Javier Torre
Professor
What I do
I´m a professor of Spanish literature, culture and society. My area of specialization is narratives of travel and exploration, with a special emphasis in contemporary Spain and also in the northern frontier of the viceroyalty of New Spain. I also have an interest in Spanish Film and Theater in performance. I have published 3 books, one edited volume and numerous articles in academic journals.At DU I have taught the following classes: // SPAN 3990 Senior Seminar – Contemporary Spanish Narrative // SPAN 3990 Senior Seminar – Natives, Settlers, and Explorers in the Spanish Southwest // SPAN 3300 - Travel Narratives // SPAN 3333 - Spanish Surrealism // SPAN 3703 - Spain in the Southwest // SPAN 3703 – Love and Laughter in Spanish Literature and Film // SPAN 3703 - From the Page to the Screen // SPAN 3703 - Spanish Theater in Performance // SPAN 3702 - Intro to Literary and Cultural Analysis // SPAN 3702 - Intro to Spanish Linguistics // SPAN 3702 - Grammar Review // SPAN 2300 - Iberian Culture and Civilization // SPAN 2100 - Spanish Composition and Conversation // SPAN 1001-1003 - Beginning Spanish // FSEM – Travel Writing: Discovering the World and the Self // AHUM – Spain and the Travel Writing Tradition
Professional Biography
I earned my undergraduate degree in 1992 at the University of Valladolid (Spain). I was an Erasmus scholar in Bari (Italy) with a grant from the European Union and pursued Italian Studies at the University of Salamanca (1994). After I finished my degree, I spent a year as a social worker in education and health in Futru-Nkwen (Cameroon) with the Non-Governmental Organization SETEM. Later, I earned my master’s degree at Arizona State University (1996) and my PhD at the University of Virginia (2001).
I have been teaching at the University of Denver since 2001. Besides the institutions where I earned my degrees, I have also taught at the Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca (Spain), Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo (Spain) and University of Bologna (Italy, as part of a DU study abroad program). I have been the co-director of DU´s faculty led summer study abroad program in Santander, Spain (UIMP) since I created it in 2004.
I am a member of the Editorial Committee of Revista de ALCESXXI: Journal of Contemporary Spanish Literature and Film and of the academic journal Miríada Hispánica. I am also a member of the organizations Anza Society and El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (CARTA), aimed at preserving and celebrating the Spanish cultural legacy in the U.S.
I have been teaching at the University of Denver since 2001. Besides the institutions where I earned my degrees, I have also taught at the Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca (Spain), Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo (Spain) and University of Bologna (Italy, as part of a DU study abroad program). I have been the co-director of DU´s faculty led summer study abroad program in Santander, Spain (UIMP) since I created it in 2004.
I am a member of the Editorial Committee of Revista de ALCESXXI: Journal of Contemporary Spanish Literature and Film and of the academic journal Miríada Hispánica. I am also a member of the organizations Anza Society and El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (CARTA), aimed at preserving and celebrating the Spanish cultural legacy in the U.S.
Degree(s)
- Ph.D., Hispanic Literature, University of Virginia, 2001
- MA, Latin American Literature, Arizona State University, 1996
- Licenciatura, Spanish Philology, Universidad de Valladolid, 1992
Licensure / Accreditations
- Diplomado / Italian Philology
- Erasmus Scholarship in Bari, Italy
Professional Affiliations
- American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese
- Anza Society
- Asociación de Literatura y Cine Españoles del Siglo XXI
- Asociación Internacional de Hispanistas
- Camino Real de Tierra Adentro
- Centro de Estudios Montañeses
- International Society for Travel Writing
- Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association
- Heterodox Academy
Research
Narratives of Travel and Exploration
Postcolonial Studies
Imagology
Us vs.Them Mindset
Film Studies
Borderlands Studies
La Leyenda Negra
El Septentrión Novohispano
Theater in Performance
Contemporary Spanish Literature and Culture
Postcolonial Studies
Imagology
Us vs.Them Mindset
Film Studies
Borderlands Studies
La Leyenda Negra
El Septentrión Novohispano
Theater in Performance
Contemporary Spanish Literature and Culture
Featured Publications
Torre, Javier, and John Kessell. Forjado en la frontera: Vida y obra del explorador, cartógrafo y artista don Bernardo de Miera y Pacheco en el Gran Norte de México. Madrid: Desperta Ferro, 2022.
Torre, Javier. Volver para contarlo. Temas y tendencias en la narrativa española de viajes del siglo XX. Madrid: Verbum, 2019.
Torre, Javier. Diario de la expedición Domínguez-Escalante por el Oeste Americano (Nuevo México, Colorado, Utah, Arizona). Madrid: Miraguano, 2016.
“"Special Issue: Viajes y turismo en la era de la globalización" .”Ed. Torre, Javier.La Nueva Literatura Hispánica. Vol 19. (2015).
Torre, Javier. “The Making of Emilio Estevez?s The Way: Merging Family Ties, Literary Texts, and Cultural Identities.” Walking The Camino De Santiago: Essays On Pilgrimage In The Twenty-First Century. Ed. Trotman, Tiffany Gagliardi. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2021: 39-53.
Torre, Javier. “"Interview with author José Ovejero".” La Nueva Literatura Hispánica 2016: 221-227.
Torre, Javier. “La última misión.” La Aventura de la Historia 2016: 28-34.
Torre, Javier. “Review of "Introducción al relato de viaje hispánico del siglo XX: textos, etapas, metodología" by Julio Peñate Rivero. .” Revista de ALCESXXI. Journal of Contemporary Spanish Literature & Film 2 2016: 444-449 .
Torre, Javier. “Locura y trauma en la narrativa de Antonio Orejudo.” El Trauma en la Literatura Española (2016): 207-218.
