Elise Arnold-Levene

Elise Arnold-Levene holds a B.A. in Hispanic Studies from McGill University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Latin American and Iberian Cultures from Columbia University. She specializes in modern Latin American and Caribbean literature and cultural studies. Her interests include Afro-Hispanic studies, life writing, intellectual history, and visual and material culture. She works at the intersection between literature, history, and anthropology.

Elise’s teaching centers on Latin American literature and culture, and she has designed new courses including “The Hispanic Caribbean through Literature and Film,” “From Self to Selfie: Modern Latin American Autobiography,” and “Latin American Women Writers and Revolutionaries.” She also teaches Spanish language courses at all levels with a focus on Spanish for Heritage Speakers.

Elise has studied at the University of Havana and the University of Buenos Aires, and she was a Cuban Heritage Collection Research Fellow at the University of Miami. She has conducted research in Cuba sponsored by the Northeast Modern Language Association, and her original writing and translations have appeared in The Threepenny Review, Saw Palm, and Contemporary Cuba: The Post-Castro Era. She has worked on organic farms across South America.