Dr. Alana Alvarez

Dr. Alana Alvarez joined the faculty at Mercer University in 2016. She teaches all levels of Spanish, including courses on oral histories, Latino studies, and Hispanic literature. In the classroom, Dr. Alvarez enjoys teaching Spanish creatively through games, anecdotes, and personal experience. As a teacher, Dr. Alvarez is focused on cultural awareness and strives to present diverse cultural materials, including music, travel videos, and scenes from television shows and movies.

Education

• Ph.D., Spanish, Vanderbilt University
• M.A., Spanish, Vanderbilt University
• B.A., Letras, Universidad Central de Venezuela

Specialty

Dr. Alvarez analyzes the continuing negative connotations of mestizaje in Latin America, adopting a material-culture perspective to question whitening through mestizaje in cultural materials ranging from 1815 to the 1950s.

Professional Interests

Dr. Alvarez’s research interests include:

• Critical race studies
• Whitening studies
• 19th and 20th century Venezuelan literature
• Nationalist discourses
• 18th, 19th, and 20th century Venezuelan history.
• Oral history

Dr. Alvarez’s teaching interests include:

• Spanish language, all levels
• Immigration
• Latino studies
• Oral history
• Study abroad

Other Interests

Dr. Alvarez writes and publishes poetry under the pseudonym Valentina Castro and has been an active collaborator on Dr. Katherine Roseau’s and Mrs. Libertad Aranza’s National Endowment for the Humanities – Humanities Initiatives grant. The project is titled “Integrating Voices of Refugees and Immigrants: Faculty and Curriculum Development.”

Recent Publications

• Alvarez, Alana. “Caracas Is Not Paris: The Moderate Modernity of Mestizaje in Teresa de la Parra’s Ifigenia (1924).” Hispania, vol. 106 no. 3, 2023, p. 363-378.
• Alvarez, Alana. “Venezuela’s Mixed-Race and the Jew: Spectrums of Whiteness in Rufino Blanco Fombona’s Judas Capitolino and Rómulo Gallegos’ ‘Los inmigrantes.'” Journal of Latin America Cultural Studies (in print).

Poetry

• “De mestizajes” Furman 217, vol. 1, no. 3, 2018, pp. 49.
• “De revoluciones” Furman 217, vol. 1, no. 3, 2018, pp. 138.
• “Ella” Furman 217, vol. 1, no. 3, 2018, pp. 101.
• “Resistencia creativa” Furman 217, vol. 1, no. 2, 2017, pp. 54.
• “Buenos Aires” Furman 217, vol. 1, no. 2, 2017, pp. 54.
• “Caracas.” Furman 217, vol. 1, no. 2, 2017, pp. 54.
• “Macon” Furman 217, vol. 1, no. 2, 2017, pp. 54.
• “Revolución.” Furman 217, vol. 1, no. 1, 2016, pp. 16.
• “Revolución II.” Furman 217, vol. 1, no. 1, 2016, pp. 16.
• “¿Y si rezaras conmigo?” Furman 217, vol. 1, no. 1, 2016, pp. 106.

Contact Dr. Alana Alvarez

(478) 301-2893
alvarez_av@mercer.edu
Office: Knight Hall, Room 202A