Allen Guillermo Rivas-Prado, Ph.D.

Senior Lecturer of Spanish

Department: Ancient & Modern Languages

Office: Reasoner 110F

Phone Extension: 2142

Biographical Information

Before starting my career in academia, I worked as a professional ballet dancer in Cuba, my home country, Costa Rica, and the United States. After retiring from dance, I studied Spanish Language & Literature at Transylvania University and then obtained my Master’s and Ph.D. in Hispanic Studies at the University of Kentucky. One of the best memories I have from college was realizing that the world was so interconnected, and that interconnectedness enables us to create knowledge and be part of a community that constantly feeds on each other. For me, being able to create knowledge, no matter how small, is something fascinating and allows us to feel relevant in some way. Among the things that I am most passionate about are spending time with my family, literature, reading, researching and teaching culture. I am also passionate about discovering new restaurants, exotic foods and traveling.

Education

2019: Ph.D. Hispanic Studies, University of Kentucky
2018: M.A. in Hispanic Studies, University of Kentucky
2015: B.A., Spanish Language & Literature, Transylvania University, Summa Cum Laude

Research Interests

19th – 21th century Latin American and Peninsular Literature
20th – 21th century Latin American and Peninsular Film
Transatlantic Studies
Cuban Studies
Dance
Folklore
Gender Studies

Publications

Peer reviewed articles

“La argentinidad renovada: El tango (1964) de Jorge Luis Borges y la coreografía “El tango” (2013) de Nuria Aparicio.” Chasqui 49.1 (May 2020): 222-239
“Bodas de sangre: Rebeldía femenina en el drama de García Lorca y en la coreografía de Gades.” Polifonía 10 (Nov 2020): 70-86
“Lo andaluz en El sombrero de tres picos (1874) de Pedro Antonio de Alarcón y el ballet “El sombrero de tres picos” (1919) de Léonide Massine como claves identitarias de la nación.” Hispanic Research Journal Vol.21, No. 6, (2020): 622-648.
“De Sab (1841) a “Sab” (2014): cubanía y conflictos raciales en el Periodo Revolucionario” Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies. Vol.25 (2021): 10-28.
“Opus (2005) by José Ángel Toirac: saboteando el discurso castrista” (Studies in Latin American Popular Culture. Under Review)
“El ángel exterminador: de-masculinizando a México” (Bulletin of Hispanic Studies. Under Review)
“Construcción de la hombría en Sab (1841) de Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda” (Polifonía. Forthcoming 2022)

Book Chapter

“Littérature portoricaine anglophone: rebellion, résistance et confusion identitaire dans le mouvement Nuyorican.” Porto Rico: une île des Caraïbes bien singulière: Entre américanisation et hispanité. Translated by Françoise Léziart. Presses Universitaires des Antilles (2022): 39-55. Co-authored with Osvaldo Di Paolo-Harrison

Conference Presentations

“Sab (1841) de Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda: construcción de una masculinidad tóxica desde lo marginal” (proposal submitted to Afrocuban Legacies: Visual Arts, Literature, Theater, Music and Religion, in Columbia, Missouri, April 2021)
“Bodas de sangre: Rebeldía femenina en el drama de García Lorca y en la coreografía de Gades”, at Nuestro rumbo, University of Kentucky, KY. March 2020.
“De Sab (1841) a “Sab” (2014): cubanía y conflictos raciales en el Periodo Revolucionario”, at NeMLA Conference, in Boston, Massachusetts, March 2020.
“Aletas de tiburón de Enrique Serpa: una confrontación de masculinidades que termina en tragedia”, at 37th Cincinnati Conference on Romance Languages and Literature, Cincinnati, OH. March 2017.