Hispanic Studies Faculty Focus, December 2023: Dr. Carmen Grace

Hispanic Studies Faculty Focus, December 2023: Dr. Carmen Grace

For its last Faculty Focus of 2023, Hispanic Studies is fortunate to be able to spotlight Associate Professor, Dr. Carmen Grace.

Arriving at the College of Charleston in the fall of 2011 with a doctorate in “Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque Literature from the prestigious Ohio State University, and having written a dissertation on “The Royal Preacher Alonso de Cabrera (1549?-1598) and the Power of Words: Eloquence and Commitment in the Sacred Ministry of Preaching, ”Dr. Grace has since distinguished herself in a great many fora and formats.

In the classroom, she has taught masterfully at all levels of language, literature, and culture, offering such engaging courses as the timelessly themed “Love and Honor: No Solution to the Conflict?”, as well as a class on “Mythical and Literary Seville in the Baroque.”

As for scholarship, Dr. Grace has this angle covered as well, having placed articles in such top-tier journals as Hispanófila, The Bulletin of Hispanic Studies, The Bulletin of Spanish Studies and e-Humanista—in the latter case, in the form of her study “Encuentros retóricos en las artes: La pintura y la predicación áureas.”

Beyond these contexts, Dr. Grace has contributed broadly and deeply to Department, the College and the Charleston Community at large, serving ably as Associate Chair of Hispanic Studies since 2019, lending her considerable abilities to a long list of committees and panels at all institutional levels, and co-founding the Charleston Hispanic Association, an organization “dedicated to helping the large Latino and Hispanic Community settle and succeed in Charleston.”

In her own words…

“I am so appreciative of my position at the Department of Hispanic Studies, where I am constantly learning.  Whether it is from preparing a class or conducting [one] with my students.  It is enriching to be exposed to students’ ideas, experiences, and insights. Interacting with them in and outside the classroom is what I adore as an educator—witnessing their intellectual and personal development or their excitement when they decide, for instance, to study abroad. Being a tiny part of their journey makes my job rewarding!”