¡Hola a todes! My name is Tamara Mitchell (she/her/hers), and I am your professor this semester for SPAN312. This initial post is to make sure everyone can access the course blog, to tell you a little about me, and to learn a bit about each of you.
Please respond to this post with your preferred name and pronouns, and answer 2-3 of the following questions:
- What’s the best book/work you’ve read recently? Bonus points if it’s a Latin American author!
- What’s your favourite podcast?
- Which SPAN312 unit are you most interested in learning about this semester? (syllabus under Canvas Files)
- Do you have any pets, plants, hobbies, or other fun things you want to tell us about?
- Other details you want to share with us.
I am a professor of contemporary Mexican and Central American literature in the Department of French, Hispanic and Italian Studies. I have two cats, Mona and Gigi, who you might see during our occasional Zoom sessions. I’ve read so many great books this summer… Yuri Herrera’s La transmigración de los cuerpos / The Transmigration of Bodies, Emiliano Monge’s Las tierras arrasadas / Among the Lost, Laia Jufresa’s Umami, NK Jemisin’s The City We Became… but one of my all-time favourites is Samanta Schweblin’s Distancia de rescate / Fever Dream. I’m excited about SPAN312, as this is the first time I’ll teach a literature class in English.
Looking forward to learning together this semester. Un saludo y hasta la próxima, Tamara
Hi all! My name is Avery, and my pronouns are she/her. I’m most looking forward to learning about Detective Fiction, and in particular to read “The Madwoman…” because I’ve done some research about the Argentinian state and dictatorship the 1970s for previous classes. A fun fact abt me is that I’m from Whitehorse, Yukon and currently living in Kits near the beach which is a nice change from the mountains!
Piglia’s story is one of my favourites… I look forward to discussing it together 🙂 Thrilled to have you in class again, Avery!
Hi, I’m Griffin(he/him).
I’m currently really into Jordan Peterson podcasts.
I’m really excited for the detectiv section.
I look forward to class with you.
Hi Griffin. I occasionally listen to Sam Harris’s Making Sense, and I’m pretty sure he’s interviewed Peterson there… I’ll check those episodes out! Thanks for the podcast suggestion, and welcome to SPAN312!
Greetings, I am James (he/him).
I’m a big fan of Watchmen
I regularly follow The Official Podcast
I like competitive games
Hi James. I inhaled the Watchmen series with Regina King, but I haven’t read the graphic novel yet. Let me know if you want some suggestions for Latin/x American graphic novels. Welcome to SPAN312!
Hi :)) My name is Andrea (she/her/hers).
The best book I have read recently is Normal People by Sally Rooney. And this summer, I was actually reading Pedro Paramo by Juan Rulfo, but I lost my copy and never got to finish it hahah.
Lately, I have been listening to the UBC Migration podcast, and I highly recommend it. It is very informative. They include various scholarly perspectives in each episode, which I really enjoy!!
I am most excited for unit 4 on migration, exile, and diaspora. I am an IR student, and migration studies are my main point of interest/research, so I can’t wait to read more material on it. *and if anyone has other migration-related material recommendations, please let me know!!
I have one dog, Niko. He is a poodle mix, but sadly he is back home, and I only get to see him on school breaks. I love plants, but I suck at taking care of them. They always die on me:( My hobbies are sewing, upcycling clothing, thrifting, and going to record stores.
I didn’t know that the UBC Migration group created a podcast… I look forward to checking it out. In terms of migration-related material, I have so many suggestions. Some of my favourite authors of the diaspora are Horacio Castellanos Moya (Honduras-El Salvador-US), Roberto Bolaño (Chile-Mexico-Spain), Valeria Luiselli (South Africa-India-Mexico-US), Cristina Rivera Garza (Mexico-US), and Edwidge Danticat (Haiti-America). Let me know what kind of material you’re looking for (scholarship, fiction, poetry, etc.), and I’ll be happy to give you suggestions 🙂 Glad to have you in the course, Andrea!
Hi, I’m Mandy (she/her/hers).
I recently read through Sebald’s Austerlitz, and it is unlike anything I have read before. It is absolutely amazing.
I am super excited for detective fiction and our last unit. I’ve read some Asian diasporic literature (and Sebald explores the Jewish diaspora as a result of the Holocaust in his book).
I like rock climbing — I’m not saying I’m good at it, just that I like it — and I’ve been going up to Squamish on the weekend to do some bouldering before it starts getting really rainy in Vancouver. I also got really into crocheting over the last year, and I’ve borrowed my friend’s sewing machine to try to start sewing, but it extremely difficult for me right now.
Sebald’s The Rings of Saturn is one of my absolute favourite novels (Austerlitz is great, too!)! If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend it. If I think of Latin American writers that have a similar style, I’ll let you know (maybe Roberto Bolaño or Guadalupe Nettel). I’ve been doing the same with hikes… trying to get as many in as possible before the rain starts. Welcome to SPAN312, Mandy!
Hi there, my name is Milena:)
I’m most interested in unit 3, not necessarily for the subject matter, but because I saw on the course outline we will be reading Sandra Cisneros, and I’ve actually read her book “The House on Mango Street” which I enjoyed.
My favourite podcast is Jackie Schimmel’s “The B*tch Bible” because I find her humorous and relatable, and my favourite episode was one where she featured Alex Cooper.
Looking forward to this class!!
^Whoops, I forgot to state my pronouns lol! I go by she/her/hers
I’ll be interested to hear what you think of Cisneros’s “Woman Hollering Creek!” It thematizes some of the same topics (family, solidarity among women, Latinx/Chicano culture) as House on Mango Street, but from the genre of the short story. Thanks for the podcast suggestion… I look forward to listening to The B*tch Bible! Have a great weekend, Milena!
Heyyy everyone! My name is Katherine Lopez (she/her)
Thus far, I think my favourite fiction book is “Crime and Punishment” by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I love the way it dives deep in the psychology of the main character, lol but maybe I’m bias because I’m a psych major. My favourite podcast is “Enjoying Everyday Life” by Joyce Meyer, again something a psych mayor would probably enjoy. But most importantly, I do have a dog and a hamster. I believe they are the best pets in the world, so sorry for the rest of you (lolol).
Excited to experience this class!
Ha! I will not tell my cats that your dog and hamster are the best pets in the world 😉 I haven’t read Crime and Punishment for almost twenty years… this makes me want to go back to it! Glad to have you in class, Katerine!
Hi everyone! I’m Ashley (she/her)
A good book I read recently is “Abanico de seda” by Lisa See. I borrowed it from my mom not really knowing what it was about and was pleasantly surprised. It’s set in 19th century China and tells a fictional story of two girls who have a sisterly relationship (laotong) and go through the process of foot-binding together. I really enjoyed learning about Chinese history and culture as well as foot-binding, which I’d known about but never really learnt about in depth.
Currently, my favorite podcast is a pretty well-known one, Ologies. If you haven’t listened to it I’d highly recommend it. I love playing random episodes when I’m walking or doing chores because I always learn something different and find Lisa (the host) so fun and interesting.
See you all in class!
Both of your suggestions (Abanico and Ologies) are new to me, and they sound great! I look forward to checking both of them out. Thrilled to have you in class again, Ashley!
Hello everyone!
My name is Julia Norris, I use she/her pronouns, and I am a 3rd year Psychology major here at UBC.
I recently read a surprisingly relevant novel, which followed a nurse as she and her country navigate war and a pandemic. It is titled The Pull of the Stars, by Emma Donoghue. It was a gift from my sister, and I really enjoyed it.
Last year, I took SPAN 280 which first introduced me to Latin American literature, specifically literature written by revolutionaries. I look forward to learning more about issues such as gendered violence, and diaspora in the hispanic context.
I look forward to a great semester with all of you !
Maybe I’ll bring some Freud in to our discussions for you Psych majors (literary theorists *love* Freud, although I’m not sure psychologists actually do… haha). Thanks for the Donoghue suggestion. I also recently read a novel that thematizes a pandemic (Yuri Herrera’s The Transmigration of Bodies), and it was uncanny to read a contemporary text from pre-COVID times that thinks about the fallout from a plague. Happy weekend, Julia!
Hi I’m Conor,
I am studying Poli Sci and Economics, I took a year off to work but I am back finishing up with approx a year and a couple classes left in my degree. I am taking Span 312 for my last literature credit however I am interested to learn more about the political/economic history of Latin America through historical literature.
I grew up just outside Vancouver, and now live in an apartment on Main St. not too far from Campus. I do love podcasts so Ill answer that as well, for news I regularly listen to various bloomberg weekly podcasts and really enjoy the commentators, and for the Canadian side listen to power and politics and a few other CBC shows. For light listening/comedy I think Andrew Shulz is pretty funny and entertaining. For hobbies I do martial arts/kickboxing and love finding new places to eat and drink especially breweries as there are a ton nearby my place.
Looking forward to the first year back on Campus!
Welcome back after your year break! Glad to have a polisci/econ major in the class. And thanks for the Power and Politics podcast suggestion… I’m always looking for ways to be more informed about Canada (I moved here from the US two years ago, and I still feel uncomfortably ignorant about local and national politics). Have a great weekend, Conor.
Hi there! My name is Daisy and I go by she/her. I am in my fourth year, majoring in History and minoring in Latin American Studies. I am very excited for the course partially because I have read a lot of Latin American literature in my free time and am interested to work with the material in a more structured way. In terms of books that I like, one of my all time favorites is House of The Spirits by Isabelle Allende. I really love the magical realism genre and Allende’s writing.
My favorite podcast is called My Favorite Murder. It is a true crime/comedy podcast with two funny ladies and I highly recommend. Other than that I enjoy surfing, being outside, eating, and dogs. I am looking forward tot he class.
Embarrassing admission: I’ve never read The House of the Spirits. Maybe I’ll find time to fix that soon… I look forward to discussing literature (magical realist and otherwise) with you this semester 🙂 Delighted to have you in class again, Daisy!
Hi everyone! My name is Ben and I’m in my 4.5th year studying “Philosophical Literature”, a program I made with IDST. The best book I’ve read recently has to be The Gray House by Mariam Petrosyan, it’s an amazing book that I have to recommend to everyone I know! Another book I love is The Kingdom of this World, hopefully that gets me some points!
I don’t listen to podcasts too much, but two that I’ve enjoyed are Very Bad Wizards – a podcast where a philosopher and a psychologist talk about stuff, and Chapo Trap House – a leftist podcast that covers lots of news and culture.
Rather than a unit, I think I’m just most excited for anytime we are discussing anything linked to magical realism!
Some of my hobbies are drumming/marimba, sewing, and writing – I hope I can find time for all those this year!
I look forward to learning with you all this term!
Ha! A Carpentier reference definitely gets you points. I love teaching the “Prologue” to The Kingdom of this World and contrasting lo real maravilloso with magical realism! Next Tuesday we’ll definitely be discussing magical realism, so get excited 🙂
Hi everyone!
My name is Danielle (she/her/hers) and I am an English Literature major in my (hopefully!) final year at UBC. The best book I’ve read recently is probably Days By Moonlight by Andre Alexis, highly recommend!
I’m not much of a podcast person, but I do love listening to audiobooks. Over the past year and a half I’ve listened to almost everything Agatha Christie has ever written and now I am looking for something new! That being said, I think you could probably guess the unit I am most excited about is detective fiction.
My house is almost a jungle- my boyfriend has the greenest thumb of anyone I’ve ever met, and we live with our perfect dog Tivy, who is a ball-obsessed border collie cross that turned 10 yesterday. In my spare time you can usually find Tivy and I in pacific spirit park on the trails or out for a swim at spanish banks!
Congrats on your final year of undergrad! What an exciting year for you 🙂 I have so many Latin American detective novel suggestions for a crime fiction lover… Paco Ignacio Taibo is probably the most famous Mexican novelist of detective fiction, and Leonardo Padura Fuentes (Cuba) is one of the most important detective fiction writers of the past thirty years. I haven’t read Brazilian Sonia Coutinho yet, but I’ve heard she’s deeply inspired by Christie, so maybe you’d enjoy her noir fiction. Glad to have you in the class, Danielle!