexican Literature." University of California, Santa Barbara.
National and Local
2002 Co-organizer with Christina Isabelli: IWU Humanities Series, “Gabriel García Márquez”, lecture by Michael Palencia-Roth. Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington.
1994 Co-organizer with Kathleen O’Gorman: Carlos Fuentes’ visit to campus, “A Writer Looks Towards the Twenty-First Century.” Office of the President. Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington.
Publishing/Editing Experience
1982-84 Newsletter Director. Encuentro, Educational Opportunity Program. University of California, Santa Barbara.
1982-87 Co-Editor. Tinta, Department of Spanish and Portuguese Literary Magazine. University of California, Santa Barbara.
Other Professional Activities
1978-82 Chronicle Publications. Owner, Publisher and Editor. Santa Barbara Chronicles. Bilingual newspaper magazine: News, articles and information on contemporary literature and art. Business provided printing, graphics, typesetting, and translations. Chronicle Publications, 924 Anacapa St., Suite 4G. Santa Barbara, California.
Teaching
Language Courses:
O All levels of language instruction: Elementary (Span 101, 102), Intermediate (Span 201, 203), Advanced (Span 302, 303).
Literature courses:
Introduction to Literature (Span 308).
Special Topics (Span 310, 410). Topics might include: the Latin American Boom, Modernism and Modernity and Gabriel García Márquez.
Contemporary Latin-American Literature (Span 478, 488, 490, 499).
US Latina/o Literature (Span 468).
Culture courses:
Latin American Culture and Civilization I (Pre-Colombian to the Independence Movements) and II (Building of New Nations to Contemporary Latin-America) (Span 316, 317).
Latina/o Culture in the U. S. (Span 490, 499).
Art and Culture of the Mexican Revolution (Span 320).
Senior Seminar in Latin American Cultural Studies (Span 490: “Foundational Thoughts: Latin-American Identity and the Essay”).
Constructing Spain (Art, Culture and Nationalism) (Span 320, OCS 224).
Film courses:
Hispanics in Film (Span 360).
Hispanic Literature in Film (Span 490, 499)