Nidia Pulles-Linares
Professor
Modern Languages
EMAIL: npulleslinares@bmcc.cuny.edu
Office: S-601L
Office Hours: Wednesday, 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. and Thursday, 10:00 - 12:00 p.m.
Phone: +1 (212) 220-8113
I was born in Cuba and came to the United States as a 1 year old with my family. We settled on East 28th Street in New York City and lived there happily until I was 9 years old. In 1962, we returned to La Habana, Cuba where we remained for a few years. We emigrated once again to the United States in 1968 and settled this time in Queens, New York.
After graduating from Newtown High School, I studied at Queens College from where I obtained a B.A and a M.A degrees. I obtained a few years later a Ph.D. from the Graduate University Center of CUNY.
I have taught Spanish Language and Literature at the BMCC since 1983, when I began as an Adjunct Lecturer of Spanish. Previous to my arrival at BMCC, I had taught Spanish Language and Literature at Queens College (CUNY) from 1977 – 1980.
I am currently a Professor of Spanish Language and Literature in the Modern Languages Department where I teach various levels of Spanish Language and Literature.
Expertise
My field of expertise is Spanish American Colonial Literature.
Degrees
- Bachelor of Arts, Queens College, 1977. Spanish Language / Secondary Education
- Master of Arts, Queens College, 1981. Spanish Language and Literature
- Ph.D., The Graduate School and University Center of CUNY, 1999
Courses Taught
- This course is for students who have had no previous background in Spanish. Grammar is taught inductively and simple texts are read. Speaking, reading, and writing are emphasized students who have taken SPN 103 will not receive credit for this course. Prerequisite: Departmental Placement
- In this continuation of Spanish I, grammar, composition and oral comprehension are developed and supplemented by readings or Spanish texts. Students who have taken SPN 107 will not receive credit for this course. Prerequisite: SPN 105 or Departmental Placement
- This is an elementary Spanish course for students who can speak Spanish but have no formal training in the language. Students who have taken SPN 101 and/or SPN 102 will not receive credit for this course. Prerequisite: Knowledge of spoken Spanish and Departmental Placement
- This is the second course in a series of four basic language courses for heritage learners. This group of students can speak Spanish but need to continue formal training in the language. The course aims at reinforcing and expanding on students' familiarity with Hispanic culture, which serves as a context for the development of linguistic skills, such as reading comprehension, lexical expansion, spelling, writing, and grammatical accuracy, among other things. Students who have taken SPN 105 and/or SPN 106 will not receive credit for this course. Prerequisite: SPN 107 or departmental approval
- This course involves intensive oral work consisting of discussions of Hispanic films. Drills in pronunciation, intonation and rhythm are included as well as several oral presentations throughout the course. Films will be screened during class sessions or as homework assignments. Readings, written work, and discussions will be in Spanish. Prerequisite: SPN 200 or departmental placement
- Spanish 207 is the third course in the heritage speaker sequence. This is an Intermediate I course for speakers of Spanish who are in the process of refining their formal study of standard Spanish. The course is designed to build on the language base students already possess. The primary purpose of the course is to further develop students' reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. This course will use reading and writing activities to extend students' grasp of vocabulary and grammatical structures and to further their comprehension of and ability to express themselves in Spanish. Activities will be largely devoted to providing practice through form-based and communicative activities. Prerequisite: SPN 108 or departmental permission based on the results of the language proficiency exam
- This course introduces students to a representative sampling of Latin American women writers from the colonial period to the twentieth century. The course will disseminate a body of literature, which is represented minimally in Hispanic literature courses. Feminism, machismo, motherhood, sexual and political activism and the role of women as writers are some of the issues that will be explored and discussed during the semester.
Prerequisite: SPN 211 - This course is a survey of major trends in Spanish-American theatre from pre-Columbian times to the present with emphasis on 20th century theatre. Among the authors who will be studied are: González Eslava, Juan Ruiz de Alarcón, Sor Juana Inés De La Cruz, Florencio Sánchez, Rodolfo Usigli, Egon Wolff, Augusto Boal, José Triana, Jorge Díaz, Luis Rafael Sánchez, Griselda Gambaro, and Isadora Aguirre.
Prerequisite: SPN 211 - Spanish-American Literature This course involves a chronological history of Spanish- American literature from the Colonial period to the 19th century. Readings include selections from Inca Garcilaso, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Sarmiento, José Hernández, Palma, Martí, Darío, and others. Written and oral reports are required.
Prerequisite: SPN 211 or departmental approval, or any 400 level course except SPN 476 - The major authors and literary movements of the late 19th and 20th centuries are studied. Works of Horacio Quiroga, Alfonso Reyes, Neruda, César Vallejo, Alejo Carpentier, Jorge Luis Borges, Juan Rulfo, Carlos Fuentes, Gabriel García Márquez and others are analyzed. Written and oral reports are required.
Prerequisite: SPN 211 - The evolution of Spanish-American civilization is studied through literature to enhance understanding of present-day problems and potentialities. Emphasis falls on the relevance of the topography of the regions, the Spanish conquest and colonization, conflicts among cultures and religions of the indigenous peoples: Hispanic settlers, Africans, and recent immigrants; oral and written transmissions of traditions; the struggle for independence; movements for political, social, and economic reforms; the cultural obstacles, the emergence of linguistic distinctiveness and the quest for self-realization are studied. Readings are in Spanish, discussions are in English or Spanish.
Prerequisite: SPN 211 or departmental approval, or any 400-level Spanish course except SPN 476 - This is a study abroad course in which students will enhance their language skills and knowledge of a foreign culture through class meetings, seminars, and on-site visits to places of historic and cultural importance. They will be immersed in the language of the country and attend language and literature courses. Prerequisite: SPN 102 or departmental approval
- In this course, works reflecting the experiences of U.S. Latino/a writers in English are analyzed. Students will read, discuss, and write about fiction, nonfiction, poetry and drama by writers such as Julia Alvarez, Rudolfo Anaya, Gloria Anzaldua, Roberto Fernandez, Tato Laviera, Achy Obejas, Abraham Rodriguez Jr., and Piri Thomas. Note: Crosslisted with LAT 338
Course Syllabus
Research and Projects
- I am currently working on an annotated edition of Canto intitulado Mercurio (1623) by Arias de Villalobos.
Publications
Book:
Gabriel Lobo Lasso de la V De Cortés valeroso, y Mexicana. Edición, introducción y notas de Nidia Pullés-Linares. Teci (Textos y estudios coloniales y de la independencia). Vol. 10. Frankfurt: Vervuert / Madrid: Iberoamericana, 2005. ISBN 3-86527-159-6 (Vervuert).
Reviewed by Raúl Marrero-Fente in the following refereed journal: Colonial Latin American Review, vol. 16, no. 2. December 2007.
Articles in Refereed Journals:
- “Laudes civitatis y los hechos de la conquista de México en Canto intitulado Mercurio (1603) de Arias de Villalobos.” Calíope. Journal of the Society for Renaissance and Baroque Hispanic Poetry. Vol 16, No. 1, Imaginarios poéticos virreinales (2010), pp. 73-93
- “El conflicto intergeneracional y los mecanismos de adaptación en Soledad de Angie Cruz,” MUJERES y CAMBIO desde la LETRA, eds. A. Horno –Delgado, J. N. Gold , Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. October, 2005
- “Los aspectos literarios y filológicos del poema De Cortés valeroso, y Mexicana de Gabriel Lobo Lasso de la Vega,” Actas del XIV Congreso de la Asociación Internacional de Hispanistas. 4 vols. [Nueva York, 16-21 de julio, 2001]. Eds. Isaías Lerner, Robert Nival and Alejandro Alonso. Newark, Del.: Juan de la Cuesta – Hispanic Monographs, c. 2004
- “Conexiones culturales: el mundo clásico y la conquista de México”, in La Literatura Iberoamericana en el 2000: Balances, Perspectivas y Prospectivas, University of Salamanca, Spain (2000). Published in CD Rom form by Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca, Spain. First Edition. March 2003, pp. 778-785
- “Nueva España en el siglo XVII,” Historia de la literatura mexicana, Siglo XVII, La cultura letrada en la Nueva España del siglo XVI. Vol. 2. Siglo XXI: México. Spring 2002, pp. 693-714
- “La simbología de las diosas en dos cuentos de Lydia Cabrera” Enlaces: Transnacionalidad-El Caribe y su Diáspora-Lengua, Literatura y Cultura en los Albores del Siglo XXI. Latin American Writers Institute, The Latino Press, 2000
- “Clandina, Tádara, Gualca: Heroínas indígenas de De Cortés valeroso, y Mexicana, de Gabriel Lobo Lasso de la Vega,” De la Catedral al Rascacielos. Actas de la XVII Asamblea General de ALDEEU. New York: The Peconic Company, 1998, pp. 21-30. Nominated Best Book of Essays of 1999 by the International Writers and Artists Association
Book Review:
- A Stitch in Air by Lori Marie Carlson. Review Literature and Arts of the Americas. Issue 89, Vol. 47, No. 2. November 2014
Honors, Awards and Affiliations
- Women in Film. New York University, Faculty Resource Network Seminar Awardee, June 8-12, 2009
- Better than Fiction: The Urban Chronicle and the New Latin American Novel. New York University, Faculty Resource Network Seminar Awardee. June 9-13, 2008
- BMCC Latino Honor Society Recognition Award, May 2, 2008
- National Endowment for the Humanities Grant, Summer Institute, Inquisitions and Persecutions in Early Modern Europe and the Americas. Center for Renaissance & Baroque Studies, University of Maryland, June-July, 2005
- Salute to Scholars Faculty Honoree: 2004-2005 for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)/ Summer Seminars and Institutes Program: Inquisitions and Persecutions in Early Modern Europe and the Americas, University of Maryland, 2005
- Title V Grant, Activity Director “Fostering Student Success by Strengthening Academic Advisement and Developing an Integrated Systems for Management of Student Data,” January 2005-June 2009
- Certificate of Recognition by the Office of the Chancellor and the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for Major Institutional Grants for Education and Public Service during 2005-2006. United States Department of Education / Title V Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program, Fostering Student Success by Strengthening Academic Advisement and Developing an Integrated System for Management of Student Data Grant. May 18, 2006
- Salzburg Seminar Grant (Austria): Community College International Study Program, Community Colleges As Sites Of Global Citizenship, July 17- 24, 2004
- Co-Director of BMCC’s Teaching Learning Center (now CETLS), 2003-2005
- Faculty Development Grant, 2001-2002
Additional Information
Scholarly Presentations:
- “La difusión de la literatura colonial en Review: De la Americas Society a The City College of New York”, Latin American Studies Association (LASA), 2017, Lima, Perú
- Utopía y conquista en “Canto titulado Mercurio” de Arias de Villalobos, The Graduate Center of CUNY, Department of Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Literatures, November 14, 2014, at 6pm
- “El Caribe múltiple y el bicentenario de las independencias hispanoamericanas continentales”, Fundación Universitaria del Área Andina / Universidad de Cartagena / Universidad de Texas-Pan American, Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, March 15-19, 2010
- Colonialism and Modernity in the Literature of Spanish America”, The Americas Society, April 17, 2007
- “Patriotism, Antiquity, and the Enlightenment in Francisco Xavier Clavijero’s Historia antigua de México,” Science and Letters in the Colonial Americas II: Creole Patriotism and the Enlightenment in Spanish America, Third Biennial Meeting of the Society of Early Americanists. Providence, RhodeIsland. April 10-12, 2003
- “Perfil de la mujer: Marina / Malinche en las crónicas de la conquista” in La importancia de la mujer en el Nuevo Mundo. The American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois. July 31-August 5, 2003.
- Beyond Books and Borders: Inca Garcilaso de la Vega and the Florida Frontier. An Interdisciplinary Symposium. Session: La Florida del Inca: Its Publication and Editions. City College/The Graduate Center (CUNY). November 13-14, 2003. Panel Moderator
- “La destrucción del pasado en La reivindicación del conde don Julián de J. Goytisolo,” Construction and Destruction of the Spanish Past. Binghamton University’s (SUNY) 12 Annual Conference: Time, Memory, Text. March 23-24, 2001
Course Development:
- Developed: Spanish 400-Latin American Women Writers, 1999
- Teacher, mentor and co-coordinator of the BMCC Summer 2001 Study Abroad Program, Spanish 476 Hispanic Heritage course, at the University of Oviedo, in Asturias, Spain from July 18 –August 21, 2001
- Co-developed: Spanish 410-Latin American Theatre, 2003
