Esperanza
Roncero
Modern
and Classical Languages Department
Hartwick
College
Oneonta,
NY 13820
Special Projects for Spring
2001
Learning and Creating Across Cultural Boundaries
The course will take place in Bali at Flower Mountain
Course Description
Learning and Creating Across Cultural Boundaries:
Linking Contemporary Balinese and Ancient Mayan Performance and Literature
Students in this course must participate in both the January term course
and the following Spring term
course.
This course will take students to Bali in order to investigate its traditions
of music and the performing
arts. During January term, students will travel to Bali and live near
Denpasar, where they will study
music and performing arts with faculty members from STSI, the Balinese
Performing Arts
Conservatory. We will also travel to other areas of Bali, including
the town of Ubud, to investigate
performance as it takes place in everyday Balinese life. This course
is directed to students interested
both in music and the performing arts and is intended to broaden their
background in both of these areas.
In addition to formal music and performance study, students will participate
in daily seminars focused on
synthesizing and critically understanding the nature of their individual
experiences as foreigners within a
different environment. The notion that there are different ways to
conceive and understand the world
within which we live will be investigated by working towards a more
definite understanding of each
student's own cultural environment, and by attempting to see the world
differently, as if through Balinese
eyes. We will work to analyze the difference between the Western tradition
and the Balinese, as well as
to find a way to understand Balinese culture and art in its own terms.
Furthermore, these meetings will
investigate ways in which the Balinese culture can be used to better
understand our own culture, while
at the same time developing other forms of thinking and looking at
the world.
During the following Spring term, students will participate in a course
focused on creating and
performing, in Spanish, segments from the ancient Mayan Popol Vu creation
epic. The nature of
performing arts among the ancient Mayan is not known. however, the
mythological nature of the Popol
Vu does not allow it to be effectively presented using only Western
theatrical techniques. Balinese
performing arts do encompass a mythological world, and investigating
how time is conceptualized, how
people view themselves in relation to others and to their world, and
some of the patterns of cognition that
may contrast with those of the West, may provide techniques for realizing
the mythological intricacies of
a text like Popol Vu. We hope that the use of the Balinese tradition
will allow students to enter into such
a difficult world as the world presented in the Popol Vu, as well as
to investigate an innovative way of
working with this text.
The results of this Spring course will be staged both at Hartwick and
at local High Schools. The purpose
for doing this is to share with the community what has been learned
about contemporary Balinese
culture and its relationship to this mythological Mayan epic, as well
as to give students the opportunity to
continue to investigate ways to integrate elements from different cultures
within the performing arts.
Co-Organizer
of
Encuentros
Art and Social Justice in Latin America and the US
In the first half of 2001 Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY will be sponsoring
a Festival
and Conference on Art and Social Justice in Latin America. Its purpose
is to bring
prominent Latin and North American artists/activists into dialogue
and workshop together
about the role of art as witness, protest, and inspiration for social
justice. The issues,
exhibitions, and workshops will be focused on Chile, Argentina, Chiapas-Mexico,
and the
Latino/a experience in the USA.
The Festival begins in January with relevant classes, film exhibitions,
art and dance
workshops, lectures, and a showing of the "Chiapas Photography Project",
a cultural archive
created by Mayan Women. Events will continue to build during the Spring
Semester with
Seminar classes discussing issues of gender, race, war, art, politics,
justice and human rights.
A Feature Film Series and Human Rights Film Series will be presented,
and an adaptation of
Nobel Laureate Pablo Neruda's poem Bestiario (The Bestiary) will be
performed,
accompanied by the renowned Cardoza Flea Circus. On April 20-22, the
events of the spring
culminate in 'PRESENTE': an intense two-day Conference featuring food,
art and
examining issues addressing Social Justice in Latin America. The Conference
public events
range from musical performances to weaving exhibitions and media presentations,
workshops, speakers and Faculty/Student discussion panels on the use
of Art to enact
change. Among those presenting at the conference will be Diamela Eltit
and Pedro Matta.
Eltit is considered one of the most prominent Latin American women
authors today. She
has been awarded numerous grants, including a Guggenheim, a Social
Science Research
Council grant, a CONYCIT grant, and a FONDART grant. In 1995 she won
the Prize
Premio de Literatura Fundación José Nuñez Martín
for her novel Los Vigilantes. She is
known for possessing an innovative voice, and for her honest accounts
of the political and
social situations of Chile. Matta was a student leader in the law school
at the University of
Chile when Pinochet overthrew the democratic government in 1973. Matta
was
subsequently arrested and imprisoned until 1976, during which time
he was taken to two
detention centers. He was released in 1976 and granted exile in the
United States. He
returned to Chile in 1988 and dedicated his life to social justice
and change within and
outside Chile. Both Eltit and Matta will present speeches and exhibitions
open to the public,
as well as participating in round-table discussions of their respective
issues and impressions
of politics, justice, and social change in Chile.
Finally, May 4-6 will bring the Hartwick, SUCO and Oneonta Communities
together with a
residency by the legendary Bread and Puppet Theatre. Bread and Puppet’s
work is based
on small village harvest pageants, and involves men, women, and children
of all ages. The
Theatre will create Youth art workshop / parades and all- Community
parades involving
costumes and giant puppets, give demonstrations on breadbaking, and
finally perform two
of their puppet spectacles which involve a plethora of different performance
styles and
redefine basic human needs.
"Encuentros
is a celebration of the power of the
artist/activist to imagine another reality
under the
worst of oppressions and to create
positive social
change."
Education
1982-85 Facultad de Veterinaria de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Majored in Veterinary Medicine.
1986-88 Escuela de Formación de Profesorado María Díaz Jiménez de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Majored in Secondary School Education.
1990-93 Special Student at Yale University. There I took two graduate courses a semester with professors such a John Hollander, Roberto González Echevarria, and Andrew Forge. Besides attending numerous courses I worked closely with professors in specific projects such as translation of literary works. Some of them, like The Death of Moses, were published.
1993 B.A. Spanish, Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT
1996 M.A. Spanish, Spanish Department, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
Ph.D. (expected), Program in Comparative Literature, Emory University, Atlanta, GA.
Dissertation
My dissertation, entitled The Transformation of the Spanish Language
in the Work of Diamela Eltit, investigates the way in which physical and
ideological violence have affected the relationship between language and
women writers in Chile. The dissertation will focus on the work of
the Feminist Diamela Eltit but will also explore the literary works of
other Chilean woman writers such as Eugenia Britto, as well as the theoretical
work of Chilean feminists such as Nelly Richard.
My claim is that writers like the Chilean Feminist Diamela Eltit, and
Eugenia Britto, to mention just two, inflict upon the Spanish language
a series of drastic grammatical changes with the intention of making the
Spanish language suitable to convey the body and mind in pain as a result
of a collective trauma. It is my belief that these authors are forcing
language, and therefore the reader, to acquire the capacity and the power
to understand and affect the traumatic reality they have lived through.
Finally, my interest in this transformation of the Spanish language
lies in the fact that I consider the task of speaking a collective unspoken
truth to be both an ethical issue, and a matter of social and cultural
survival for a people that needs to be addressed creatively. What
these authors do with their writing goes beyond the telling of catastrophic
events. Their writing, indeed, is able to articulate the tortured
mind of a people, and in so doing they provide tools and ways for healing
their shattered society.
Publications
Translation of the libretto of the opera The Death of Moses by John Hollander. The opera premiered in Sevilla, Spain in 1992.
“Madness Takes Place at Human Temperature,” published in Cal Viva, Madrid in January 1998.
“Rilke’s Angels,” published in Cal Viva, Madrid in 1998.
Academic Honors
Trustee Faculty Grant, Hartwick College, 2000
Emory University Fellowship, 1994-98
Research Fellowship, Emory University, Summer 1997
Research Fellowship, Emory University, 1994
Related Work
Co-organized of Encuentros at Hartwick College. Encuentros is a semester long series of exhibits, lectures and performances in which we will explore cotemporary and historic issues of Art and Social Justice in Latin America with a focus on Chile, Argentina, Chiapas-México, and the Latina/o experience in the USA. Spring 2001
Technical Assistance to the Bolivian Theater group called “El Teatro de los Andes” in the preparation of their world premier La Illiad (adapted by César Brie). Bolivia, July 2000.
Volunteer Social Worker with the Center of Disease Control and Prevention in the communities of San Antonio and El Carmen, Bolivia. June, 2000
Assistant director for the Shakespeare’s play The Tempest directed by Roberto Ancavil in Valparaiso, Chile, on February 2000.
Acted the part of voice in the play La Pavana difunta written and directed by Roberto Ancavil. The play was presented at the Theater of Viña del Mar on March 4 and 5 on 2000.
Assistant Director to the play Madrid Sarajevo written by Marco Antonio de la Parra, who in 1999 was awarded the National Award on Theater. The play was performed in Santiago de Chile in June-July, 1999.
Assistant Director to the play La conferencia de los pájaros. The play toured throughout the South of Chile and was directed by the Theater director Roberto Ancavil Yañez during two weeks, in June 1999.
Gave the talk “Theater for Social change in Chile” at Pomona University in October 1999. This talk is based on the last chapter of my dissertation.
Currently working in a project that will allow Hartwick students at
the Nursing School to work with the Center of Disease Control in Bolivia.
As part of this project I am also working at developing a Spanish courses
that will prepare students in the Nursing Department to learn Spanish so
they can work in Spanish Speaking Communities.
Teaching Experience
HARTWICK COLLEGE, ONEONTA, NY.
Fall 2000 Assistant Professor of Spanish, Spanish 102, and Spanish 202
Spring 2000 Assistant Professor of Spanish, Spanish 101, and two Spanish 201 courses. Spanish course for nurses.
Fall 99 Assistant Professor of Spanish. Spanish 101 and Spanish
201
Assistant Professor of Spanish. Spanish 331, 2Oth Century Spanish Writers.
In this course I am introducing students to various text and approaching
them from different perspectives so students learn not only the literary
works but also the way in which language is used by different authors,
styles, and genres. As part of the course, I am working one on one
with my students in developing their writing skills in Spanish as well
as in developing their ability to write a correct academic paper.
AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE, ATLANTA, GA
Fall 98 Spanish Instructor. Taught two Spanish 101 courses.
Spring 99 Spanish Instructor. Taught two Spanish 201 courses.
OGLETHORPE UNIVERSITY, ATLANTA, GA
Summer 98 Spanish Instructor. Intensive Spanish 101course.
Fall 98 Spanish Instructor. Spanish 101
Spring 99 Spanish Instructor. Taught a Spanish 102, and two intensive
courses, one Spanish 101, and one Spanish 102.
Adjunct Teacher. Science for Non-Science Majors.
I designed this course with the purpose of introducing humanities majors
to the scientific discoveries of 20th Century, and learn how to apply scientific
knowledge to their studies in the field of humanities. With this
course I attempted to give students a background against which they will
be able to better understand the impact of traumatic events on the mind,
and on the body, as well as in the social fabric of different communities.
This course was the first of a series of courses I was planning to teach
if I had stay at Oglethorpe University.
EMORY UNIVERSITY, ATLANTA, GA.
1996-97 Spanish Instructor. Taught Spanish 101, and Spanish 102
Spring 98 Instructor. Major Texts in Western Literature: Renaissance
to Modern. I designed a syllabus which emphasized some of the major
theoretical concerns of the 20th Century in the conception and interpretation
of literary texts; along with intensive work with poetry, plays, short
stories, and novels. The course included the works of Cristobal Colon,
Cabeza de Vaca, Miguel de Cervantes, Jorge Luis Borges, Diamela Eltit,
and Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz.
GORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY, ATLANTA, GA.
1996-97 Spanish Instructor. Taught two Spanish 101 courses, and one Spanish 102 course.
DEKALB COLLEGE, ATLANTA , GA.
Summer 95 Spanish Instructor. Intensive Intermediate Spanish course.
CENTER FOR DISEADE CONTROL AND PREVENTION, ATLANTA, GA.
1993-99 Spanish Teacher and Translator. I taught at the Foodborne and Diarrheal Disease Branch. During the five years I taught Spanish at the CDC, many doctors became fluent and were able to go to various Latin American countries and contribute to controlling several outbreaks of cholera, and other foodborne related illnesses. I was in charged, as well, and thanks to my veterinary medicine education, of the translation of all the medical information and educational pamphlets relating to foodborne diseases. In addition, I made many other translations from English to Spanish for several other branches within the CDC, such as the AIDS branch.
WIGHTWOOD SCHOOL, BRANDFORD, CT.
1990-93 Spanish Teacher. I taught the Spanish to al students in the school, from preschool to middle school. Wightwood was a private school very dedicated to Piaget’s ideas. During the three years I taught there, I created a language program. This program was able to make the school bilingual in three years. Students, teachers, and parents participated in this program. By the time I left Wightwood, the program had been so successful that schools in the area asked me to share my methodology with their teachers.
DAVENPORT RESOURCE CENTER, SANTA CRUZ, CA.
1988-90 Social Worker at the Davenport Resource Center. My job was to look after Mexican and Philippine migrant workers and their families on the different farms in the vicinity of Santa Cruz, CA. During the earthquake of San Francisco, whose epicenter was located in the hills of Santa Cruz, I worked for months outdoors providing help to several families who lost their house and/or were unemployed. In addition, during the two years I worked there, I developed a Spanish Literacy course for adults, and a Spanish course as a second language for the English Speaking population. Furthermore, I was in charged of translating the weekly newsletter, as well as the medical and legal documents for the community.
1981-1987 Social Worker at the Colegio Valdeluz, I worked at this school of a voluntary basis. During the years that I worked there I lead groups of different ages in afternoon programs. We worked with children from different backgrounds and provided help to high-risk kids.
Teaching Interests
20th Century Spanish and Latin American Literature
Spanish Language Courses with the use of Technology
Philosophy of Science and Literary Theory
Theater