Department of Modern Languages

Dr. Rebecca Bender

Associate Professor

-- on sabbatical leave F24-S25 --

Contact Information Photo of Dr. Bender
Education
  • Ph.D., Spanish Literature (2013), The Pennsylvania State University - Dissertation: First-Wave Spanish Feminism: Negotiating the Changing Faces of Motherhood and Maternity through Narrative
    • 2011: Edwin Erle Sparks Fellowship
  • M.A., Spanish Literature (2007), University of New Mexico, Graduated with distinction, Specialization: Latin American and Peninsular Spanish Literature
  • B.A., Spanish; B.S., Secondary Education (2005), Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, Summa Cum Laude
    • Honors Thesis: “Teaching Language through Culture: A Thematic Unit Based on Salvador Dalí”
  • Teaching Certification: K-12 Spanish – Pennsylvania State System of Education
Research Interests

19th–21st century Spanish literature; 20th-century Spanish Women’s narrative; First-Wave Spanish Feminism; Cultural and Literary representations of Motherhood; the Spanish Avant-Garde; Spanish and Hispanic Art and Visual Culture; Second-Language (L2) Literature Pedagogy; Digital Humanities

Publications

L2 Literature Pedagogy and Digital Humanities:

  • Article, 2021: “From Snaps to Maps: Using Literature, Mobile Applications, and Mapping Software to Design an Engaging L2 Curriculum''. Hispania, vol. 104, no. 4 (Dec.), pp. 557-70. Access via Project Muse here: <https://muse.jhu.edu/article/842249>.
  • Article, 2020: “Snapping the Quijote: Examining L2 Literature, Social Media, and Digital Storytelling through a Cervantine Lens.” Hispania, vol. 103, no. 3 (Sept.), pp. 323-39. (Abstract and images here). Access full article via Project Muse here: <https://muse.jhu.edu/article/764850>.

Spanish Literary and Cultural Studies:

  • Article, 2022: “First-Wave Fantasmas: The (In)visible Presence of Carmen de Burgos and Maruja Mallo in María Sánchez’s Tierra de mujeres (2019)”. Hispanic Studies Review, vol. 6, no. 1 (Spring). Open Access Here.

  • Article, 2017: “Fashion, Ekphrasis, and the Avant-Garde Novel: Carmen de Burgos’s La mujer fantástica (1924).” Ciberletras, vol. 39 (Dec. 2017), n.p. http://www.lehman.cuny.edu/ciberletras/v39/bender.htm>

  • Book Chapter, 2017: “Modernity and Madrid: The Gendered Urban Geography of Carmen de Burgos’s La rampa (1917)”. In Routledge History Handbook of Gender and the Urban Experience. Ed. Deborah Simonton. Routledge.

  • Book Chapter, 2017: “The Body of Venus: From Eroticism to Maternality in José Díaz Fernández’s La Venus mecánica (1929). In Modernism and the Avant-garde Body in Spain and Italy. Ed. Nicolás Fernández-Medina and Maria Truglio. Routledge.

  • Article, 2016: “Theorizing a Hybrid Feminism: Motherhood in Margarita Nelken’s En torno a nosotras (1927).” Bulletin of Hispanic Studies 93.2: pp. 131-48.

  • Article,2014: “From New York to Cuba: Distinct Representations of Convergent Ideologies in Federico García Lorca’s Poeta en Nueva York and Nicolás Guillén’s Motivos de son.” Latin American Literary Review 83.1: pp. 7-30.

  • Article, 2012: “Maternity Ward Horrors: Urban Motherhood in Carmen de Burgos’s La rampa (1917).” Cincinnati Romance Review 34: pp. 79-96. <www.cromrev.com/volumes/vol34/006-vol34-bender.pdf>.

Study Abroad, Graduate/Undergraduate student research, and other contributions

Study Abroad:

Dr. Bender created and leads our annual 6-credit summer study abroad program in Spain, based at the Universidad de Navarra in Pamplona. See the K-State Spanish blog for more information: “Summer Study in Spain: Spain Today with K-State Faculty & Students”.

The “Spain Today” summer program includes a research component for the 700-level course elective; Students participating in the 2019 program presented their research in an public symposium/gallery, “Spain Today: Research and Photography”, at the K-State Union.

Student Research Projects:

For the 2022 program in Spain, Ariana Brancato (’22), a double-major in Spanish and Strategic Communications, received a research grant funded by K-State’s OURCI ($500) for her project, “Spain and Public Relations: An Examination of Social Media in Modern Strategic Planning”. You can view her bilingual website and research paper here: https://arianabrancato1.wixsite.com/investigaciones

Dr. Bender chaired graduate student Kelsie Johnston’s (‘20) MA Report, “Digitally Deconstructing the Pícaro: Examining the Role of the Digital Humanities in the L2 Teaching and Learning of Lazarillo de Tormes”, which included a StoryMap DH resource for teachers and students entitled Lázaro’s Journey, Lazarillo de Tormes .

Dr. Bender supervised an interdisciplinary project by undergraduate Spanish major Ana Welsh (’21), “Mujeres, mapas y Madrid: Del nacimiento a la muerte con las mujeres madrileñas en La rampa (1917) de Carmen de Burgos”. With Dr. Bender’s support, Ana received a research grant funded by K-State’s OURCI ($500), presented her work at Modern Languages Initials symposium (see her 4-min. Initials presentation here), and was featured in K-State’s SEEK magazine in May 2021: “A novel experience”.

Social Media:

Social Media: Dr. Bender manages all of the Spanish section’s social media communications (@KStateSpanish) including the blog www.kstatespanish.wordpress.com, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

For all publications and conference presentations, see FULL CV here; or visit Dr. Bender’s blog for more on her current teaching and research projects.