Priscilla Meléndez earned her BA in Hispanic Studies from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras and received her Ph.D. in Contemporary Latin American Literature from Cornell University.  As Professor of Hispanic literature, she is a specialist in Spanish American theatre and narrative of the 20th and 21st centuries.  Her research has centered mainly on Spanish American theater, in particular Mexico, Argentina, and the Caribbean, and has also published in the field of Latin American narrative. 

Meléndez considers that her research agenda has always supported and energized her teaching.  She teaches from introductory courses on literature and culture to upper level and graduate courses that reflect her own research interests in political and historical issues in the context of literary analysis: “Hispanic Caribbean Prose,” “Gender Issues in Contemporary Spanish American Narrative,” “From Page to Stage: Performing Spanish American Theatre,” “Jorge Luis Borges’ Footsteps: Short Narrative of the Southern Cone,” and “Revolution, Culture, and Literature in Latin America.”  Meléndez combines in her teaching textual analysis, the examination of the historical context, the relevance of the texts to the present, and the transcendental role of literature and artistic creation throughout human history.  The goal is that by the end of the semester (if not before) students can recognize that artistic creation, even in the most technological and scientific oriented world, is part of what makes us human.  As a way of expanding the classroom experience in courses with a theatre component, Meléndez asks students to attend theatre performances at the university or in the community.

Articles:

• “The Self/the Other: (Auto)Biographical Voices in the Theatre of Mario Vargas Llosa. Review: Literature and Arts in the Americas 87 (2013): 188-96.
• “Inventing the Self, Fictionalizing the Other: False Memories in the Theatre of Mario Vargas Llosa. Symposium 66.2 (2012): 93-105.
• “Sabina Berman: ¿Bestia teórica…?”  Paso de Gato: Revista Mexicana de Teatro (Abril-Junio 2011): 7.
• “The Body and the Law in the Mexico/US Borderland: Violence and Violations in Hugo Salcedo’s El viaje de los cantores and Sabina Berman’s Backyard.”  Modern Drama 54, no. 1 (2011): 24-44.
• “Disonancias musicales: Violencia y performance en Cuarteto de Eduardo Rovner.”  Latin American Theatre Review 44, no. 1 (2010): 9-28.
• “Sacra escritura y secreta oralidad: En el nombre de Dios de Sabina Berman.”  Revista de Estudios Hispánicos (Washington University) 43 (2009): 31-54.
• “(De)Humanizing Humor: The Anthill of Life and Politics in the Theatre of the Mexican Sabina Berman.”  Studies in Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Literature 32, no. 2 (2008): 359-85.