College of Arts and Humanities

Debbie Maria Ávila

Professor

Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures | 559.278.6616 | Office: Peters Business Bldg. 335

Education

Ph.D.
Twentieth Century Spanish and Portuguese Literatures, University of California, Irvine, expected March 2005. Ph.D. exams were comprised of all genres of 20th Century Spanish Literature, with a minor emphasis in 20th Century Luso-Brazilian Novel. Advanced to candidacy Fall 1999.
Study abroad, Entre Culturas / Viver Portugal: 1997 Summer Program in Lisbon, Portugal. Spent the summer studying Portuguese language, history, culture and literature.

M.A.
Spanish and Latin American Literatures, University of California, Irvine, Winter 1997.

B.A.
Spanish, minor in French, California State University, Sacramento, Fall 1994
Study abroad, California State University International Programs at the University of Madrid, Spain, Fall 1992-Spring 1993. Spent academic year studying Spanish and Latin American literature, art, history, grammar, linguistics and economics.

Courses Taught

Language Competencies

English and Portuguese: native speaker.
Spanish: native fluency.
French: reading proficiency.

Teaching Experience

Lecturer - 19th and 20th Century Spanish Literature, California State University, Fresno, CA. August 2004-present. Teach Spanish and Latin American Literature at undergraduate and graduate level, composition, advanced grammar and first-year Portuguese. Write syllabi, organize courses, prepare lectures and assignments and determine grades. Attend faculty meetings, participate in departmental planning and organization.
Visiting Lecturer - Portuguese and Spanish, California State University, Stanislaus, Turlock, CA. Fall 2002-Spring 2004. Taught all levels of Portuguese language, culture and literature, as well as Spanish courses as needed. Structured courses, created syllabi, prepared assignments and exams and determined grades. Advised students, taught independent studies, attended faculty meetings, advised the Portuguese Club, proposed new courses, participated in departmental organization, project planning and implementation.
Instructor, Golden West College, Huntington Beach, CA. Fall 2000-Summer 2002. Taught a variety of courses: Spanish for teachers, first-year conversational Spanish, and second-year Spanish. Structured courses and created syllabi.
Teaching Associate, University of California, Irvine. Spring 1997-Spring 2001. Taught one year of first-year Portuguese, two third-year Spanish courses (introduction to writing and introduction to literary history and analysis), three second-year Spanish courses and a year-long first-year Spanish course. Composed syllabi, prepared assignments, wrote exams, graded students’ exams and work and determined grades. Assisted in textbook selection process.
Instructor, Concordia University, Irvine, CA. Fall 1999. Taught a survey course in the history of Spanish literature. Structured course and created syllabus.
Teaching Assistant, University of California, Irvine. Fall 1995-Winter 1997. Taught first- and second-year Spanish language courses. Composed syllabi, prepared assignments, wrote exams, graded students’ work and determined grades.

Professional Improvement

Participant, Fifth Annual Digital Stream Conference Emerging Technologies in Teaching Languages and Culture, California State University, Monterey Bay, March 20-22, 2003.
Participant, The Nineteenth Annual CFLP / CLTA Summer Seminar for Language Teachers, University of California, Santa Barbara, July 31-August 2, 2002.

University Involvement

Workshop Leader for Humanities Out There, University of California, Irvine. Fall 2000.
Co-created and led literature workshops for low-income Latino high school students as part of literacy outreach program.
Co-organizer, conference Fifty Years of Literature and Cinema in Spain (1950-2000), University of California, Irvine. February 22-24, 2001. Solicited funds, wrote letters to participants, co-designed program.
Ph.D. Student Representative, University of California, Irvine. Fall 1997-Spring 1998. Attended monthly faculty meetings, relayed information between faculty and graduate students, and represented graduate students’ point of view.
Graduate Student Representative, University of California, Irvine. Fall 1997-Spring 1998. Served on the Graduate Admissions Committee. Was responsible for helping to select prospective candidates.

Areas of Teaching Interest

Spanish Post-War Narrative and Poetry
Spanish Realism and the Generation of ’98
Generation of 1927
Nineteenth and Twentieth-Century Spanish and Luso-Brazilian Narrative and Poetry
Twentieth-Century Latin American Narrative and Poetry
Literary Theory

Papers Presented

“Romance, Ideology and Gender in the Novels of Alice Ogando” at American Portuguese Studies Association Third International Congress, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, November 9, 2002.
“El tiempo, la memoria y la muerte en la poesía de María Victoria Atencia” at Poetic Discourses at Play: Hispanic, Luso-Brazilian and Latino/a Poetry, University of California, Irvine, April 20, 2001
“Unas palabras para Panero” at Fifty Years of Literature and Cinema in Spain (1950-2000), University of California, Irvine, February 23, 2001.
“Social Criticism in Natália Correia’s Anoiteceu no Bairro” at American Portuguese Studies Association Second International Congress, University of Wisconsin-Madison, October 21, 2000.
“La locura como razón última en Panero” at Poetic Discourses at Play: Hispanic, Luso- Brazilian, and US Latino/a Poetry, University of California, Irvine, April 14, 2000.
“Gender and Sexuality in Novas Cartas Portuguesas” at Symposium on Portuguese Traditions, University of California, Los Angeles, April 18, 1998.
“Mariana Alcoforado: Author of The Portuguese Letters” at American Portuguese Studies Association First International Congress, Yale University, March 26, 1998.

Ph.D. Dissertation

The Romance Novel of the 1930s and 1940s in Spain and Portugal: The Concept of the New Woman in the Novels of Alice Ogando and Carmen de Icaza.
Committee: Ana Paula Ferreira (Chair), Jill Robbins, Jacobo Sefamí.