Jaime Hernandez
Visiting Assistant Professor
Spanish
Contact
Jaime Hernández Vargas holds a Ph.D. in Hispanic Literature and Cultural Studies and a Graduate Certificate in Afro-Luso-Brazilian Studies, from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He also earned a M.A. in Spanish from The Pennsylvania State University, and a B.A. in “Letras hispánicas” from the Metropolitan Autonomous University, Mexico City.
His research and teaching interests focus on the Early Modern Hispanic world, specifically delving into the exploration of science and technology, death studies and public health, race and theories of the body, gender and sexuality, law and criminality, visual and fashion studies. Given the long historical influence of these subjects, he also investigates the impact of the Renaissance and Baroque legacy over contemporary literature, paintings, performances, and films. His work has appeared in La Corónica, Tirant, The Sixteenth-Century Journal, eHumanista: Journal of Iberian Studies, La Perinola: Revista de investigación quevediana, Destiempos, and Medievalia. He is currently working on a book manuscript that analyzes the intricate exploration of body diversity within the Early Modern global Hispanophone world, examining it through the nuanced perspectives of artificiality, medicine, and social control. The cases analyzed in this endeavor are drawn from a diverse interdisciplinary corpus, encompassing both canonical and non-canonical works. This corpus spans across various geopolitical and geographical border areas, encapsulating narratives from the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Jaime has taught a variety of courses on language, literature, and culture at Bucknell University, Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Michigan. Currently at Swarthmore College, he teaches advanced literature courses based on his own research, writing courses that serve as an introduction to literary and cultural analysis, and has had the privilege of working closely with Spanish majors to guide them through the process of writing their culminating research essay and preparing them for their oral exam. His courses on the early modern period not only exemplify the pertinence of historical knowledge but also underscore its practical utility in comprehending and enhancing appreciation for the complexities of the twenty-first century world.
He has lived, studied, and researched in Mexico City, São Paulo, Madrid, and in some cities of the United States. His personal and educational experiences, as well as his interest and sympathies towards all forms of diversity, have driven his comparative and interdisciplinary approach to researching and teaching topics related to the cultural productions that he studies in the different regions of the Spanish-speaking world.
