Category Archives: History

Teaching Spanish America: From the Conquest to Contemporary Film

Posted on February 13, 2016 by Dr. Rebecca Bender

This semester at Kansas State I’m teaching a 500-level Spanish American Literature survey course, and I decided to experiment a bit with the way I structured the content. Survey-style courses are always challenging to design, given their vast scope — … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Literature, Pedagogy, Spanish America | Tagged Bolivia, colonization, conquista, film, Latin American Literature, literature, teaching spanish | 1 Comment

Picasso’s “Guernica” and Aleixandre’s “Oda”: The Spanish Civil War in Art and Poetry

Posted on December 5, 2015 by Dr. Rebecca Bender

One of my favorite things to do when creating lesson plans and homework assignments is to find visuals that evoke the same themes or feelings as the literary text. When teaching poetry for example, I have found that images work … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, History, Literature, Spain, Spanish Civil War | Tagged art, guernica, madrid, picasso, poetry, spanish art, spanish civil war, teaching, Vicente Aleixandre | 12 Comments

Following the Footsteps of a Literary Hero: Personal Histories of Place

Posted on September 17, 2015 by Dr. Rebecca Bender

This summer I had several projects to work on, including an article on urban Madrid, two new syllabi to prepare, and a conference presentation in Salamanca on the film Las 13 Rosas. But I also took on another smaller project … Continue reading →

Posted in Literature, Spain, Spanish Civil War | Tagged books, fiction, Franco, hero, history, journey, Laurie Lee, Spain, spanish civil war, travel | Leave a comment

The Thirteen Roses and Spanish Cinema’s Celebration of Motherhood

Posted on July 31, 2015 by Dr. Rebecca Bender

This summer I was once again able to spend a few weeks in Spain, for both work and fun. I presented a paper on the 2007 Spanish film, Las 13 Rosas (The 13 Roses) at a conference on Spanish and Portuguese … Continue reading →

Posted in Feminism, Spain, Spanish Civil War, Women | Tagged film, history, las 13 rosas, maternity, motherhood, politics, spanish civil war, spanish literature, women | 5 Comments

Women of the Second Republic (Spain 1931-39)

Posted on June 26, 2015 by Dr. Rebecca Bender

While I was in Spain last summer (2014), I was able to attend the “Feria del libro” (Book Fair) that takes place annually in Madrid’s central park, El Retiro. According to the Feria del Libro’s (FLM) website, its goals are … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Feminism, First-wave spanish feminism, History, Spain, Women | Tagged 1930s, books, Dalí, feria del libro, gender, las 13 rosas, madrid, mallo, Second Republic, spanish civil war, women | 6 Comments

Winter Break in the Southwest: Mission San Xavier del Bac

Posted on January 30, 2015 by Dr. Rebecca Bender

This year over Winter Break I decided it would be smart to spend a few weeks in warmer weather – last year’s frigid Iowa winter made for a rather tiring “Spring” semester. We decided to visit Tucson, Arizona, to spend … Continue reading →

Posted in History, US Southwest | Tagged architecture, Arizona, catholicism, colonialism, Mexico, Native Americans, San Xavier, San Xavier mission, Tucson | 2 Comments

The Memory of War in Madrid

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Dr. Rebecca Bender

I recently came across the Spanish blog and online magazine Yorokobu, a Madrid-based publication that discusses historical events and narratives not typically featured in traditional media. According to their “About” page, the writers at Yorokubu aim to inspire their audience by … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, History, Spain, Spanish Civil War | Tagged 1930s, Franco, Historical Memory Law, madrid, memory, photography, Spain, spanish civil war, war | 4 Comments

Posters and Propaganda from the Spanish Civil War (1936-39)

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Dr. Rebecca Bender

A few weeks ago one of my friends passed on a link to these Spanish Civil War posters, which were published over at Retronaut, “The Photographic Time Machine.” I had just finished teaching a unit on representations of the war … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, History, Spain, Spanish Civil War | Tagged 1930s, children, gender, madrid, masculinity, propaganda, spanish civil war, war | 4 Comments

Maternity and Madrid: Gendered Spaces in La rampa (1917)

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Dr. Rebecca Bender

I have officially decided that September is the fastest-moving, shortest month of the (academic) year. It flies by quicker than winter break. One day you are rather calmly introducing the course syllabus and getting to know new students… the next … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Literature, Modernity, Science and Medicine, Spain, Women | Tagged 1920s, Carmen de Burgos, gender, literature, madrid, maternity, motherhood, Spain, urban studies | 10 Comments

Santa Muerte, the Alluring and Controversial Folk Saint of Death

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Dr. Rebecca Bender

While the Virgin of Guadalupe is perhaps the most iconic and ubiquitous of Mexican Catholic imagery, Santa Muerte, or Saint Death, is quickly becoming a powerful cultural force herself. Though Santa Muerte is not an officially sanctioned saint, having been … Continue reading →