Furman University

Sofía Kearns

Professor, Spanish

At Furman since 1994

Ph.D., Spanish. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1995.
M.A., Spanish. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1990.
B.A.,  Modern Languages. Universidad Industrial de Santander, Bucaramanga, Colombia, 1984.

Main research or professional interests

• Latin American women’s writing,
• feminist and queer theories,
• ecocriticism,
• service-learning.

Most Recent Publications

• In Progress: “Widening the Spectrum of Desire and Nation: Queer Elements in Anacristina Rossi’s Fictions.” IN: It’s Not What It Seems. Queer Misreadings of the Body and Culture.
• “Latin American and French Post-Modern Aesthetics in María la noche. LEF-E (L’Erudit Franco-Espagnol) An Electronic Journal of French and Hispanic Literatures. Vol. 2, Fall 2012. pp. 73-92. http://lef-e.org/
• Co-authored with Laura Barbas Rhoden: Questioning Modernity, Affirming Resilience: Eco-pedagogies for Homero Aridjis’ En quién piensas and Anacristina Rossi’s La loca” Review 85. Eco-Literature and Arts in Latin America. Vol. 45:2 (November 2012). 167-74.
• “Introduction” and “Afterword.” La loca de Gandoca/The Madwoman of Gandoca. Tr. Terry Martin. Lewiston, Queenston, Lampeter: The Edwin Mellen Press, 2006.
• “Postcoloniality in Rossi's Limón Blues.” South Carolina Modern Language Review 5:1 Spring 2006, Online.
• “Nueva conciencia ecológica en algunos textos femeninos contemporáneos.” Latin American Literary Review 34:67 (January-June 2006). 111-127.
• Online: student edition of La loca de Gandoca, ecofeminist short novel by Costa Rican author Anacristina Rossi, August 2005 (available to Furman campus readers only here)

Summary of recent professional activity

• Conference panelist: Americas Society Symposium on Eco-literature in Latin America. Americas Society, Carnegie Hall’s “Voices from Latin America Festival”, Manhattan, NY, November 14-16, 2012.
• Mellon Workshop: “Queering the Curriculum II” Mellon Conference, Vassar College, June 2012.
• Mellon Workshop: “Queering the Curriculum I” Mellon Conference, Middlebury College, October 2011.
• Conference presentation: “A Maturing Partnership: Furman University’s Latin American Civilization service-leaning and ESOL in Greenville Public Schools." South Carolina Service-Learning Conference, March 7, 2011. Prepared and presented with service-learning assistant Tabby Mendez.
• Conference presentation:  “A Desire to Self Others in Limón Blues and Limón Reggae, the latest novels by Anacristina Rossi.” MIFLC 2009, Furman University.
• Conference presentation: “Radical Questioning of Gender and Subjectivity in the 1980s:  Anacristina Rossi’s Maria la noche” at the 18^th Conference of the International Association of Hispanic Women’s Literature and Culture, Agnes Scott College, Atlanta, October 16-18, 2008.

Summary of recent university-service activities

• Co-Chair, Women’s, Gender and Sexualities Minor 2011-present
• Chair, Appeals Committee 2012-present
• Latin American Studies Concentration committee and Poverty Studies at-large Committee, from their inception to present.
• Invited speaker:  “Cultural Identity.” Lilly Center For Vocational Reflection, February 4, 2010.
• Opening Convocation Speaker, September 12, 2007.

Membership and leadership roles in professional organizations

• The Modern Language Association
• ASLE (Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment)
• LASA (Latin American Studies Association)