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From the Bosphorus to the Broadcast: Serial Storytelling and Turkish Travels
This summer, my family and I traveled to Istanbul, a city where East and West meet not just geographically, but narratively. Between ferry rides across the Bosphorus, endless cups of çay, and strolls through neighborhoods rich with history, I found myself thinking...
Family, Storytelling, and Hum Log: Travels to India
This summer, my family and I traveled to Pune, India, to visit my in-laws—a much-needed time of reconnection, rest, and reflection after an intense academic year. Walking the vibrant streets of the old city, sharing meals across generations, and listening to family...
A Past That Won’t Stay Buried: Remaking El extraño retorno de Diana Salazar in 2025
In the ever-shifting landscape of contemporary television, few revivals feel as richly symbolic or as culturally layered, as the recent remake of El extraño retorno de Diana Salazar. Originally aired in 1988 during the twilight of Televisa’s golden age, the show was a...
“Who’s Your Mother?”: Reflections on Melodrama, Seriality and the 2024 AS/COA “Telenovela Convening”
This past May, I had the distinct honor of participating in the 2024 Scholars Convening on the Telenovela, hosted by the Americas Society / Council of the Americas. Held in New York City on May 23, this intimate, invitation-only gathering brought together a vibrant...
A Visit with Maestro Miguel Sabido: On Mexican Storytelling and Legacy
While in Mexico City this spring for the SECOLAS conference, I had the extraordinary privilege of visiting Miguel Sabido, the legendary writer, producer, and architect of socially conscious telenovelas in Mexico. Often called el maestro de la telenovela mexicana,...
Sanity & Sickness in the Soaps: Diana Salazar’s Multiple Returns Across Time
So much happened at the start of this year at the MLA convention that I couldn’t talk about it all in just one blog post. In addition to receiving an award for Serial Mexico, which was honored with an MLA Katherine Singer Kovács Honorable Mention, I had the...
Echoes Across the Americas: From Mérida to Boston in the Depths of Winter
One of the most meaningful moments of my sabbatical year was the invitation to travel from Mérida to Boston to speak at Harvard’s David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies (DRCLAS), a premier hub for interdisciplinary dialogue and regional expertise. My talk...
Reflections from New Orleans: Advocacy, Innovation, and Humanities Leadership at the 2025 MLA Convention
One of the most energizing moments of my sabbatical year was attending the 2025 Modern Language Association (MLA) Convention in New Orleans—a gathering whose themes felt urgent, timely and deeply sustaining. Against the backdrop of systemic challenges facing higher...
Author of the Month at the Mérida English Library: Don Catarino, Serial Storytelling and the Power of Community
One of the most meaningful experiences during my sabbatical unfolded in December 2024, when I was invited to speak as Author of the Month at the Mérida English Library (MEL). Nestled in the heart of Yucatán’s capital, MEL is more than just a library—it is a crossroads...
Stages of Imagination: Spanish Dramatist García Gutiérrez, UC-Mexicanists & FIL-Guadalajara
There are moments when literature, history, and geography collide in unexpectedly moving ways. My late November visit to Guadalajara offered one such moment—an experience shaped by three overlapping currents: the epic scale of the Guadalajara International Book Fair...