Marilén Loyola
K. & H. Montgomery Assistant Professor of Spanish
Chair of Latin American and Latinx Studies
Co-Chair of Self-Designed Major
Modern Languages
- 8477355278
- mloyola@lakeforest.edu
Ph.D. Spanish, University of Wisconsin-Madison
M.A. Spanish, University of Wisconsin-Madison
M.A. Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
B.A. Anthropology, University of Michigan
Publications
Sea Change: Representations of Transformation in the Caribbean and Mediterranean. Jessica Boll, Marilén Loyola, and Sharon Meilahn Bartlett, eds. University of Toronto Press, 2026. Forthcoming.
“Visualizing the Voices of Migration in Javier de Isusi’s Graphic Novel Asȳlum.” Sea Change: Representations of Transformation in the Caribbean and Mediterranean. Jessica R. Boll, Marilén Loyola, and Sharon Meilahn Bartlett, eds. University of Toronto Press, 2026. Forthcoming.
“Cultivating Empathy: Performing the Agency of sub-Saharan Immigrants in the Television Series Mar de plástico, Season 1 (2015).” Center and Periphery in 21st-century Literature, Cinema, Art, and Media from Spain. Edited by Amparo Alpañés. Vernon Press, 2025.
“Migrating Scenes: Teaching an Undergraduate Seminar on Migration and Movement in the Hispanic World.” Teaching Migration in Literature, Film and Media. Masha Salazkina and Yumna Siddiqi, eds. Modern Language Association, 2025.
“‘Voces rotas entre la tierra’: Muerte, reclusión y memoria en NN12 de Gracia Morales.” Conference proceedings. Actas del VI Congreso Internacional de Estreno: “Teatro y reclusión.” Lourdes Bueno and Cerstin Bauer-Funke, eds. Estreno. Special edition, 2023.
“Memory and the Ethical Imagination: the Holocaust and Deportation to Mauthausen in Twenty-first Century Spanish Theater.” Spain, the Second World War, and the Holocaust: History and Representation. Sara Brenneis and Gina Herrmann, eds. University of Toronto Press, 2020.
“La inmigración, la incomprensión, y la inocencia en Una tarde con campanas (2004) de Juan Carlos Méndez Guédez.” Online conference proceedings for the Heritages of Migration Conference, Univ. of Birmingham, UK, held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, April 2017, pp. 434-443.
“Prólogo” / Animales Nocturnos de Juan Mayorga. Online prologue. Biblioteca Digital. Draft.Inn, Space for Risk in the Performing Arts. http://draftinn.com/animales-nocturnos-de-juan-mayorga/. October 2014.
“In Search of Cuba: Remembering and Returning the Writings of Three Cuban Novelists in Exile.” Book Chapter. In Cuba: contrapuntos de cultura, historia y sociedad / Cuba: Counterpoints in Culture, History, and Society, pages 319-342. Francisco Scarano and Margarita Zamora, eds. Ediciones Callejón: San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2007.
Book/Play Reviews
Review of volume Mediterranean Flows: People, Ideas, and Objects in Motion, edited by Anna Usacheva, Jörg Ulrich, and Siam Bhayro. Book review. In the open-access journal Interdisciplinary Studies on the Mediterranean, vol. 5, 2025.
Review of the play Antártida by Raúl Hernández Garrido. Play review. In Estreno: Cuadernos del teatro español contemporáneo. vol. 50, 2024.
Review of the play Anatomía de un vencejo by Antonio Miguel Morales. Play review. In Estreno: Cuadernos del teatro español contemporáneo, vol. 49, 2023.
Review of the volume Partera de la historia: violencia en literature, performance y medios audiovisuales en Latinoamérica, edited by Osvaldo Sandoval-León and Chrystian Zegarra. Book review. In Revista de Estudios Hispánicos, vol. 57, Issue 3, p. 673-676, Oct. 2023.
Recent conference presentations
“‘¿Qué le hace un país a un cuerpo?’: cuerpo, territorio y memoria en la obra Todas las santas.” Conference presentation. Panel topic: “Cuando el cuerpo ‘revoluciona’: Teatro, performance y disidencias sociales.” Latin American Studies Association (LASA) Conference, San Francisco, CA, May 23-26, 2025.
“Cultivando mentiras: invisibilidad, exclusión y verdad en Dentro de la tierra de Paco Bezerra.” Roundtable presentation. Roundtable Topic: “(R)evolution on Stage: Theatre of the Spanish-speaking World.” The Northeast Modern Language Conference (NeMLA), Philadelphia, PA, March 6-9, 2025.
“Dissensus in the Face of Impunity: Performing Accountability in Lydia Cacho and José Martret's La infamia,” co-presented with Lake Forest College student Melina Pineda Aguilar (’25). Presentation given under the name M.L. Owens due to the topic’s sensitive nature. Midwest Association of Latin American Studies (MALAS) Conference, University of Illinois-Chicago, November 8-9, 2024.
“Memoria, destrucción y ‘los desechados’ en la obra de Juan Mayorga.” Roundtable presentation. Co-organized roundtable with Alison Guzman on the topic, “‘Los desechables’ en el teatro español hispanoamericano del siglo XXI.” The 55th Northeast Modern Language Association Convention (NeMLA), “Surplus,” in Boston, MA, March 7-10, 2024.
“El Muro/The Wall: A Transatlantic/Transnational Theatre Project Showcasing Human Connection and the Transformative Power of Performance.” Conference presentation. Transatlantic Studies Association Annual Conference, hosted by the University of Plymouth, Plymouth, UK, July 3-5, 2023.
“Disruption, Survival, and Resilience in La infamia, adapted by Lydia Cacho and José Martret.” Roundtable presentation. The 54th Northeast Modern Language Association Convention (NeMLA), “Resilience,” in Niagara Falls, NY, March 23-26, 2023.
“Una buena ilusión: la esperanza, la imaginación y la verdad en ‘Tren hacia la dicha’ (1986) de Amado del Pino.” Conference presentation. South Atlantic Modern Language Association Convention (SAMLA), “Change.” Virtual, originally planned as an in-person conference. November 11-13, 2022.
“Resignifying Stages in Spain and Mexico: An Exploration of Transatlantic Memory Theater in the 21st Century.” Conference presentation. Transatlantic Studies Association Annual Conference, hosted by the University of Kent, Canterbury, UK. July 4-6, 2022.
“La ceguera, la memoria y la imaginación ética en el teatro breve de Juan Mayorga.” Conference Presentation. XXX Congreso Internacional de Literatura y Estudios Hispánicos (CILH) in Sevilla, Spain. June 27-29, 2022.
“‘Voces rotas entre la tierra’: muerte, reclusión, y memoria en NN12 de Gracia Morales.” Conference Presentation. VI Congreso Internacional, Estreno, “Reclusión y memoria.” Hosted by the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Münster, Germany. June 22-25, 2022.
“Language, Longing, and Migration to/from Spain in the film Las Cartas de Alou (1990) and the television series Mar de plástico (2016).” Conference Presentation. The 28th International Congress of FILLM (International Federation for Modern Languages and Literatures). Virtual conference hosted in Vienna, Austria. The section/panel topic: “Linguistic and literary studies in diaspora and migrant communities.” July 18-21, 2021.
“The What, Why, and How of Short-Term Study Abroad Trips at RU: A Workshop.” Rockford University Online Brown Bag Series workshop co-presented with Maria Diemer, Director of Global Affairs, April 19, 2021.
“Negotiating Meaning, Identity, and a Longing for Home in the film Las Cartas de Alou (1990).” Online Conference Presentation. Kentucky Foreign Language Conference (KFLC). April 22-24, 2021.
“Creativity, Crisis, and Why Our Imaginations Matter.” Last Lecture Award presentation, nominated and selected by students. Rockford University, Rockford, IL. 1 February 2021.
“Performing Spaniards in Mauthausen during WWII: Film vs. Theater.” Rockford University Brown Bag Series presentation. Rockford University, Rockford, IL. December 2, 2019.
“Visualizing the Voices of Migration in Javier de Isusi’s graphic novel Asӯlum (2015).” Conference Presentation. Modern Language Association International Symposium, Lisbon, Portugal. July 25-28, 2019.
Awards
William L. Dunn Award for Outstanding Teaching and Scholarly Promise. Lake Forest College, 2025
K. & H. Montgomery Assistant Professor in the Humanities. Lake Forest College, 2023-Present
Summer Research Grant. Lake Forest College, 2023, 2024, 2025
Curricular Incentive Grant. Lake Forest College, 2023, 2024, 2025
AI Course Development Grant Award. Part of the Mellon HUMAN: Humanities Understanding of the Machine-Assisted Nexus Grant, Lake Forest College, 2024
Mediterranean Studies Association Grant for International Interdisciplinary Projects, 2023
Faculty Development Grant Award. Rockford University, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, & 2022
Individual Faculty Grant. Rockford University, 2018-2022
Awarded Tenure and promoted to Associate Professor, Rockford University, Spring 2021
Last Lecture Award Recipient. Nominated by Rockford University students. Lecture delivered virtually on February 1, 2021.
Summer Research Stipend. Rockford University, March 2019
Excellence in Teaching Award. Rockford University, May 2018
Student Club Advisor of the Year Award. Rockford University, May 2018
Humanities Institute Faculty Fellowship. University of Texas at Austin, Spring 2015
Mellon-Wisconsin Summer Dissertation Fellowship. UW-Madison, Summer 2013
Title VI Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowships for Portuguese (completed) and Haitian Creole (unable to attend), 2004 & 2005
Letters & Science Teaching Fellow Award. University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2003
Advanced Opportunity Fellow. University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1996-1997, 1998-1999