Dr Jesse Barker

Biography

I hold an MA in Hispanic studies from Tulane University and a doctoral degree from the University of British Columbia. I worked as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Albany SUNY 2011-2012, before joining the Hispanic Studies department in January 2013.

Internal Memberships

• Undergraduate Programme Coordinator Spanish and Latin American Studies

Research Overview

20th-21st century Spanish literature, film and culture. Individualism and collectivity, affect and psychological attachment theories.

Current Research

I have continued to publish articles on the issues discussed below in recent Spanish films. However, I am also developing a research interest in the role Buddhist and mindfulness discourses play in the crises of Western individualism--as seen in this video essay on Spike Jonze's film Her (2014).

Past Research

My first book monograph, Crossroads Visions, analysed the questioning of Western individualism in 21st century Spanish film and fiction--relating this questioning to current political, economic and ecological crises, as well as contemporary reshaping of gender and ethnic identities.

Teaching Responsibilities

• Spanish Language 7
• Spain: Texts and Contexts
• Youth in the Fiction and Films of the Spanish Dictatorship
• Imagined Cities: Spanish Urban Culture in Fiction and Film
  
• Playful Fictions: Cervantes, Borges, Cortázar
  
• Iberian Crossroads: Contemporary Spanish Film