Miriam Francesca Aloisio is a native from Monza, Milan, Italy. She received her BA in Interpretation and Translation of English and German at the University of Milan in 2004. She taught Italian at Darmouth College in 2003-2004 and in the spring of 2006. She is currently pursuing her MA in Italian Literature, at UVA. Mountains: climbing, hiking, snowboarding etc. and Argentine Tango are her greatest passions. Her motto:" If you don't live on the edge, you are taking up too much space".
	Alison Atkins, a New Jersey native, received her B.A. in Spanish and Mathematics from Wake Forest University, North Carolina, in 2005. She spent her fall semester of 2003 in Salamanca, Spain, where she finally found her way from the world of numbers to explore Hispanic literature and culture! Alison is currently pursuing her MA in Spanish here at the University of Virginia. In her spare time, she enjoys running, biking, cooking, ballroom dancing, reading, and drinking tea.
	Cabell Belk is a first year MA student originally from Charlotte, NC. She graduated from Princeton University in 2007 with a BA in English. She is thrilled to be studying Spanish at UVA, and is especially interested in contemporary Latin American fiction. She is looking forward to teaching next year.
	Tamara Bjelland While Tammy Bjelland considers Fairfax, Virginia, her hometown, she spent the first seven years of her life living in the Netherlands, Indonesia and New York. Her contact with different cultures at an early age prompted her lasting interest in the study of languages and literature. She received her B.A. in Spanish from UVA in 2003, after spending the 2001-2002 academic year in Valencia, Spain with UVA's Hispanic Studies in Spain program. She completed the M.A. in Spanish Literature at UVA in 2005 and is currently in her first year of the doctoral program. Tammy has taught Spanish 101, 102, 106 and in the Spanish Summer Language Institute at UVA. She is currently teaching Spanish 311. While studying and teaching take up most of her time during the semester, Tammy makes time to play tennis, spend time with friends and add to her iTunes collection of country music. She is also the Department's representative to the Graduate Student Council, and she serves on the Board of Directors of her high school's alumni association.
	Sarah Bogard
	Diana Burkhart received her B.A. in Spanish Literature from Reed College in 1997 and her M.A. in Spanish Literature from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2004. Her undergraduate thesis is titled: “Las cuestiones acerca de la verdad en San Manuel Bueno mártir y ‘Pierre Ménard, autor del Quijote’.” She spent an academic year in Seville, Spain in 1995 and in Santiago de Compostela, Spain in 2002. In 1998, she went to Thailand to teach English for a year at the University of Khon Kaen. She was also a bilingual fifth grade teacher in 2000-1. She has taught many beginning and intermediate-level Spanish courses. Her academic interests include 20th century Peninsular and Latin American Literature and her social interests include watching movies, dancing and talking, of course.
	Alessandro Cesarano is a native from Milan, Italy. He received a BA in Literature and Philosophy at the University of Milan in 2003 and a Master in Teaching Italian as a foreign language at the University of Rome. He spent the academic year fall semester of 2006 in sunny Malaga, Spain, where he obtained a certificate in Spanish culture and civilization and the Diploma DELE nivel superior. While he was in Italy and in Spain, he taught Italian in both private and public schools. He is currently pursuing his MA in Italian Literature, at UVA. The field of Italian cultural studies, Italian cinema, as well as the methodology of language teaching are his mainly areas of specialization and interest. He has taught Italian 101 and he is currently teaching Italian 102. When Alessandro is not teaching or studying, he is watching movies, listening to good music, playing bad tennis or cooking delicious Italian food for his friends.
	Ana Isabel Cornide is a native from Madrid, Spain. She received her Licenciatura en Filología Hispánica in 2001, as well as a M.A. in Latin American Literature in 2002 from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. She was a co-founder of the university theater group “Todo a Cien” in which she performed and directed numerous plays. She is currently a fourth year Ph.D. student specializing in Contemporary Latin American Literature. She completed her Ph.D. coursework in 2005 and is currently writing her dissertation, “Games with Absence: The Contemporary Fantastic Short Story in Latin America.” Her research interests also include marginal literatures, film and performance arts studies, and transatlantic studies. Her teaching experience includes several grammar surveys (101, 102, 201, 202), Literary Analysis and Cultural Conversation. She has taught at the UVA Hispanic Studies in Spain program in Valencia and she has spent part of the last summer in a literary seminar in Argentina. In her free time, she enjoys cinema, writing poetry, discovering new musical fusions and experiencing Charlottesville. She is also a member of the Spanish Theatre Group at Uva and the resident director of Casa Bolívar, the Spanish Language House.
	Sarah Cox Campbell received her B.A. in Latin American Studies from the University of Virginia in 2001 and her M.A. in Spanish in 2004. Her teaching experience includes Spanish 101, Spanish 102, and the Spanish Summer Language Institute. She was a recipient of the Department's Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award for 2003-04. Sarah is currently teaching Spanish 311.
	Emily Davis is a native of Richmond, Virginia and graduated from Randolph-Macon College with a BA in Spanish in 2003. Before beginning her graduate studies at U.Va. in 2006, Emily taught various levels of high-school Spanish at Trinity Episcopal School in Richmond. During her three years at Trinity, she returned to Spain-- where she studied in college-- for a month with eight of her students. They had a blast. Emily is currently having a blast with her SPAN 101 and 202 students this semester at U.Va.
	Germán De Patricio , born in Cádiz (Spain), has spent most of his life in Madrid. He studied Filología Hispánica at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and spent an Erasmus-year at the University of Utrecht (The Netherlands), and lived another year in Amsterdam. Received his M.A. in Spanish Literature from Purdue University (Indiana). He has translated three Dutch novels (Connie Palmen) into Spanish for Editorial Debate, worked as interpreter English-Dutch-Spanish, as radio speaker, as journalist in a newspaper, and as high school teacher of Spanish Literature in Madrid and Tarifa. Has been playing guitar since 14, and has published several short stories. First PhD year in UVA, where he plans to devote himself  to his specialization, Golden Age Spanish Literature. Loves seafood and Fútbol Club Barcelona. Yet what would make him really happy is to be of some benefit to others. Helping others is not that easy. If you think it is, go ask Don Quijote and Andrés el cabrero, if you know what I mean...
	Laura Downey
	Elaine L. Durand
	Olivia Exum
	Fátima Fajardo was born in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and moved to Granada when she was fourteen. She completed there the first years of Filología Hispánica, which she finished at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid. At the Complutense she then obtained an MA in Spanish as a Second Language. The AECI (Agencia de Cooperación Internacional, from the Spanish Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores) selected her to teach Spanish language and culture at the University of Debrecen, in Hungary. In her free time, she likes to travel and to be with family and friends. She enjoys especially seeing how her two year old son Kevin discovers the world every day. Her focus of interest is twentieth century Spanish and Latin American literature. Recently, she taught Spanish for the Summer Language Institute. Fátima is in her second year of Phd Studies at UVA.
	David Francis studied at the University of Virginia (BA) and Columbia University's School of the Arts (MFA), where he wrote and translated poetry. Last year he completed a Fulbright Fellowship in Bogot , Colombia, translating into English poems by Jos‚ Asunci¢n Silva. He has taught creative writing at the University of Virginia's Young Writers Workshop. In addition to poetry from all periods, he is interested in ekphrasis, autobiography, film and the avant-garde.
	Karen Frazier, a native of North Carolina, graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. in Spanish and Psychology in 2000. Before beginning her M.A. at the University of Virginia in 2005, she conducted research on studies related to education and public health. In 1998, she spent a semester in Sevilla, Spain and has completed master's level coursework at Middlebury College's Summer Language School. Since beginning the M.A., Karen has had experience teaching Spanish 101, 106, and 202. Specific areas of research interests include Latin American narrative, poetry and film.
	Julianna Gallardo is from California. She got her B.A. in Hispanic Literature from UC Berkeley in 2002 and her M.A. in Hispanic Literature from UC Davis in 2004. While studying at UC Berkeley she spent a year at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Before entering the Ph.D. program at UVa, she studied at El Colegio de México and the UNAM in Mexico City. At UVa, she plans to write her dissertation on 20th-century Mexican literature.
	Carmen García Armero received her B.A. in English Literature from Valencia University in 1992, and her M.A. in Spanish Literature from the University of North Carolina in Greensboro in 2001. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D in Spanish. Her general interests are Contemporary Spanish literature, literary theory and cinema. Carmen has taught both high school and college-level Spanish in Great Britain and the United States. She has been teaching since 1992, including a summer in Madrid with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s study abroad program. In her free time she enjoys walking, traveling, cimena, theatre and classical music.
	Diane Gigantino Baltz received her B.A. in Spanish and International Studies from the University of Richmond in December 2002 and completed an M.A. in Spanish Literature at UVA in May 2005. Diane has taught Spanish 101, 102, 106 and Culture in the Spanish Summer Language Institute at UVA. After spending the summer in Lima, Peru, she is currently teaching Spanish 201. In her (rather limited) free time Diane enjoys cooking, running, reading, salsa dancing, indulging her love of "Buffy", and spending time with friends. Diane also a graduate student representative to the Honor Committee .
	Irene Gómez Castellano received her “licenciatura” in 2002 in Spanish Philology from the University of Valencia, Spain, where she also studied English Literature. She received her M.A in Spanish Literature in 2004 at the University of Virginia and she is currently in the third year of her doctorate. She enjoys reading almost everything, but right now, she is trying to focus on the wonders of the poetry and art of the Spanish eighteenth century. Irene´s teaching experience includes several grammar surveys (102, 202) and Literary Analysis. She has taught at the UVA Hispanic Studies in Spain program in Valencia and she has spent part of the last two summers in France. This academic year she is going to work with Mr. Gies on her dissertation, thanks to a Departmental Fellowship.
	Alejandra Gutiérrez is from Venezuela. She obtained a degree in journalism in 1988 at Caracas’ Catholic University Andrés Bello. She then studied drama and was active as a journalist for five years. Alejandra is now completing her master’s degree at the University of Virginia. Her main area of interest is contemporary Latin American literature, especially from Mexico, Chile and Argentina. In her free time she enjoys seeing movies, going to the theater, traveling, and spending time with her family and friends.
	Faith Hardengraduated in 2002 from Hollins University where she studied Spanish and Art History. In 2006, she earned an MA in Spanish Literature from UVA, and is now in the first year of the PhD program. She is primarily interested in Medieval, Golden Age and Colonial literature, although she also enjoys settling down with a big, fat 19th Century novel from time to time. Her teaching experience at UVA includes Spanish 101, 102, 106, 201, 202 and the Summer Language Institute´s Culture class. In her free time, Faith also works for Migrant Education, teaching weekly English classes to motivated and enthusiastic students out in the wilds of Crozet.
	Daniel Hartnett received his A.B. from Wabash College of Crawfordsville, Indiana in May of 1999. After spending time teaching in the U.S. and studying in Salamanca, Spain, he came to the University of Virginia, where he received his M.A. in May of 2003. He is currently in the midst of doctoral coursework. Although Dan has not yet chosen a dissertation topic, he plans to choose a subject related to Early Modern Christian Iberia. He has taught Spanish 102, 201, and 202, served as an athletic tutor, and is now the technology support partner for the computer-enhanced Spanish 101 and 102. He has been the graduate student representative to the faculty and an editorial assistant for La Corónica. When Dan is not reading for his courses, he is playing cello with the University symphony orchestra or cooking for his friends.
	Elizabeth Herman received both her B.A. in English and Spanish (1999) and her M.A. in Spanish (2001) from Middlebury College. After completing the M.A. in Madrid, she remained in the Spanish capital for two more years before continuing her studies here at Virginia.  While in Spain, she taught ESL in both private and academy classes.  Elizabeth completed her Ph.D. coursework in 2005.  While her focus is Modern Peninsular literature and culture, she has also studied 19th and 20th-century Latin American literature.  She is currently writing her dissertation on 19th-century Spanish theater from 1840-1875.  In addition to her current research, other areas of interest include Peninsular literature and culture from the 18th to early 20th-centuries. Her Spanish teaching experience includes elementary (102) and intermediate (202) language classes.  In addition, she has taught Advanced Grammar (311) and Introduction to Literary Analysis (330), which she is currently teaching. In addition to her studies and teaching responsibilities, Elizabeth also served as the Graduate Student Representative to the faculty for two years.
	Alex Holland received a BA in History from Columbus State University and an MA in Hispanic Studies from Auburn University before coming to UVA. His language teaching experience includes SPAN 101, 102, 106, 202 and 311. Alex is in his third year as a PhD student at UVA and his current research project involves Post-Boom novels that are set in the United States. He is mexi©razy and posessed by the lure of surf exploration, a combination which results in frequent roadtrips to the southern neighbor.
	Keith Howard received his B.S. in Psychology at Michigan State University in 2000. He has spent two years studying in Seville, Spain: one year as an undergraduate and one year after graduating. He received his M.A. in Spanish at the University of Virginia in 2003. Afterwards he spent a year studying in Florence, Italy. For his dissertation he is currently working on a critical edition of the first Spanish translation of Machiavelli's Discourses on Livy.
	Leslie Maxwell Kaiura is from Cairo (as in kay-ro), Georgia. She graduated with a B.A. in English Language and Literature with a minor in Spanish from Columbus State University in 2000, and went on to receive an M.A. in Spanish from Auburn University, where she taught first-year Spanish for three years. At Auburn, she completed a Master's thesis entitled "Transformation of the Protagonist in Three Novels of the Spanish American Jungle." Her primary research interests are 19th and early 20th- century Spanish literature, and she is currently working on her dissertation, “Battered Angels: Domestic Violence in Spanish Literature, 1851 - 1921." Her other interests include hiking, reading, knitting, and listening to a variety of music – from blues to Bowling for Soup.
	Katherine Karr-Cornejo is originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She received a B.A with honors from Washington University in St Louis in Spanish and Latin American Studies in 2005. During the Fall of 2003 she studied in Chile at the Pontificia Universidad Católica in Santiago. During her senior year she wrote and defended an honor thesis: “Espectáculo dentro y fuera de la cancha: la representación del fútbol en el cuento del Cono Sur.” She has been involved with Latin American student associations, Colombian folkloric dancing, and mentoring for disadvantaged Hispanic youth in St Louis. In her first year of the M.A., she is interested in soccer and literature, as well as post-dictatorial narrative in the Southern Cone and contemporary film. In her free time, she enjoys reading, watching soccer, cooking, film, and playing the organ. She also enjoys her yearly trips back to Santiago.
	Ashley Elizabeth Kerr graduated from Middlebury College in May 2006 with a degree in Latin American Studies. During her time at Middlebury, she studied abroad for a year at the Universidad de Playa Ancha en Valparaíso, Chile, and wrote and defended an honors thesis entitled “Abrir fronteras, enriquecer lenguas: Globalización, lenguaje e identidad en Mala onda y Sobredosis por Alberto Fuguet.” Now in the first year of the M.A. program, she is trying to keep up with the reading for her classes while exploring Charlottesville and preparing to head to points yet unknown in Argentina in March 2007 on a Fulbright Fellowship. In any free time she chances to have, she enjoys hiking, biking and practicing being domestic so as to one day give Martha Stewart a run for her money.
	Jeannie LaPlatney, a native of Connecticut, received her undergraduate degree in Spanish and English Literatures from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1999 and her Master’s in Spanish Literature from UVa in 2004. A third-year in the PhD program, she has studied in Mexico, Spain and most recently in Guatemala. She currently teaches Spanish 411, Advanced Grammar and Composition, but has taught 313, Spanish Culture and Conversation, 311, Advanced Grammar Review and various courses at the 100 and 200 levels. Here research interests include performance in oral narratives and other medieval and Golden Age topics. When not reading Spanish literature, she enjoys cooking, hiking, watching ACC basketball and spending time with friends.
	Pedro Larrea Rubio
	Charlotte Le Moyne received a B.A. in Spanish Literature from the University of Virginia in 1988 and a J.D. with Distinction from the George Mason University School of Law in 1993. After completing an M.A. in Spanish Literature at the University of Virginia in 1997, Ms. Le Moyne moved to southern Spain, where she lived for two years. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Spanish literature. Ms. Le Moyne has taught several 100-200 level Spanish courses at UVA as well as secondary school Spanish. Her research interests include 19th- and 20th- Century Latin American narrative, the Modern Spanish novel, gender studies, and film.
	Angeli Leal is from the small town of Weehawken, NJ. She received a B.A. in Comparative Literature (Spanish and English) from Barnard College in 2005. In addition to being a New Yorker (well, kind of) and an admirer of Paul Frank, she is also a Mellon fellow. She is currently pursuing a M.A. in Spanish, and her interests include literary representations of oppression and the historical validity of fictional narrative. She hopes to learn how to drive in her (practically nonexistent) free time.
	Allison Libbey Raised in central Pennsylvania, Allison decided to come south for her undergraduate studies in order to escape the snow and cold weather.  She received her BA in Spanish and International Studies from the University of Richmond in May of 2007.  Her interest in Spanish started long before she arrived at UR, however.  She studied it for several years before taking part in a yearlong exchange program to Spain when she was 16.  She returned from her year in Pamplona knowing that she wanted to major in Spanish, and also completely in love with the people and cultures of Spain.  Throughout her undergraduate years she also studied Italian, Portuguese, and German and completed both a semester abroad in Ferrara, Italy, and a three month summer internship in Graz, Austria.  Here at UVA she is an expert at teaching 201, as it’s the only class so far that she has had the chance to teach.  She’s not just a language student, though, and also enjoys studying both European history and politics.  She’s also currently working as the assistant for a Media Studies course for which she is making the English subtitles for a Spanish film made in Franco era Spain.  In her free time, Allison can often be found cooking, dancing, or singing and at some point in life she plans on owning a Rottweiler, although for now she will settle for getting a cat, and has a well documented obsession with penguins.
	Alicia López Operé comes from Madrid, Spain where she received her B.A. in Spanish Linguistics and Literature from Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 2001. She has also studied in summer programs in Paris and Salvador de Bahia, Brazil. Her teaching experience includes 101, 201, 202, 311 (Grammar Review), 313 (Conversation and Culture), 314 (Business Spanish), 330 (Literary Analysis), and 411 (Advanced Grammar and Composition) in addition to teaching at the University of Valencia (Spain) with the University of Virginia's study abroad program, and for Semester at Sea (summer 2007). She received her MA degree from UVA in 2004 and she is actually a Ph. D. candidate (ABD) in Spanish Literature concentrating in 21th-century Spanish poetry. She has acted in various independent theatre groups at her University in Madrid and now she is an active member of the Spanish Theatre Group at UVA as well as a participant in the Spanish Poetry Workshop at the Spanish, Italian and Portuguese Department at UVA.
	Zach Ludington
	Natalie Jane McManus
	Rhonda Jane Miller received her B.A. from Eastern Mennonite University and her M.A. from the University of Virginia. She is currently writing her doctoral thesis on exiled Latin American women writers. Her teaching experience includes teaching courses from the 100 level through the 300 level at the University of Virginia, Piedmont Community College, and Sweet Briar College. At present she is teaching as an adjunct at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College. Her favorite authors include Tomás Eloy Martínez, Reina Roffé, and Carmen Riera. Her biggest hobby is spending time with her baby daughter, Anna.
	Ana María Mutis is originally from Colombia. She holds a B.Sc. from the Universidad de los Andes. She lived in Canada for a period of time, during which she explored her interest in the study of Spanish and Latin American Literature. There, she completed an M.A. in Spanish at The University of Western Ontario (2001) and later came to the United States where she received an M.A from Yale University (2003). Her article entitled “'Enamorado hasta la punta del pelo': semiótica capilar en Cecilia Valdés" will be published in vol. 59 of Revista Hispánica Moderna in 2006. Also in 2006 her article “El cine en Cal y Canto: una nueva visión poética” will be published in Letras Peninsulares, volume 18, 2. In addition, Hispanic Poetry Review has accepted her article “Encuentros con el barroco: Francisco Quevedo en dos poemas de Octavio Paz” for publication. For her dissertation she is currently working on Latin American narratives of violence written from the perspective of the perpetrator.
	Kate Neff , a native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, received a B.A. in Spanish and English from Grove City College in 2006.  Before graduation she spent a semester in Valencia through UVA’s study abroad program.  In addition to pursuing an M.A. at UVA and teaching Spanish 201, she enjoys hiking and backpacking, running, and poetry (in English as well as Spanish).
	Janice North
	Abigail Pare
	Cristina Percoco , a native New Yorker, received a B.A. in Spanish from Colgate University in 1999, where she was awarded the Robert Hathaway Prize for Excellence in Spanish, and an M.A. in Spanish at the University of Virginia in 2001. She is currently in her fourth year of the PhD. on a Dissertation Year Fellowship from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences for 2004-5 to complete her dissertation entitled: “The Seduction of Objects: Understanding Material Culture in Emilia Pardo Bazán’s Short Fiction”. She has published an article in Variaciones Borges and a translation of a book review in Studies in Communication Sciences / Studi di scienze della comunicazione. Her research interests lie in modern and contemporary Peninsular fiction, contemporary Latin American short fiction, cultural studies, and comparative studies in Spanish and Italian. Her teaching experience includes Spanish courses from the 100 through the 400 levels at UVA and private tutorials in Italian grammar, conversation, and translation. In addition to her studies, she enjoys traveling, tennis and playing the piano.
	Elizabeth Pettinaroli, originally from Argentina, studied at the Universidad de Buenos Aires and at Franklin & Marshall College, Pennsylvania. Her general interests are Medieval, and Transatlantic literature of the XVI and XVII centuries, more specifically poetry, epic, culture as a construction of ideology, and literary theory.
	Stephanie Pridgeon
	Marco Prina
	Virginia Rademacher received her B.A. from Harvard-Radcliffe University in 1987 and her M.A. in Spanish Literature from the University of Virginia in 1999. Prior to entering the graduate program at UVA, she received an M.A. in International Affairs and Economics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS, 1993). Her interests include modern and contemporary peninsular literature, as well as contemporary Latin American literature. Her teaching experience includes various courses at the 101 through 202 levels at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, Georgetown University, and the University of Virginia. In addition to her literary and teaching interests, she is the mother of four young girls.
	Tricia E. Reagan a native of a native Maryland received a B.A. (2001) from Hood College in Spanish and Secondary Education and an M.A. (2004) in Spanish literature from UVA. She is currently a 4th year PhD student. She has studied abroad in Sevilla, Spain and participated in a literary seminar in Argentina (2006). This year Tricia is continuing work on her dissertation entitled "The Other 'I': Ethics of the First Person Non-Protagonist Narrator". Her periods of interest include contemporary Latin American and Spanish Literature as well as 19th-Century Latin American Literature. Her favorite author is Julio Cortázar, and her article "The Metro and the Search for Oneself in Julio Cortázar's 'The Pursuer'" is published in /Studies in 20th and 21st Century Literature/. She has taught Spanish in high school, and several courses here at UVA-Spanish 201, 202, 311, 330 & 411. Tricia has also taught a special topic service-learning course of Spanish 313: Latinos/Hispanics in the U.S. during January-Term 2007 and 2008. Additionally, she has taught in the Spanish Summer Language Institute for three years through the University, and classes at Piedmont Community College. Finally, Tricia has presented several workshops to fellow TA's; one on Communicative Activities and Ideas for Multi-Dimensional Teaching, two Responding to Student Writing in collaboration with the Teaching Resource Center; as well as several workshop on Discipline in the Classroom. In addition to her professional interests Tricia is the mother an energetic eight year old, Sarah and 10 month old (as of Jan. '08) Liliana. She and her family went on the Summer 2007 Semester at Sea program, during which she taught Latin American History. The picture to the right is at Macchu Picchu, Peru (Tricia and Sarah are sporting their new shaved head look as a result of crossing the equator for the first time on a ship).
	Miguel Rivera was born in Perú. He received his B.A. in Spanish Literature from Universidad Católica in Lima and his M.A. from Tulane University, in New Orleans, before beginning his PhD studies at UVa in 2006. His teaching experience includes 100 and 200 levels in Spanish. He is particularly interested in Jorge Luis Borges, detective fiction and, more recently, Felipe Pardo y Aliaga, a Peruvian playwright of the 19th century. He loves good movies, The Smiths, Velvet Underground and soccer.
	Eunice Rojas received her B.A. in Spanish and Classics from Emory University. She also holds an M.A. in Spanish Linguistics from the University of Georgia, a J.D. from the University of Puerto Rico and a Licenciatura en Derecho from the University of Barcelona and is a member of the State Bar of Georgia. Presently, she is finishing up the coursework for the Ph.D. in Latin American Literature with a focus on the theme of madness in 20th-century narrative. For fun, she enjoys waking up at 5 a.m. on Saturdays to go running for a few hours.
	Karliana Sakas is a native Virginian with an A.B. in Spanish and History from Sweet Briar College. She spent her junior year indulging in her love of all things Spanish while studying at the University of Seville. Karliana is in her first year of the M.A. program, and is teaching Spanish 201 Fall Semester.
	Rosa Mirna Sánchez Rosa is a second year Masters student.  She was born in the Dominican Republic and lived in New York since the age of ten, before moving to Charlottesville in summer 2006.  She has a B.A. in Latin American Studies from Barnard College.  After graduating from undergrad in 2004, she worked at Scholastic, Inc. and at the Council of the Americas.  She really missed literature so she decided to go back to school to do what she really loves.  She hopes to one day become a scholar on literature from the Caribbean. Among her favorite things are reading, French, practicing the piano, listening to lots and lots of music and anything Hello Kitty.
	Susan Marie Schasse
	Amy Sentell is a doctoral student from Alabama. She obtained her BA and master's in Spanish from Auburn University and a master's in history from the University of Virginia. She spent the 2004-05 academic year in France as a lectrice at the Université de Nice. Her primary interest is the fin de siècle.
	Stephen Silverstein graduated from Rutgers University in 2001 where he majored in Spanish. While completing his undergraduate degree, Stephen volunteered as a medical interpreter. He worked as a high school Spanish teacher before coming to UVa in 2005. Stephen enjoys hikes with his dog in his free time.
	Andrea Smith graduated from the University of Virginia in 2005 with an M.A. in Spanish Literature and in 2000 with a B.A. in Spanish and an M.T. in Foreign Language Education from the Curry School. She taught all levels of high school language before coming back to UVa to pursue graduate degrees in Spanish literature. Her favorite interests are speaking Spanish, music, dance, travel, and spending time with friends. She plans to concentrate in 19th-century Latin American literature, and dreams of one day teaching a 20th century cinema-based conversation class, similar to the one she took with Professor Gies.
	Anne Marie Stachura is from Howell, Michigan. She attended the University of Michigan, and due to an interesting set of circumstances, she graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Spanish. After graduation, Anne spent 27 months as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ceguaca- Santa Bárbara, Honduras, where she worked primarily on the Child Survival and HIV/AIDS Prevention Project. She is currently pursuing her MA in Spanish and teaching SPAN 201 here at U.Va. She almost died alone of dengue in Honduras, so I guess you could say she's happy to be here.
	Cristina Varisco
	Amy Wentworth is from Bloomington, Indiana. She has an M.F.A. in Poetry from N.Y.U., and at U.V.A. she hopes to learn as much as she can about Spanish and Latin American poetry. In her free time, Amy likes to tapdance, cook, travel, clog, read, hike, go to the movies, and spend time with friends and family. She plans to spend next summer in Brazil.
	Amy Frazier Yoder grew up in a small town in central Pennsylvania. Prior to college, she traveled to Argentina for a year as a Rotary exchange student. She attended Washington and Lee University, where she majored in Spanish and journalism. During that time, she visited Ecuador to study language and ecology. After graduating, Amy worked as a newspaper journalist in Lynchburg and Winston-Salem, most recently writing about the growing Latino population in North Carolina. She is currently in her second year of the masters program, is a preceptor for Spanish 201, and would like to focus on Latin American literature. Her interests include backpacking, travel and adventure.
	Matthew Zugsay, originally from Southern California, obtained his first BA at Southern Methodist University (Dallas, TX). After three years of corporate life, he returned to academia for a second BA in Spanish literature at the University of Texas at Austin. Matt subsequently remained in his adopted state to teach Spanish at the high school and university levels before embarking on his graduate studies at the University of Virginia. He is a second-year Master's student teaching SPAN 202. His primary area of interest is medieval hispanoarabic literature.