We recently had some time to catch up with Dr. Pineda Burgos to find out about her work and her experiences in Williamsburg. My research focuses on how contemporary cultural objects such as novels, film and visual art can be used to understand sociopolitical reality. My dissertation focused on how these objects reflected, interpreted and contested chavismo and Venezuelan sociopolitics.
One of the most interesting things about this work is how cultural productions can not only reflect or contest realities, but produce new narratives and ways of being that are not pushed as part of dominant politico-ideological discourses in a place. As I move forward in my work, I find myself drawn to contemporary philosophy and ethics, and how phenomenological experience creates contested readings of ideologized traditions of believing and knowing.
A dream course would be one based on my research where I can develop an exploration of philosophical narratives through contemporary cultural artefacts. What stood out first was the community of colleagues in the Hispanic Studies Program and in the Modern Languages and Literatures Department.
Also the students. They are super engaged, intelligent and interested. For many of my students this semester, this was their first experience taking a face to face university class due to COVID , and they were nervous.
There were other new colleagues in the program with me this semester, and having other colleagues who are new here too has helped us to become fast friends. Austin Strange holds a Ph. Wilcox recently rejoined the department as an Associate Professor of Chinese studies after teaching at the University of Michigan. President Harry S. Our language classes empower them to effectively engage in cross-cultural communication by meeting people in their own idiom.
