Spain Semester Speakers

10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 28, 2015

Corley Auditorium in Webster Hall

Admission: free

Have you ever dreamed of living in Spain or wonder how the lifestyle in Spain might be different than the United States? This talk will give you some insight into what life is like in Spain so that you will be a more prepared “guiri” (the colloquial Spanish name for foreigners) when you visit this beautiful European country. We will touch upon meal time differences and different food traditions, strange business hours (with a nice siesta time), party culture, big differences in Spanish schools, fashion, space, smoking, and more. The talk will also include information about the “Auxiliares” program – a great teaching opportunity in Spain – as well as tips for good, affordable ways to travel throughout Spain and Europe (including Airbnb and CouchSurfing).

Kisa Clark earned a master’s degree in communication from the University of Arkansas in 2014 and a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from Missouri Southern State University in 2011. She spent the last academic year living and working in Cordoba, Spain 

11 a.m. Friday, Sept. 4, 2015

Corley Auditorium in Webster Hall

Admission: free

Very little is known about Spanish culture outside the classic bullfights, flamenco, and siesta clichés. This interactive lecture aims to point out the various misconceptions about Spain, as well as to present a more accurate portrayal of those sociocultural features that shape the life of Spaniards today. After de-stereotyping all misconstrued Spanish clichés, attendees will learn about the lifestyle and mentality of high school and college-aged Spaniards and that of their parents and grandparents, showing the polarizing differences between younger and older generations due to the current and past sociopolitical context. Dr. Rubén Galve Rivera’s presentation will gravitate around education, philosophy of life, social relations, pop culture, and many other topics, all interconnected, that will allow the audience to gain a better understanding of all the characteristics that truly define a 21^st-century Spaniard.

Dr. Rubén Galve Rivera is an Assistant Professor of Spanish at Missouri Southern State University. Born in Spain in 1983, he studied at the Universidad de Sevilla, Spain, where he graduated with a Tourism Business Administration degree in 2007. He holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in 20^th Century Spanish Peninsular Literature and History from Texas Tech University (2014).

During his time at Texas Tech University, Dr. Galve Rivera taught more than 40 Spanish courses as an instructor, including two semesters abroad at the Texas Tech Seville campus. He has also worked in the private sector as the International Business Development Manager for B.A.G. Corp. in Dallas, Texas.

9:30 a.m. Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015

Corley Auditorium in Webster Hall

Admission: free

This presentation will utilize film clips to discuss how the development of Spanish cinema since the 1950s has pivoted around the contrast between traditional and modern values. Commercial mainstream cinema during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco (1939-1975) praised the economic and social modernization that was taking place in Spain. Simultaneously, mainstream cinema downplayed the effects of the absence of personal rights and the strict morality imposed by the Catholic Church during those years. Some art-house directors such as Juan Antonio Bardem in Death of a Cyclist (1955) and Luis Buñuel in Viridiana (1961) challenged that official image of Spain. They revealed the shortcomings of the modernization process and the excesses of a misunderstood Catholic morality.

In the democratic period (1975-present) directors such as Pedro Almodóvar (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and Volver) have used the platform of cinema to project the image of a new Spain that overlooks the dictatorship and Catholic traditional values. This became the most exportable image of a country that was proud to have become similar to other Western European countries in terms of standards of living and democratic values. Other notable films such as Los Santos Inocentes (1984) and the recent Living is Easy with Eyes Closed (2013) have a less celebratory attitude. These movies look back to the dictatorship to draw parallels with the present. They demonstrate deficiencies in the post-Franco year such as the persistence of class disparities in Spanish society.

Dr. Jorge Pérez is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Kansas. He teaches courses on modern Spanish literature and cinema. He is the author of Cultural Roundabouts: Spanish Film and Novel on the Road (Bucknell University Press, 2011), a study on the cultural politics of Spanish road movies and novels. He has published articles on Spanish film, novel, and queer culture in journals such as ALEC, Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies, España Contemporánea,Studies in Hispanic Cinemas, Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hispánicos, and Revista de Estudios Hispánicos. He has also co-edited a special issue of the Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies on the topic of Spanish popular music and a volume on Latin American road movies. He has recently completed a book in which he explores the connections between religion and modernity in Spanish cinema of the late-Franco period.

12 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015

Corley Auditorium in Webster Hall

Admission: free

The Way of Saint James (the Camino de Santiago) a hiking trip through Spain completed by more than 200,000 people every year, might be the oldest and still active Catholic pilgrimage in the world. First mentioned in a 12^th-century manuscript (Codex Calixtinus), the pilgrimage can start anywhere in France, Portugal or Spain with the goal of reaching the city of Santiago de Compostela, Saint James’ burial place. All these different routes that lead to Santiago have played a crucial role in the history of Spain, and they certainly offer a view of what the country was in the past and what it is today. Having done the pilgrimage twice (2014 from France, and 2015 from Seville), a long walk in more than 30 days and covering more than 600 miles each time, Dr. Pedro L. Talavera-Ibarra recreates a personal experience through the historical places and people along the Way of Saint James.

Dr. Pedro L. Talavera-Ibarra is a professor of Spanish at Missouri Southern State University. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of the Peoples’ Friendship in Moscow in Russian Philology. He received his second master’s from the University of Texas at Austin in Comparative Literature & Latin American Studies. His Ph.D. is also from the University of Texas at Austin in Comparative Literature. He has also taught at Southwest Texas State University, Austin Community College, the University of Texas at Austin, and in Mexico at the Universidad Michoacana, the Universidad Pedagogica Nacional, and Escuela Normal Superior.

9 a.m. Monday, Sept. 21, 2015

Corley Auditorium in Webster Hall

Admission: free

Eighty years ago, the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) created a world sensation. As the first victim of the war, truth was replaced by myth. The Crusade, the fight between democracy and fascism, the solidarity of the people, and the first chapter of World War II were some of these myths still taught and believed. Not only Europe, but the rest of the world – even U.S. public opinion – accepted a part of these myths believing that Franco was a new crusader and that the so-called Loyalists fought for freedom. But history is different from myths, and our speaker will present the real history rather than good propaganda.

11 a.m. Monday, Sept. 21, 2015

Corley Auditorium in Webster Hall

Admission: free

Don Quixote has become a source of inspiration to literature, music, and cinema during four centuries. Orson Welles and Charles Dickens, Mikhail Bulgakov and Ivan Turgenev, and Alphonse Daudet and Alexandre Dumas were influenced by the story of the Spanish “hidalgo.” But, in fact, Don Quixote is only one of the best literary works written by a dissenter named Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Under humor, irony and imagination lives a critical view of the Counterreformation Spain and a message of impossible freedom. Our speaker will analyze how Don Quixote is a projection of Cervantes’ evolution from young nationalist to old dissenter.

Don Quixote was published in two volumes, in 1605 and 1615. It was translated into English in 1612 and 1620. Cervantes (1547-1616) was a contemporary of Shakespeare; they died only one day apart.

1 p.m. Monday, Sept. 21, 2015

Corley Auditorium in Webster Hall

Admission: free

The Spanish Inquisition, established in 1478 by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, was responsible for the jailing, trial, torture, and execution of “heretics,” mostly Jews accused of not completely converting to Catholicism. Estimates are that between 3,000 and 5,000 Spaniards were executed until it was finally abolished in 1834. Thousands of other Jews had to flee the country.

For centuries, the Spanish Inquisition has been watched as a pathological phenomenon of persecution of dissenters. For many, the Spanish Inquisition was the “sine qua non” of a totalitarian state. Even a few have viewed it as a specific Spanish creation. Prejudice and propaganda are not real history, but a part of it. We shall study the true origins of the Inquisition, the impact in Spain and the consequences and heritage of the Spanish Inquisition in Spanish culture on both sides of the Atlantic.

Dr. César Vidal is a Spanish radio host, historian, and author who now lives in Miami, Florida. Since 2004, he has hosted the radio show “La Linterna” on Cadena COPE, a private, commercial Spanish radio network. Vidal is known for his editorials at the beginning of the shows in which he links historical facts to current issues.

Vidal received Ph.D.s from Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) and Alfonso X el Sabio University. He is the author of several books, including Las Brigadas Internacionales (The International Brigades), which historian Stanley G. Payne has described as “the best book about the International Brigades in any language and any time.” Other books include La Guerra que Ganó Franco (The War that Franco Won), which Payne calls “the best military history of the Spanish Civil War in one volume”; Recuerdo 1936: Una Historia Oral de la Guerra Civil Española (I Remember 1936: An Oral History of the Spanish Civil War); and La Historia Secreta de la Iglesia Católica en España (The Secret History of the Roman-Catholic Church in Spain).

9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015

11 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015

Phelps Theater in Beimdiek Recreation Center

Admission: free

Dr. Bill Kumbier will consider the invaluable contributions to both music and peacemaking made by the great Catalonian cellist and conductor Pablo Casals (1876-1973). Through his lifetime of almost a century, Casals built bridges not only among musicians of several generations but also across borders and cultures. When the Fascists under Franco overtook Spain in 1939, he entered a period of self-imposed exile, not allowing himself to live or perform in his native land while Franco ruled and, for some of those years, refusing to perform in public at all. Nevertheless, Casals’ stature both as a musician and as a human being ensured that his voice and the voice of his instrument sustained a strong, clear and passionate call for peace.

Dr. Bill Kumbier teaches in Missouri Southern’s Department of English and Philosophy. His interest in Pablo Casals arises from love of music and a desire for peacemaking, originating partly in childhood listening to the historic concert given by Casals at the White House for President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy in November 1961.

12 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, 2015

Corley Auditorium in Webster Hall

Admission: free

Just after the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975, Spain started experimenting with a new democracy. Madrid, the nation’s capital, became one of the main centers ofavant gard culture in Spain and then throughout Europe. Young artists, filmmakers, rock bands and singers from different regions met in Madrid and started exploring with freedom of expression and the transgression of taboos imposed by the Franco Regime and Catholic Church. The only purpose of this countercultural movement was to have fun after years of repression. This hedonistic pop culture in its different expressions allowed young people to recreate a new reality far away from anything related to the establishment. In this environment artists such as film director Pedro Almodóvar, the Spanish-Mexican singer Alaska, the Spanish pop band Mecano, and the singer, songwriter and poet Joaquín Sabina found their voice that combined Spanish culture with punk rock and velvet underground. The result was something unique!

Dr. Susana Liso was born and raised in Pamplona, Spain. After completing her B.A. in Spanish Philology at the Universidad de Navarra in Pamplona, she came to the United States to attend graduate school at Ohio State University, where she received her M.A. in Spanish Linguistics and Ph.D. in Spanish Peninsular Literature. Her research interests focus on the concept of nation and the discourse of national identity. Dr. Liso has also presented papers at national and international conferences and has published articles on different topics.

Dr. Liso worked in different higher education institution before coming to MSSU. She has taught and designed a wide range of courses on Spanish language, composition, literature, culture, linguistics, and teaching methodology. She has organized and led study abroad trips to Ecuador, Mexico, and Spain.

When she was a teenager she used to spend summers in France, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. These experiences have led to a lifelong fascination with traveling and exploring different cultures.

1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2015

Corley Auditorium in Webster Hall

Admission: free

Dr. Jim Lile presents a survey of the various artistic incarnations of Miguel de Cervantes’ timeless character focusing on the treatment of the man of La Mancha in the visual arts, music, and the theatre.

Dr. Lile joined the Theatre Department faculty in the Fall of 2004 and now serves as the department chair. He earned his B.A. and M.A. in Theatre at East Texas State University (now Texas A&M University-Commerce) and his Ph.D. in Theatre History and Criticism at Kent State University. Equally at home in rehearsal or in the classroom, Dr. Lile brings a wealth of teaching, acting, directing, and design experience gathered over three decades from schools and theatres in Texas, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia.

11 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, 2015

Phelps Theater in Beimdiek Recreation Center

Admission: free

Like American blues and jazz, Spanish flamenco grew out of a mixture of cultures (Gypsy, Jewish, Islamic) and emerged from an experience of suffering and disenfranchisement. One flamenco dancer describes the art as “an emotional avalanche.” The Andalusian art form can express more than a personal passion, however; recent flash mobs have performed flamenco in Spanish banks to protest contemporary economic disparities. As one of the protest dancers says, “You can use [flamenco] to express desperation, rage, pain, and the desire to change things.”

When performed well, flamenco is associated with the untranslatable Spanish word, duende – a magical magnetism, a powerful communication of raw feeling (grief, sorrow, joy). Spanish poet Gabriel Garcia Lorca described duende as “everything that has black sounds in it…a struggle, not a thought.” The key elements of flamenco – dance, guitar, and song – can all contain duende, which is much more than mere technique.

Dr. Joy Dworkin was introduced to flamenco at the age of 14, when her mother brought her three children to live in Seville for a year. Dr. Dworkin will be forever grateful that her mother let her stay up late one special night, taking her to a bar where flamenco was performed. The spontaneous involvement of people in the bar – including singing, dancing, and palmas (specific hand-clapping patterns) – and the chance to witness duende for the first time, all made a deep impression.

This very personal presentation will include Dr. Dworkin’s early memories, pictures from her more recent trip to southern Spain, recordings of flamenco guitar and singing, and introductory information about the art of flamenco in order to prepare audiences for the live flamenco performance on Nov. 10.

Dr. Dworkin is chair of the department of English and Philosophy and a professor of English at Missouri Southern State University. With a doctorate in Slavic Literature and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Michigan, she teaches courses in world literature, creative writing, composition, and world humanities. She has been interested in cultures and arts from around the world ever since living in Spain as a teenager. She has traveled in over 20 countries, with summer studies in the Soviet Union, Poland, and India, and recent trips to Peru, China, and Israel. Her publications include original poetry, translations from Russian and Polish, and scholarship on the problem of translation. In addition to literature, she is particularly interested in music and dance; a founding member of the African Marimba Ensemble, Kufara, she is also an avid student of the indigenous Shona (Zimbabwean) instrument, the mbira dzaVadzimu.

10 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015

Corley Auditorium in Webster Hall

Admission: free

Everyone dreams of the adventure, whether it’s to see the pyramids, follow the surf, or go hiking in your own backyard. Nellie Bennett dreamed of dancing flamenco in Spain. But once she got there she found a country that was not what she had expected. Traveling forces us to surrender to the unknown and allow the world to reveal itself to us in its own way. No matter how well prepared we are, travel never goes according to plan. So why not throw the checklist out the window? In this talk Nellie will discuss the thrill of knowing where you’re heading, but never really knowing where you’ll find yourself.

9:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015

Corley Auditorium in Webster Hall

Admission: free

While writing Only in Spain Nellie Bennett rented a little stone farmhouse in a village of five people in the northwestern region of Galicia. Galicia was a Celtic kingdom, and has a unique and ancient history. Bounded by the formidable Coast of Death, it was known for centuries as “The End of the World,” and synonymous with mystery and witchcraft. In this talk Nellie will discuss life in a traditional Galician village, and provide practical tips on how to witch-proof your home. She will also discuss how the experience led her to her current research on the men and women who fought in the resistance in the Galician mountain ranges during the Spanish Civil War to protect their historic identity.

1 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015

Cornell Auditorium in Plaster Hall

Admission: free

When Nellie Bennett stepped off the plane in Spain she expected to find a new and wonderful world. What she didn’t expect was a hundred different worlds. As she traveled she discovered differences between regions, and even between villages from language, dance, dress, food and even religious rituals. These variations have survived for centuries, and have influenced the development of the Spanish nation. This talk will explore cultural differences and local traditions in Spanish regions and villages, and how they come together to form the wider national identity.

Nellie Bennett grew up in Sydney, Australia. When she was in her early 20s Nellie discovered flamenco dance and traveled to Spain to further her studies at the birthplace of flamenco, Seville. She soon fell in love with all things Spanish, and moved to Madrid, where she learned to dance from the neighborhood gypsies. Nellie has worked as a screenwriter in both Australia and Bollywood, and contributed feature articles to The Australian and The Sydney Morning Herald. Her interests include Spanish history and culture, and regional languages.

MSSU has selected Nellie Bennett’s Only in Spain: A Foot-Stomping, Firecracker of a Memoir about Food, Flamenco, and Falling in Love as the common reader for use in all sections of the University Experience course for 2015-16. The book was originally published in Australia in 2012, and then in 2014 by Sourcebooks, Inc., outside of Chicago.Kirkus Book Reviews calls it “A peripatetic Australian’s account of how a flamenco dancing hobby led to high adventures in music, food and love in Spain... Lightweight, footloose, good fun.”

11-11:50 a.m. and 1-1:50 Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015

8:30-9:15 and 11-11:50 Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015

Corley Auditorium in Webster Hall

Admission: free

Author Nellie Bennett will sign your copies of Only in Spain: A Foot-Stomping, Firecracker of a Memoir about Food, Flamenco, and Falling in Love and answer all your questions in these informal sessions.