Ana Mendez-Oliver

Ana Méndez-Oliver specializes in medieval and early modern Transatlantic Spanish literature and cultures. Her research examines the representations of hybridity, in word and image, of those inhabitants in the Iberian Peninsula that were conceived and considered frontier or liminal identities (Jewish, Muslim, converso or Jewish converts, morisco or Spanish Muslim converts, and mestizos) at the eve of Spain’s national hegemonic project and throughout the sixteenth century. She also studies the emergence and elaboration of the term race in order to categorize these groups. Other research interests include the study of female agency in history and literature of exiled Iberian women in the Mediterranean and the Americas during the early modern period, such as influential Sephardic women in the Ottoman Empire or a cross-dressing militant nun in New Spain. In addition, for the past eight years, Prof. Méndez-Oliver has also worked as the principal Spanish translator for The Metropolitan Opera House and The Met: Live in HD Series. At The Met, she translates and adapts operas’ libretti from English, French and Italian to Spanish in their current productions.

Education

• Ph.D. in Latin American and Iberian Cultures, Columbia University
• M.Phil. in Latin American and Iberian Cultures, Columbia University
• M.A. in Comparative Literatures, University of Puerto Rico
• M.A. Spanish, Columbia University
• B.A. in Modern Languages, University of Puerto Rico