Maria L Figueredo
Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics
Associate Professor
Research Fellow of the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean
Office: Ross Building, S414B
Phone: (416) 736-2100 Ext: 20078
Email: mfiguere@yorku.ca
Primary website: President's University-Wide Teaching Award 2016
Secondary website: Featured Publication
Media Requests Welcome
Dr. Maria Figueredo is Associate Professor at the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics at York University, where she teaches courses in Spanish and Latin American literature. Her research focuses on the relationship of literature and music in Latin America, music as a subtext in women's writing, and contemporary innovations in Spanish American literature. Professor Maria Figueredo has been awarded the President's University-wide Teaching Award (Full-time Faculty Category) in 2016. This prestigious award is a well-deserved and important recognition of Maria's passion as a teacher and mentor. Her teaching strategies foster intellectual growth and challenge students to achieve a higher level of critical thought and analytical writing. In DLLL and at York University in general, Professor Figueredo has spearheaded several co-curricular activities, including the arrangement of a tutoring group, the establishment of a trilingual journal to publish student work in Spanish or Portuguese with English translation, and the Pan Am games “Poet-Tree” project.
Maria L. Figueredo was a York-Massey Fellow from 2008-2009, and since then has been a Senior Fellow at Massey College. She served as President of Ontario Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (2003-2005) and as Delegate of Region 1 (Eastern Canada and New England) of the Modern Language Association (2006-2009). At York University she served as Coordinator of the Spanish and Portuguese Studies Section from 2009-2011, and has held the position of Director of Undergraduate Programs-Languages and Literatures (2011-2013).
Dr. Figueredo's research in the area of literature, literary culture and teaching has been published in books, specialized journals and cultural magazines. Her book, POETRY AND POPULAR SONG: THEIR CONVERGENCE IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, A Uruguayan Case Study, 1960-1985, was published in Uruguay by Linardi y Risso in 2005; it studied the socio-cultural process of poetry that is set to music at particular times in the history of Latin America.
This trained musician and academic is a Canadian specialist in the relationships between literature and music in their specific socio-political contexts, work that she initiated in 1994. Her research is published in national and international forums in the main area of specialization in the relationship of literature and music in various Latin American case studies, as well as about music as a subtext in women's writing, and about contemporary Spanish American literature.
Degrees
Ph.D., Spanish American Literature, University of TorontoM.A., Spanish Literature, University of Toronto
B.A., International Relations Specialist and Spanish Major, University of Toronto
Appointments
Faculty of Graduate StudiesProfessional Leadership
University Service
Member, Awards Committee, University Secretariat, 2018-2021
Faculty Representative on Senate (2010-2013)
Chair, Academic Policy and Planning Committee (APPC), 2019-2020
Member, APPC, 2018-2019
LA&PS representative, SSHRC Travel and Small Grants Sub-committee, Office of Research Services (three year term from July 2011 – Dec. 2013; Chair, June-Dec. 2013)
Executive Committee Member, Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean, York University (CERLAC), Organized Research Unit (ORU), 2018-2020
Director of Undergraduate Programs-Languages and Literatures, Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics (2011-2013)
Coordinator, Spanish and Portuguese and Luso-Brazilian Studies Section, Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics (2009-2011; 2017-2018; 2020-2021)
Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
Faculty Representative on Senate Reports to Council (May 2011 and January 2012)
Faculty Council Representative, DLLL (2010-2013, 2019-2020) and various departmental committees including hiring committees, Tenure & Promotion committee (2019-2020) and the Teaching and Learning Committee (2018-2019)
Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean, York University (CERLAC), Organized Research Unit (ORU) CERLAC Executive Committee member (2012-2013)
Chair, LA&PS Consortium on Mexico (2012-2013, 2013-2014)
Offices in Professional Organizations
Regional Representative for Ontario, Canadian Association of Hispanists / Asociación Canadiense de Hispanistas (ACH), 2017-2019
Regional Delegate, Region 1 (New England and Eastern Canada) of the Modern Language Association (MLA) (2006-2009) Attendance at MLA Delegate Assembly: 2007, 2008 and 2009.
President, Canada Chapter, American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) (2003-2005)
Community Contributions
“Literature & Music in Spanish America: Dialogues” Series. Fall-Winter 2018-2019. Organized by
Professor M. L. Figueredo and students of AP/SP 4650 6.0 Literature and Music in Spanish America. (in English with Spanish materials available). Eight events (Workshops and lectures), 1-2pm on the following dates: Sept. 27, Nov. 15 and 29, 2018; Jan. 24, Feb 14, Mar. 7, 21 and 28, 2019. Sponsored by the LA&PS Research Events Fund, Dean’s Office of the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, as well as supported by CERLAC, DLLL and Founders.
Pan Am 2015 Poet-Tree Project at York University. An onsite and online installation of poetry from the 41 countries represented in the Toronto 2015 Games (2014-2015). (creator/organizer)
The Poet-Tree 2015 multiple activities, related to the 2015 Pan Am / Parapan Am Games as an IGNITE community partner, engaged with university students and youth (secondary school), academic and community partners in dialogue about sports, poetry and culture. I. Poets from the 41 Pan American countries were celebrated and submitted works for the project that included an onsite installation at York University with online components that were exhibited from February to August 2015. II. A "Poet-Tree Factory" stand produced original, on-the-spot poems for visitors at the July 8, 2015 official Toronto 2015 Pan Am Torch Day celebrations at Earlscourt Park in Toronto, and a collective poem collage art station for children. III. An event at York's Keele campus with poetry readings by students and Miguel Avero, musical performances and presentations by YorkU alum, and a special performance by Toronto Candombe group Magia Negra led by Sergio Barboza.
Latin American Working Group, TO2015 Pan American/Parapan American Games , Toronto 2015. Invited to serve as member of the Latin American Working Group of the Community Outreach department of the TO2015 Latin American Steering Committee for the Pan American and Parapan American American Games from August 2014 to August 2015.
Participated as invited singer and guitarist to “Homenaje a Mercedes Sosa,” a commemorative concert and poetry-reading event organized by Voces Poéticas, a Toronto-based musical group. Spanish Centre, Toronto. November 27, 2009.
Research Interests
- York-Massey Fellowship 2008-2009 - 2008-2009
- University of Toronto Open Doctoral Fellowship 1997-1998 - 1997-1998
- Ontario Graduate Scholarship 1996-1997 - 1996-1997
- University of Toronto Open Doctoral Fellowship 1996, 1997-1998 - 1996-1997
- Ontario Graduate Scholarship 1995-1996 - 1995-1996
- University of Toronto Open Doctoral Fellowship 1995-1966 - 1995-1996
- University of Toronto Open Doctoral Fellowship 1994-1995 - 1994-1995
- George Sidney Brett Memorial Fellowship 1994-1995 - 1994-1995
- University of Toronto Open Doctoral Fellowship 1993-1994 - 1993-1994
- University of Toronto Open Master’s Fellowship 1992-1993 - 1992-1993
- Hispanic Women’s Network 2009 Award of Achievement - 2009
- Merit Award, $2,000 (awarded: 11/28/2007) - 2007
- York University, Dean, Faculty of Arts, Funding for one-day conference 2007 - 2007
- York University, VPRI, Funding for one-day conference 2007 - 2007
- W.L.U. Conference Funding, Dean’s Office, Faculty of Arts, AATSP conference 2005 - 2005
Current Research Projects
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Summary:
This project analyzes multiple cultures of the Americas through the 21st century art installation, electronic and video poem publications, and performance/spoken word poetry of the Hispanic diaspora in Canada. By examining these works, the project builds upon my working corpus, which I have compiled since 2014. The results of my prior analyses are available in my publications to date. Based on this groundwork on poets that I have already identified as working through poetry actions, the current list of contemporary poets includes: Sergio Faluótico, Melisa Machado, Rocío Cerón, Alberto Río, Miguel Avero, Orientación Poesía, Enrique Winter, Cecilia Vicuña, among other, from across the Americas.
The Summer 2020 portion of the project adds new voices to be studied, expanding the research to include Hispano/Latinx Canadian poets who are currently working in this field. The main questions guiding the inquiry include the following:
What have been the effects of this poetry art actions, performances and/or installations?
Why have these poets extended the reach of poetry beyond the traditional book format?
What is poetry for each author? What is its current role in society?
How do these definitions and spatial associations link with the hybrid and hyphenated concepts of identity that blur an easy connection to either place of belonging--to that of birth and/or of migration?
The data is collected in a variety of ways including observation, interviews and literature review. The project aims to understand the connections or un-relatedness between contemporary writers across the Americas creating poetry in Canada. In the 21st century this can include existing conditions about relationship, political dislocation, gender identity and agency. The project will examine the various approaches of Hispano Canadian poets that merge performance art, installation-making and digital media devices such the Internet and computer-generated hypertexts in their work, to ascertain why they chose certain sites for their works, and how they overcome challenges in the professional, personal and socio-political spheres.
My project proposes to compare and contrast the use of the arts—poetry-based, though not confined to the traditional book in print format—as vehicles for agency and reaffirming multicultural and transcultural actions in the world.
Prioritizing the focus on the effects of digital spaces of encounter in contrast with live performances bridges various aspects of the performative in relation to spoken word, visual and sound elements in relationship to subjectivity. Each work reveals the innovative and ever changing textures of these artistic creations into dialogue within larger national and global conversations.
Description:This project studies e-poetic expressions of Hispanic Diaspora writers in Canada. The relation to space, identity and culture interweave with imagined and embodied awareness that is expressed creatively though web presence, word, sound and image. Themes of (im)migration, belonging, vernacular identity and (inner/outer) exiles are communicated in hyper-spaces of encounters. Situated in relation to new studies in Latin American cyber literature, the e-works in Spanish and English make available insights into the current innovations in e-poetry by the Hispanic-Canadian diaspora.
Start Date:
- Month: May Year: 2020
End Date:
- Month: Aug Year: 2020
Collaborator: Natasha Sarazin
Collaborator Institution: York University
Collaborator Role: Research Assistant
Funders:
LA&PS
Curriculum Design and Praxis in Language Teaching presents a variety of methodologies and theoretical perspectives for current and future postsecondary instructors in the areas of linguistics, second language acquisition, and world literatures. Offering valuable insights for instructors, the materials presented in this collection integrate perspectives and resources from various target languages, world regions, and cultures into areas related to teaching and learning within the field of language.
From critical assessments of the current academic curriculum to the fine-tuning of lesson planning, the materials in this book address the innovative design and implementation of traditional, blended, and online language courses. Including inter-artistic approaches, case studies, and practical guides, this book provides theoretical and hands-on suggestions regarding how to mindfully reinforce students’ socio-cultural engagement and linguistic development both inside and outside of their language learning classrooms. While implementing technology, enhancing engaged spaces of learning, and adapting to the ever-changing field of pedagogy, the innovative ideas for language pedagogy presented in this book attest to agile ways of blending old and new approaches to carry forward in twenty-first century postsecondary classrooms.
Figueredo, Maria Lujan. 2018. Creation Sounds: Music, Gender and Performativity in Contemporary Latin American Literature. Champaign, IL: Common Ground Research Networks. doi:10.18848/978-1-61229-951-8/CGP.
The Poetry of Sports & the Sport of Poetry: POET-TREE 2015. Edited by Maria Figueredo. A collection of poems contributed by poets across the Americas for the Toronto Pan American and Parapan American Games 2015, in bilingual translation. Trans. Maria Figueredo, Catherine Marinoni, Bruce Bartra. Includes original poetry by 31 poets from 14 different countries, including Miguel Avero (Uruguay), Andrés Bazzano (Uruguay), Evgueni Bezzubikoff (Peru), José Cantero Verni (Argentina), Dider Castro (Colombia), Martín Cerisola (Uruguay), Roberto Cruz Arzabal (Mexico), Andrea Durlacher (Uruguay), Ernesto Estrella Cózar (US/Spain), Kela Francis (Trinidad and Tobago), Paola Gómez Restrepo (Colombia/Canada), Gustavo Gómez Rial (Uruguay), David Hernández (El Salvador), Hoski (Uruguay), Leonardo Lesci (Uruguay), Lasana Lukata (Brazil), Irene Marques (Portugal/Canada), Santiago Pereira (Uruguay), Néstor Rodríguez (Dominican Republic), Dan Russek (Canadá), Carmen Urioste de Azcorra (Spain/US), Enrique Winter (Chile), Ed Woods (Canada). Toronto: York University Press, 2015. 68 pages. ISBN: 978-1-77221-027-9
Figueredo, Maria L. Poesía y canto popular: Su convergencia en el siglo XX. Uruguay, 1960-1985. [Poetry and Popular Song: Their Convergence in the Twentieth Century. The Case of Uruguay, 1960-1985.] Montevideo: Linardi y Risso, 2005. Pp. 206. ISBN: 9974-559-58-8.
“La retórica visual y el tango como imagen performática: Texto iluminado, cuerpo y voz en El canto rojo de Melisa Machado” [Visual Rhetoric and Tango as a Performative Image: Illuminated Text, Body and Voice in Melisa Machado’s The Red Song."
“El lugar de las cosas indecibles: El silencio en la estrategia novelística de Verónica Lecomte que desmorona el orden discursivo de la violencia.” [The Place of Unsayable Things: Silence in Veronica Lecomte’s Narrative Strategy of Deconstructing the Discursive Order of Violence]. ¿Decir lo indecible? Traumas de la historia y las historias del trauma en las literaturas hispánicas [Saying the Unsayable? Traumas of History and the History of Trauma in Hispanic Literatures]. Eds. Dominika Jarzombkowska and Katarzyna Moszczy. Warsaw: Institute of Iberian and Ibero-American Studies, 2015. 285-310.
“The Rhythm of Values: Poets and Musicians in Ekphrasis and the Case of Uruguay, 1960-85.” Chapter 6. In Pablo Vila, ed., The Militant Song Movement in Latin America: Chile, Uruguay and Argentina. New York: Lexington (RLPG), 2014. Pp. 282. 143-164.
“Kahlo, Kristeva, Prado: Retratando ‘el porvenir de la revuelta’ poética.” [Kahlo, Kristeva, Prado: Portraits of Poetic Revolt]. In Alejandro Zamora, Berenice Villagómez and Esther Raventós, eds., México en sus revoluciones / Mexico in its Revolutions . Universidad Autónoma de Morales, México, York University and University of Toronto, 2013. Pp. 266. 81-101.
“El Camino de Santiago en O Diário de um Mago de Paulo Coelho: puntos de partida y crisol narrativo.” Aportes recientes a la literatura y el arte españoles: Estudios de crítica narrativa (Recent Developments in Spanish Literature and Art: Studies in Narrative Criticism). London: Edwin Mellen Press, 2012. 87-109. ISBN: 0-7734-2643-4
“From Pablo Neruda to Luciana Souza: Latin America as Poetico-Musical Space.” Latin American Identity after 1980. An Interdisciplinary Volume. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2010. 167-195.
“Latin American Song as an Alternative Voice in the New World Order.” The New World Order: Corporate Agenda and Parallel Reality. Ed. Gordana Yovanovich. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2003. 178-200.
“The Legend of La Llorona: Excavating and (Re)-Interpreting the Archetype of the Creative/Fertile Feminine Force.” Latin American Narratives and Cultural Identity: Selected Readings. New York: Peter Lang, 2003. 232-243.
Rev. of Painting, Literature and Film in Colombian Feminine Culture, 1940-2005: Of Border Guards, Nomads and Women by Deborah Martin. Suffolk, UK: Tamesis, 2012.viii + 234 pp. Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Publication date: 15 Sept 2014 (Online), 01 Oct 2014 (Print).
Rev. of Gender, Discourse, and Desire in Twentieth-Century Brazilian Women’s Literature by Cristina Ferreira-Pinto. West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue University Press, 2004. Hispania 89: 3 Sept 2006: 530-531.
York Resources for Research in the Relationship of Literature and Music in Spanish America, Complete Bibliography. Compiled by Professor Maria Figueredo and Research Assistants Robert Kenigsberg (2007) and Leslie Usín-Rojas (2008). Toronto: York University, 2008.
“Poesía y videojuegos en voz de mujer, o ¿la resistencia a/de cuáles avatares?” [Poetry, Video Games and Women’s Voices: Which Avatar Resists/Persists?] Poéticas: Revista de Estudios Literarios. Granada, Spain. (forthcoming: January 2019)
“Poetry, Bodies and the Shadow of Nation at the 2012 London Olympics.” Letras Femeninas: A Journal of Women and Gender Studies in Hispanic Literature and Culture. Asociación Internacional de Literatura y Cultura Femenina Hispánica. Special Edition: "Naciones Incorporadas [Incorporated Nations]." 42.1 (Summer-Fall 2016): 115-127.
“Networked Poetries: Two Latin American Perspectives.” The International Journal of Communication and Media Studies (inaugural volume): New Media, Technology, and the Arts. Volume 1, Issue 1 (2016): 23-29.
“Paulo Coelho: The Author’s Quest as Reader of the World.” Journal of Literature and Art Studies (JLAS). Vol. 10 (2012): 925-937.
“El Camino de Santiago en O Diário de um Mago de Paulo Coelho: puntos de partida y crisol narrativo.” [“The Camino in Paulo Coelho’s O Diário de um mago: Points of Departure in Coelho’s Writing and His Narrative as Latin American Cultural Crisol.”] In E. Raventós, ed., Aportes recientes a la literatura y el arte españoles: Estudios de crítica narrativa [Recent Developments in Spanish Literature and Art: Studies in Narrative Criticism]. London: Edwin Mellen Press, 2012. Pp. 267. 87-109.
“Trayectoria y proyección del enunciado femenino, o la revolución en poesía musicalizada, del Canto Popular Uruguayo: El caso del dúo Cristina Fernández y Washington Carrasco en ‘Canto de madre’”. [“Mother’s Song: Feminine Revolt Surfacing in the Canto Popular Song of the Duo Washington Carrasco and Cristina Fernández] . Cuadernos de música, artes visuales y artes escénicas 6: 1 (Jan-March 2011): 53-64.
“Acercamiento a la subjetividad en la poesía de Alvaro Figueredo.” [An Approach to Subjectivity in the Poetry of Alvaro Figueredo] Montevideo, Uruguay. Hermes Criollo: Revista de Crítica y de Teoría Literaria y Cultural. Ed. Hebert Benítez. Montevideo, Uruguay. Año 6. N°. 12 (Summer 2007 / Fall 2008): 78-86.
“El retrato eres tú: Perspectivas sobre el auto-retrato en Frida Kahlo y sus reflejos en textos de Elena Poniatowska y Carlos Fuentes.” [The Portrait is You: Perspectives on Self-Portraiture in Frida Kahlo and Its Reflection in Texts by Elena Poniatowska y Carlos Fuentes] Revista Sophia Austral, Facultad de Humanidades, Ciencias Sociales y de la Salud, Punta Arenas, Chile. Vol. 11 (2006): 40-49. 10 pages.
“Desire, Duality and Naming the Other in Unamuno’s Niebla: Retrieving the Archeype of the Instinctual Self in the Search for Integrated Consciousness.” Scripta Mediterranea. Vol. XXIII. Toronto: Canadian Institute for Mediterranean Studies, U of Toronto Press, 2002. 31-53. 22 pages.
“El eterno retorno entre la poesía y la música popular” [‘Eternal Recurrence’ in Poetry and Popular Music]. Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hispánicos, Vol. XXVI, 1-2. (2001/2002) : 299-319.
“Entre la poesía oral y la escrita: la canción y la cultura literaria” [Between Oral and Written Poetry: The Song and Literary Culture]. “La inscripción de la oralidad en las culturas latinoamericanas” [The inscription of orality in Latin American Cultures]. Estudios hispánicos en la red. 10 September 1999. 12 pages.
"E-poetry, Performance, and Identity: Perspectives From Latinx Canadian Poets," KAMC2020: The Kyoto Conference on Arts, Media & Culture of the The International Academic Forum (IAFOR). Kyoto, Japan. Nov. 11-14, 2020. (Virtual paper presentation: https://issuu.com/iafor/docs/mediasia-programme-2020)
“Literature and Music: An Inter-artistic Approach to Teaching and Learning.” American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, 2019 AATSP-Ontario Annual Conference. Panel 3: Non-Traditional Tools in Teaching, University of Toronto, November 9, 2019.
“Our history, our past, is our future”: Conjuring Tacit Knowledge in Contemporary Indigenous Art in Canada and the Poetry of Melisa Machado in Uruguay.” Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences “From Far & Wide: The Next 150,” Meeting of the Canadian Association of Hispanists (ACH). Ryerson University, Toronto. 31 May – 2 June 2017.
“Melisa Machado (Uruguay), Lía Colombino (Paraguay) and Rocío Cerón (Mexico): Mobilizing the Body as Affective and Relational Resistance in Poetry and Music in the 21st Century.” Crossing Borders / Cruzando Fronteras. 26th Annual Conference of The International Association of Hispanic Feminine Literature and Culture / Asociación Internacional de Literatura y Cultura Femenina Hispánica (AILCFH). The University of Houston, Houston. 10-12 Nov. 2016.
“Poetic Bodies in Cyberspace and The Politics of Agency: Peri Rossi’s Playstation and Gaché’s ‘Radikal Karaoke’.” Session: Digital Humanities and Latin America: New Trends, Challenges, and Developments; session chair: Hilda Chacon, Nazareth College. The 46th annual convention of the Northeast Modern Language Association (NEMLA) . In partnership with University at Buffalo, The State University of New York. Ryerson University. Toronto, Ontario. 30 Apr. – 3 May 2015.
“Positioning Bodies through Cyberspace in E-Poetry: Peri Rossi’s Playstation and Gaché’s “Radikal Karaoke.” E-POETRY [2015] Conference. New Paths, New Voices / Nuevas Rutas, Nuevas Voces . Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero. Buenos Aires, Argentina. 9-12 June 2015.
“Poetry Installations for the TORONTO2015 PanAm / Parapan Am Games: The Sport of Poetry and the Poetry of Sport.” The International Academic Forum (IAFOR)’s European Conference on Arts & Humanities, ECAH2015 . Thistle, Brighton, East Sussex, United Kingdom. 12-16 July 2015.
“Poesía es +.” Taking Poetry to the Skies and the Unmaking of the Invisibility of the Poetic Body. XXII ANNUAL CONGRESS OF THE ASOCIACIÓN INTERNACIONAL DE LITERATURA Y CULTURA FEMENINA HISPÁNICA (AILFCH): “Entre la tierra y el ciberespacio / Between the Earth and Cyberspace.” Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, Michigan. November 7-11, 2012.
“The Power of the Mother Tongue: Spanish and German textual and musical references in the Identity-formation of the Subject in Inés Arredondo’s Short Story, ‘Canción de cuna’ [Lullaby].” ‘Language, Power & Difference’ session. POWER & DIFFERENCE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE. Tampere, Finland. 27-29 August 2012.
“Embodied Texts and Musical Readings: The Multimedia Novel by Laura Esquivel.” XXI ANNUAL CONGRESS OF THE ASOCIACIÓN INTERNACIONAL DE LITERATURA Y CULTURA FEMENINA HISPÁNICA (AILCFH): “Habitar el género / Inhabiting Gender.” Universitat de Barcelona. Conference session: “En diálogo: género, literatura y otras artes [In Dialogue: Gender, Literature and Other Arts]”. Barcelona, Spain. 19-21 October 2011.
“Mother’s Song”: Feminine Revolt Surfacing in the Canto Popular Uruguayo of the duo Wáshington Carrasco and Cristina Fernández.” Session: Literature and Other Arts. 65TH ANNUAL ROCKY MOUNTAIN MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION (RMMLA) CONVENTION. Scottsdale, Arizona. 6-8 October 2011.
“The Camino de Santiago in Paulo Coelho’s O Diário de um mago: Points of Departure in Coelho’s Writing and His Narrative as Latin American Cultural Crisol.” “Luso-Brazilian Language and Literature – I.” 64TH ANNUAL ROCKY MOUNTAIN MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION CONVENTION. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 12-15 October 2010.
“From Neruda to Luciana Souza: Imagining América in Music.” CFP: Rethinking Multiculturalism: Brazil, Canada and the United States. Saturday, January 30th in the “Literature and Music” panel, 3:15-4:45pm. CERLAC-sponsored conference at York University, January 28-30, 2010.
“La poesía en un puente de guitarra [Poetry on the Bridge of a Guitar]”, in response to a Call for Papers circulated for the Conference, “Mi pueblo me hace cantar / La nueva canción latinoamericana / Latin American New Song: A 21st Century View”, University of East Anglia, United Kingdom, 16-17, April 2010. [Could not be presented due to Icelandic ash cloud eruption]
“Revueltas: poesía y cuerpo en performance desde Frida Kahlo a Nadia Prado” [Revolts: Poetry and the Body in Performance from Frida Kahlo to Nadia Prado]. “México en sus revoluciones: Coloquio internacional” [Mexico in Its Revolutions: An International Colloquium], York University, Glendon College, Toronto, 30 Septiembre - 2 October, 2010.
“Trayectoria y proyección del enunciado femenino en el Canto Popular Uruguayo: El caso del dúo Cristina Fernández y Washington Carrasco en ‘Canto de madre’” [Trajectory and Projection of the Feminine Voice in the Canto Popular Uruguayo: The Case of the Duo Cristina Fernández y Washington Carrasco in ‘Canto de madre’]. “Entrecruzamientos de la poesía y la música” The relationship of poetry and music]. Three part session. This paper was presented in part III: “La relación texto/música en su producción y recepción” [The relationship of music and text in its production and reception]. Canadian Association of Hispanists, Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Meeting of the Canadian Association of Hispanists, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, 26 May – 3 June, 2010.
“El Camino de Santiago en O Diário de um mago de Paulo Coelho: Puntos de partida en su trayectoria novelística y crisol de su narrativa” [The Camino de Santiago in Diary of a Magus by Paulo Coelho: Puntos of Departure in His Novelistic Trajectory and Crucible of His Narrative Work]. Letra e Imagen: España desde el siglo XXI [Letters and Image: Spain since the Twenty First Century]: International Colloquium. 26 September 2009.
“Seeing the World with Brazilian Eyes: Paulo Coelho’s World Literature.” Session: “Contesting Territorialities.” The American Comparative Literature Association’s 2009 Annual Meeting, “Global Languages, Local Cultures.” Harvard University, Boston, Massachusettes. March 29, 2009.
“The Author’s Quest as Reader of the World: Borges’ Library and Bakhtinian Interaction of the Text in Paulo Coelho.” Session Chair: “Literature.” 7th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities. Honolulu, Hawaii. January 9-12, 2008.
“‘ ‘Todo canta’: La musicalización de la poesía de Álvaro Figueredo, su música inherente y la interpretación de Abayubá Caraballo” [‘Everything sings’: Alvaro Figueredo’s Poetry Set to Music, its Inherent Musicality and Its Interpretation by Abayubá Caraballo]. Annual Meeting of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP), Canada Chapter. Oakham House, Ryerson University. October 2008.
“Neruda y la Nueva Tradición: Poesía y Música y el imaginario de América Latina en su viaje por el mundo” [Neruda and the New Tradition: Poetry and Music and the Latin American Imaginary in its World Trajectory]. Primer Congreso Internacional 2007: La desmarginalización y las tendencias literarias y lingüísticas en América Latina. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. Unidad de Post-Grado Facultad de Letras y Ciencias Humanas, Lima, Peru, August 2007.
“Taking Neruda’s Lead: Poetry in Music and its Transnational Crossings.” Finding a Place: Latin America and the Caribbean in a Transnational Context. One-day Interdisciplinary Conference, University of Guelph, Guelph, March 2007.
“El subtexto musical y el acceso a jouissance en la narrativa cuentística de Arredondo y Tusquets” [Musical Subtext and Access to jouissance in the Short Story Narratives of Arredondo and Tusquets]. In “Música, imagen y literatura: Nuevas perspectivas en estudios hispánicos” [Music, Image and Literature: New Perspectives in Hispanic Studies]. Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, XLII Meeting of the Canadian Association of Hispanists, York University, Toronto, May - June, 2006.
“La Biblioteca de Babel y el misterio de la escritura/lectura del mundo en Paulo Coelho” [The Library of Babel and the Mysterious Writing/Reading of Paulo Coehlo’s World]. Annual Meeting of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP), Canada Chapter, University of Guelph, Guelph, November 2006.
“Rhythm Nation: Negotiating Notions of Place, Belonging and History in the Process of Setting Poetry to Song” [Rhythm Nation: La negociación de espacio e identidad en la musicalización contemporánea de poesía en Uruguay]. Session Coordinator: “Literatura em diálogo: música.” Estudos Literarios, Culturais e Históricos. IV Congresso Brasileiro de Hispanistas, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, September 2006.
“El (auto)-retrato en lo visual y lo verbal: Consideraciones sobre los textos de Elena Poniatowska, Carlos Fuentes y Frida Kahlo” [The Portrait is You: Perspectives on Self-Portraiture in Frida Kahlo and Its Reflection in Texts by Elena Poniatowska y Carlos Fuentes.] 11th Annual Festival of Images and Words / Onceno Festival de la Palabra y de la Imagen / Festival des Mots et des Images. Annual meeting hosted by Celebración Cultural del Idioma Español y Portugués (CCIE) [Cultural Celebration of the Spanish Language], York University (Glendon Campus), Toronto, November 2005.
“El mundo es una cama: visión y representación de Frida Kahlo” [A Bedridden World: Vision and Representation in Frida Kalho]. Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Meeting of the Canadian Association of Hispanists, University of Western Ontario, London, May - June 2005.
“Globalizing Frida Kahlo: Cross-Cultural Representations and Rescuing the Image of the Fragmented Self.” Joint Conference of the Canadian Association for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CALACS) and the Canadian Council of Area Studies Learned Societies (CCASLS), Furthering the Globalization Debate: Cross-Regional Comparisons, Montreal, April - May 2005.
“Beyond Resistance: Music’s Responses to Tensions in the New World Order.” The New World Order Book Launch, Conference and Art Exhibition. University of Toronto, Toronto, October 2003.
“Reading the Transient Wor(l)d: Poetry, Silence, Desire.” Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Meeting of the Canadian Association of Hispanists, Dalhousie University, Halifax, May - June 2003.
“La poesía musicalizada de Idea Vilariño y la integración del yo poético al cancionero popular” [The Poetry of Idean Vilarino Set to Music and the Integration of the Self in the Popular Song Book of a Nation]. Canadian Association for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CALACS) Congress, Latin America: Between Representations and Realities, UQAM, Montreal, October 2002.
“Los puentes del exilio/desexilio en la obra poética de Mario Benedetti” [Bridges of Exile/Des-exilio in the Poetic Works of Mario Benedetti]. Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities, Meeting of the Canadian Association of Hispanists, University of Toronto, Toronto, May 2002.
“The legend of ‘La Llorona:’ Excavating and (Re) Interpreting the Archetype of the Creative/Feminine Force.” Storytelling in the Americas International Conference, Brock University, St. Catharines, August 2001.
“The Interface of Poetry and Popular Music: the New Songs of Latin America in the Context of Social Change.” Image and Imagery: An International Conference on Literature and the Arts, Brock University, St. Catharines, October 2000.
“Cantar con fundamento: El Canto Popular Uruguayo, la protesta y la comunicación social, 1960-85” [Singing With Purpose: Canto Popular Uruguayo, Protest and Social Communication]. General Meeting of the Canadian Association for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CALACS), Latin America and the Caribbean into the Coming Millenium: Equity, Democracy and Sustainability, Carleton University, Ottawa, October 1999.
“El eterno retorno entre la poesía y el canto popular: Uruguay, 1960-85” [‘Eternal Recurrence’ in Poetry and Popular Music]. 4th International Colloquium of the Nortel Professorship, University of Toronto, Toronto, May 1999.
“Entre la poesía oral y la escrita: la canción y la cultura literaria” [Between Oral and Written Poetry]. XXXXV Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities, Meeting of the Canadian Association of Hispanists, Lennoxville, June 1999.
“Lenguaje subversivo y juego de identidades políticas en ‘Before the Civil War’ de Monserrat Roig” [Subversive Language and the Play of Political Identitues in the Short Story ‘Before the Civil War’]. Annual Meeting of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, University of Guelph, Guelph, March 1995.
“Las bases anti-románticas, populares y dramáticas en la poesía de Nicolás Guillén: Evidencia en dos artes poéticas” [Anti-Romantic, Popular and Dramatic Bases in the Poetry of Nicolás Guillén]. International Conference on the Writings of Nicolás Guillén, Havana, Cuba, July 1994.
“Poetry Installations for the Toronto 2015 Pan American / Parapan American Games: The Poetry of Sport and the Sport of Poetry.” ISSN 2188-1111 The European Conference on Arts & Humanities 2015: Official Conference Proceedings 2015. Nagoya, Japan: The International Academic Forum, 2015. 7-18.
“The Author’s Quest as Reader of the World in Paulo Coelho: Borges’ ‘Library of Babel,’ Bakhtin and the ‘Presumption of an Einsteinian Universe’ in the Text.” Conference proceedings of the 7th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities. Honolulu, Hawaii. January 12, 2008. (CD-Rom) 11 pages.
“Neruda y la Nueva Tradición: Poesía y Música y el imaginario de América Latina en su viaje por el mundo” [Neruda and the New Tradition: Poetry and Music and the Latin American Imaginary in its World Trajectory]. Conference Proceedings of the Primer Congreso Internacional 2007: La desmarginalización y las tendencias literarias y lingüísticas en América Latina [Demarginalization and Literary and Linguuistic Tendencies in Latin America]. Lima, Perú: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. December 2007. (CD-Rom) 12 pages.
“Rhythm Nation: La negociación de espacio e identidad en la musicalización contemporánea de poesía en Uruguay” [Rhythm Nation: Negotiating Notions of Place, Belonging and History in the Process of Setting Poetry to Song]. IV Congresso Brasileiro de Hispanistas, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 2006. In Daher, Del Carmen; Sant´Anna, Vera L. Anais do 4º Congresso Brasileiro de Hispanistas. Vol III. (eletronic media / bilingual edition) . Rio de Janeiro: UERJ/CNPq/ABH, 2007, v.4. p.2200. (ISSN 1982-521) . 7 pages.
“Cama-mundo, efigie y muerte: la mediación del cuerpo en la visión y representación de Frida Kahlo” [A Bedridden World: Vision and Representation in Frida Kalho]. Actas del XLI Congreso de la Asociación Canadiense de Hispanistas, Portal del Hispanismo, Instituto Cervantes. 2005. 12 pages.
“Globalizing Frida Kahlo: Cross-Cultural Representations and Rescuing the Image of the Fragmented Self.” Conference Proceedings of the CALACS-CCASLS Conference, Furthering the Globalization Debate: Cross-Regional Comparisons, May 2005. 10 pages.
“ ‘In-Between’ Positions and Performing Plurality: The Networked Poetries of Melisa Machado, Lía Colombino and Rocio Cerón.” School of International Letters and Cultures, Arizona State University. 19 Feb. 2015.
“Gaming Poetry in Wor(l)d Play: Poetry and Video Games in Latin American Poetic Practice.” Invited Speaker. Transatlantic Graduate Studies Seminar. University of Western Ontario. London. 6 Nov. 2015.
“Embodied Texts and Musical Readings: The Multimedia Novel by Laura Esquivel.” International Guest Lecture: Maria Figueredo. School of International Letters and Cultures. Arizona State University. Tempe, Arizona. 23 Jan. 2014.
“Memory, Tango and Exile in Maria Benedetti’s La borra del café.” Latin American Studies lecture series, Ryerson University, Toronto, October 30, 2012.
Lecture on “Frida Kahlo: Image, Text, Woman”, in the lecture series “IDEAS & ISSUES,” an Outreach Program of the Kitchener Public Library, Waterloo.
“Writing the Unspeakable: Gender Violence and (Re)Inscribing Memory in Lecomte’s The Place of Hidden Things.” Talking Bodies 2017: An international, interdisciplinary conference. Institute of Gender Studies, University of Chester, Chester, United Kingdom. 19-22 Apr. 2017.
“Uruguay.” The Americas: An Encyclopedia of Culture and Society. Ed. Kim Morse. Two-Volumes. Broomfield, CO: ABC-CLIO, 2020. 14,000 words. (July 2022)
Virtual Poster Presentation. Figueredo, Maria and Natasha Sarazin. “E-Poetry, Performance and Identity: Perspectives from Hispano Canadian Poetics.” 18th International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities. Transcultural Humanities in a Global World, 1-3 July 2020, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Venice, Italy. (The conference was held virtually only, due to Covid-19.)
Website Content Creation
“Álvaro Figueredo: Las otrísimas luces del yo.” The official website of Uruguayan poet, essayist, educator and theorist Alvaro Figueredo (1907-1966). Created this site, envisioned its thematic and design content, and continually update it with reference to his primary works, the relevance of his work in literary history, documentaries and scholarly studies about his oeuvre, as well as popular references and musical settings of his poetry. https://www.alvarofigueredo.org (since 2018)
Approach to Teaching
Dr. Maria L. Figueredo was awarded the President's University-wide Teaching Award (Full-time Faculty Category) in 2016. This award is an important recognition of her passion as a teacher and mentor, and of her teaching strategies that foster intellectual growth and challenge students to achieve a higher level of critical thought and analytical writing.
In the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics and at York University in general, Dr. Figueredo has spearheaded several co-curricular activities, including the establishment of a trilingual journal to publish student work, and the Pan Am games “Poet-Tree” project, an official Ignite community project of the Toronto 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games. This project produced an onsite poetry art installation at York University's Keele Campus at Founders College with online components, as well as an anthology in print titled The Poetry of Sports & the Sport of Poetry: POET-TREE 2015 of poets from across the Americas who submitted poems. Ed. M. Figueredo with a preface by Uruguayan poet and youth group organizer of "Orientación poesía" Miguel Avero. Trans. M. Figueredo, C. Marinoni, B. Bartra. Includes works by 31 poets from 14 different countries. Toronto: York University Press, 2015. 68 pages. ISBN: 978-1-77221-027-9.
Teaching Philosophy:
"I strongly believe that teaching goes beyond solely disseminating knowledge to students and instilling basic skills. It includes developing higher order critical thinking skills, instilling confidence in students' written and oral communication, and stirring them to become astute readers (of the world, not only of texts); increasing student involvement and active learning to build cultural identities and a sense of community on many levels; and boosting students' pursuit of goals coherent with their personal inclinations and professional aspirations. To these ends, I have actively kept myself as prepared as possible with new teaching techniques and pedagogical approaches. In particular, in my over 25 years of teaching (at York University, since July 1, 2006), I have participated in or led numerous teaching workshops to make myself the best classroom teacher I can be and to share my experiences. I have also worked to build student cultural awareness and a sense of community. To do so I have instituted several initiatives, including film-screenings, poetry and music performances, community engagement, arts based assignments and professionally geared contextual references to ensure that students’ learning is solidly based in cultural understanding and a sense of interconnectedness with peers and the institution, as well as beyond the university. I have created numerous courses (Aspects of Spanish American Literature, La narrativa de Gabriel García Márquez, Frida Kahlo: Image, Woman, Text, Poetry and Popular Music in Spain and Latin America, and Literature and Music in Spanish America), and aided my home department with curricular planning. I have taught at all undergraduate levels in Spanish language, translation, and Peninsular and Latin American literature and culture.
My goal is to maintain the highest standards that fairly reflect students’ capabilities at each level and prepare them to excel academically, professionally and personally. Between 2002 and 2015, I revised most of the courses I was assigned.
Overall, I integrate my research, theoretical interests and cultural analysis into a context for the materials studied. Many of my courses are innovative both in substance and in pedagogical approach. I have made substantial use of electronic media for class discussions, document delivery and communication services. Whether interpreting literary texts, presenting oral projects, or exploring cultural themes, student group-learning is an essential component of my courses. I strive to foster ways of thinking that are attained through the study of literature and that develop key areas of competence in critical analysis and dynamic socio- cultural dialogue.
Each course I design is based on my research and specialization in 20th Century and Contemporary Spanish American Literature, and on the greater framework of the literary heritage of Hispanic literatures and cultures in a global context. These all integrate the teaching of Spanish language, literatures and cultural expressions from the 15th century to the present.
My teaching also reaches beyond the classroom to create in students the awareness of how the material we study in class reaches into their real life experiences, connects with actual communities in which these literary traditions and contemporary practices engage with current events, values and cultural identities, and also to inform them and allow them greater access to experiential ways of putting their skills into practice. This combined approach, linking theory, reading, writing, oral communication mastery at each undergraduate course level, then manifests into creative, effective and professional volunteer and community service experience that they can add to their Curriculum Vitae.
One of the most prominent ways I have done so is with the co-founding of literary magazine Entre Voc/zes. Birthed out of discussions on assignments and meetings with students outside the classroom in a course I was teaching on Literature and Music in Spanish America (AP/SP 4650) in 2007, it united the student’s passion for literature and their creative inspiration in the writers we studied. It received an Academic Initiative Fund grant in 2010, recognizing its engagement of student experiences and its ability to connect pedagogical objectives, intercultural activities and service learning in the community. Each of the magazine’s seven editions had a different theme selected by the yearly editorial panel composed of students and faculty advisors, and is launched in yearly celebration that includes performances of music and dance, and readings of original works of prose and poetry by York University students and GTA community members. The translation of works from Spanish and Portuguese into English amplify the scope of the magazine’s reception. Since its inception in 2007, the magazine’s activities grew to incorporate tutoring and writing assistance for students at York University.
In a multi-part community-based project called “The Sport of Poetry & the Poetry of Sports: Poetry, Music, Action” I organized events at York University (July 11 and September 30), at Earlscourt Park (July 8) during the Pan American Games, and another proposed at Harbourfront (August 7 to 15) during the Parapan American Games. The Poet-Tree Project, an Ignite community partner of the Games, envisioned the interaction of poetry, music, civic memory and intercultural dialogues to share cultural heritages, traditions and viewpoints from the 20 Hispanic and Portuguese-speaking immigrant populations in Toronto. The events were delivered with students, faculty and community volunteers of the project, and in collaboration with a number of multi-ethnic community groups. The partners included the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, Office of Research and Office of External Relations; the Office of the Master, Founders College; the Centre for Research in Latin America and the Caribbean, at York University; Abrace; Magia Negra and Toronto Candombe Cultural Committee; San Lorenzo Community Centre; and ANTARES Trilingual Publishing House and Cultural Organization.
As Project Manager, I brought my over 20 years of experience as educator, researcher and organizer of community-based and academic events. For the proposed event, I worked closely with the members of the Latin American community with whom I was serving in the Latin American Working Group, the Organizing Committee of the Torch Celebration Event and the LatAm at PanAm Pavillion, and by extension, the communities represented by each of these constituencies.
As a faculty member and specialist in Latin American culture and language, my work in this regard represents York University’s strong commitment to multilingual study, diversity and being “open to the world,” strengthening intercultural linkages by finding innovative, creative, sustainable and formative ways to build these bridges. This is evident in the project’s aim to embody the links between innovation and tradition, communicated in the university’s motto: Tentanda Via: The way must be tried.” This interdisciplinary approach celebrates the stated mission and the spirit espoused by the Toronto 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games, by connecting sport and the arts and culture. Community learning and service experience such as this one also provides opportunities for intercultural dialogue and promotes the core values of democratic citizenry.
I was awarded the Hispanic Women’s Network “Creando Puentes” [Building Bridges] Award at its inaugural annual Award Meeting held at Toronto City Hall, Toronto in March 2009. This was a great honour for me, as I was nominated by former students whom I had taught at York University in AP/SP 4650, and whom I had supervised as founding Faculty Advisor for the student literary magazine Entre Voczes housed at York University since 2007, and who later completed their graduate studies at the University of Guelph’s interdisciplinary Masters in Latin American Studies."
As Undergraduate Program Director--Languages and Literatures, I served many other languages and literatures programs, not only the Spanish and Portuguese and Luso-Brazilian Studies section. During my term as UPD-LL I created the Wor(l)d Cultures Buddy Program that was awarded funding through the 2012/2013 International Initiatives Fund for Academic Units, through the Office of the Associate Dean, External. The program paired international students with students registered in programs housed at the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics. Selected by first language(s), visiting international students, whose life experiences and knowledge of their home culture and literature were matched with a DLLL student peer (enrolled in a language, literature or linguistics course) at York University. Each international student was invited to pair up with a DLLL student who is interested in that area of the world."
Courses taught:
SP 4880 3.0 Nos/otras: Contemporary Poetic Expressions of Spanish American Women (created this course, and have taught it every 3 years or so since 2013)
SP 4650 6.0 Literature and Music in Spanish America (created this new interdisciplinary course, and have taught it every 2 years or so since 2007). New in 2018-2019: embedded an experiential education component by establishing the "Literature and Music in Dialogue" series featuring eight lectures/workshops/demonstrations and local community engagement: http://spanish.dlll.laps.yorku.ca/students/resources/).
In past years performances organized in conjunction with program events, and included visits by Mexican cellist and composer Dr. Gustavo Martín, Escuela Nacional de Música de la UNAM, in conjuction with bolero and the novel, and scholar Dr. Illa Carrillo Rodríguez, Université Paris I – Panthéon-Sorbonne, with relation to her work on political agency and popular identity in Argentine folk music of the long 1960s).
Co-chaired and led the committee that created the new General Education course: AP/DLLL 1000 6.0 World Literatures in Perspective (General Education course).
SP 4640 6.0 The Spanish American Novel of the Twentieth Century (F/W 2012-13: Inaugurated a new blog spot connection for students with author Pablo Urbanyi on his official website, and Skype visits by writers P. Urbanyi and V. Lecomte in 2012-2013).
SP 3210 6.0 Aspects of Spanish American Literature (visits by writers such as María Ángeles Lescano in 2007, and writer Eduardo Rejduch de la Mancha in 2009, the latter with a reading by the author open to the public and complemented by presentations on the author and musical performance by students: http://yfile.news.yorku.ca/2009/10/06/uruguay-born-sailor-author-and-adventurer-to-give-reading-at-york/).
SP 2200 6.0 Introduction to Spanish Literature, a core required course for Spanish Program majors and minors; the course was renamed "Introduction to Spain's & Latin America's Greatest Writers" in 2017.
SP 2020 6.0 Intermediate Spanish Abroad - Ávila, Spain
SP 2000 6.0 Intermediate Spanish, coordinator
SP 4900 3.0 La narrativa de Gabriel García Márquez: Novela (Independent Study Course)
Current Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall/Winter 2024 | AP/SP2200 6.0 | A | Introduction to Literature | ONLN |
| Fall/Winter 2024 | AP/SP2000 6.0 | A | Intermediate Spanish | ONLN |
Upcoming Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall/Winter 2024 | AP/SP2000 6.0 | A | Intermediate Spanish | ONLN |
| Fall/Winter 2024 | AP/SP2200 6.0 | A | Introduction to Literature | ONLN |
Dr. Maria Figueredo is Associate Professor at the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics at York University, where she teaches courses in Spanish and Latin American literature. Her research focuses on the relationship of literature and music in Latin America, music as a subtext in women's writing, and contemporary innovations in Spanish American literature. Professor Maria Figueredo has been awarded the President's University-wide Teaching Award (Full-time Faculty Category) in 2016. This prestigious award is a well-deserved and important recognition of Maria's passion as a teacher and mentor. Her teaching strategies foster intellectual growth and challenge students to achieve a higher level of critical thought and analytical writing. In DLLL and at York University in general, Professor Figueredo has spearheaded several co-curricular activities, including the arrangement of a tutoring group, the establishment of a trilingual journal to publish student work in Spanish or Portuguese with English translation, and the Pan Am games “Poet-Tree” project.
Maria L. Figueredo was a York-Massey Fellow from 2008-2009, and since then has been a Senior Fellow at Massey College. She served as President of Ontario Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (2003-2005) and as Delegate of Region 1 (Eastern Canada and New England) of the Modern Language Association (2006-2009). At York University she served as Coordinator of the Spanish and Portuguese Studies Section from 2009-2011, and has held the position of Director of Undergraduate Programs-Languages and Literatures (2011-2013).
Dr. Figueredo's research in the area of literature, literary culture and teaching has been published in books, specialized journals and cultural magazines. Her book, POETRY AND POPULAR SONG: THEIR CONVERGENCE IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, A Uruguayan Case Study, 1960-1985, was published in Uruguay by Linardi y Risso in 2005; it studied the socio-cultural process of poetry that is set to music at particular times in the history of Latin America.
This trained musician and academic is a Canadian specialist in the relationships between literature and music in their specific socio-political contexts, work that she initiated in 1994. Her research is published in national and international forums in the main area of specialization in the relationship of literature and music in various Latin American case studies, as well as about music as a subtext in women's writing, and about contemporary Spanish American literature.
Degrees
Ph.D., Spanish American Literature, University of TorontoM.A., Spanish Literature, University of Toronto
B.A., International Relations Specialist and Spanish Major, University of Toronto
Appointments
Faculty of Graduate StudiesProfessional Leadership
University Service
Member, Awards Committee, University Secretariat, 2018-2021
Faculty Representative on Senate (2010-2013)
Chair, Academic Policy and Planning Committee (APPC), 2019-2020
Member, APPC, 2018-2019
LA&PS representative, SSHRC Travel and Small Grants Sub-committee, Office of Research Services (three year term from July 2011 – Dec. 2013; Chair, June-Dec. 2013)
Executive Committee Member, Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean, York University (CERLAC), Organized Research Unit (ORU), 2018-2020
Director of Undergraduate Programs-Languages and Literatures, Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics (2011-2013)
Coordinator, Spanish and Portuguese and Luso-Brazilian Studies Section, Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics (2009-2011; 2017-2018; 2020-2021)
Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
Faculty Representative on Senate Reports to Council (May 2011 and January 2012)
Faculty Council Representative, DLLL (2010-2013, 2019-2020) and various departmental committees including hiring committees, Tenure & Promotion committee (2019-2020) and the Teaching and Learning Committee (2018-2019)
Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean, York University (CERLAC), Organized Research Unit (ORU) CERLAC Executive Committee member (2012-2013)
Chair, LA&PS Consortium on Mexico (2012-2013, 2013-2014)
Offices in Professional Organizations
Regional Representative for Ontario, Canadian Association of Hispanists / Asociación Canadiense de Hispanistas (ACH), 2017-2019
Regional Delegate, Region 1 (New England and Eastern Canada) of the Modern Language Association (MLA) (2006-2009) Attendance at MLA Delegate Assembly: 2007, 2008 and 2009.
President, Canada Chapter, American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) (2003-2005)
Community Contributions
“Literature & Music in Spanish America: Dialogues” Series. Fall-Winter 2018-2019. Organized by
Professor M. L. Figueredo and students of AP/SP 4650 6.0 Literature and Music in Spanish America. (in English with Spanish materials available). Eight events (Workshops and lectures), 1-2pm on the following dates: Sept. 27, Nov. 15 and 29, 2018; Jan. 24, Feb 14, Mar. 7, 21 and 28, 2019. Sponsored by the LA&PS Research Events Fund, Dean’s Office of the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, as well as supported by CERLAC, DLLL and Founders.
Pan Am 2015 Poet-Tree Project at York University. An onsite and online installation of poetry from the 41 countries represented in the Toronto 2015 Games (2014-2015). (creator/organizer)
The Poet-Tree 2015 multiple activities, related to the 2015 Pan Am / Parapan Am Games as an IGNITE community partner, engaged with university students and youth (secondary school), academic and community partners in dialogue about sports, poetry and culture. I. Poets from the 41 Pan American countries were celebrated and submitted works for the project that included an onsite installation at York University with online components that were exhibited from February to August 2015. II. A "Poet-Tree Factory" stand produced original, on-the-spot poems for visitors at the July 8, 2015 official Toronto 2015 Pan Am Torch Day celebrations at Earlscourt Park in Toronto, and a collective poem collage art station for children. III. An event at York's Keele campus with poetry readings by students and Miguel Avero, musical performances and presentations by YorkU alum, and a special performance by Toronto Candombe group Magia Negra led by Sergio Barboza.
Latin American Working Group, TO2015 Pan American/Parapan American Games , Toronto 2015. Invited to serve as member of the Latin American Working Group of the Community Outreach department of the TO2015 Latin American Steering Committee for the Pan American and Parapan American American Games from August 2014 to August 2015.
Participated as invited singer and guitarist to “Homenaje a Mercedes Sosa,” a commemorative concert and poetry-reading event organized by Voces Poéticas, a Toronto-based musical group. Spanish Centre, Toronto. November 27, 2009.
Research Interests
Awards
- York-Massey Fellowship 2008-2009 - 2008-2009
- University of Toronto Open Doctoral Fellowship 1997-1998 - 1997-1998
- Ontario Graduate Scholarship 1996-1997 - 1996-1997
- University of Toronto Open Doctoral Fellowship 1996, 1997-1998 - 1996-1997
- Ontario Graduate Scholarship 1995-1996 - 1995-1996
- University of Toronto Open Doctoral Fellowship 1995-1966 - 1995-1996
- University of Toronto Open Doctoral Fellowship 1994-1995 - 1994-1995
- George Sidney Brett Memorial Fellowship 1994-1995 - 1994-1995
- University of Toronto Open Doctoral Fellowship 1993-1994 - 1993-1994
- University of Toronto Open Master’s Fellowship 1992-1993 - 1992-1993
- Hispanic Women’s Network 2009 Award of Achievement - 2009
- Merit Award, $2,000 (awarded: 11/28/2007) - 2007
- York University, Dean, Faculty of Arts, Funding for one-day conference 2007 - 2007
- York University, VPRI, Funding for one-day conference 2007 - 2007
- W.L.U. Conference Funding, Dean’s Office, Faculty of Arts, AATSP conference 2005 - 2005
Current Research Projects
-
Summary:
This project analyzes multiple cultures of the Americas through the 21st century art installation, electronic and video poem publications, and performance/spoken word poetry of the Hispanic diaspora in Canada. By examining these works, the project builds upon my working corpus, which I have compiled since 2014. The results of my prior analyses are available in my publications to date. Based on this groundwork on poets that I have already identified as working through poetry actions, the current list of contemporary poets includes: Sergio Faluótico, Melisa Machado, Rocío Cerón, Alberto Río, Miguel Avero, Orientación Poesía, Enrique Winter, Cecilia Vicuña, among other, from across the Americas.
The Summer 2020 portion of the project adds new voices to be studied, expanding the research to include Hispano/Latinx Canadian poets who are currently working in this field. The main questions guiding the inquiry include the following:
What have been the effects of this poetry art actions, performances and/or installations?
Why have these poets extended the reach of poetry beyond the traditional book format?
What is poetry for each author? What is its current role in society?
How do these definitions and spatial associations link with the hybrid and hyphenated concepts of identity that blur an easy connection to either place of belonging--to that of birth and/or of migration?
The data is collected in a variety of ways including observation, interviews and literature review. The project aims to understand the connections or un-relatedness between contemporary writers across the Americas creating poetry in Canada. In the 21st century this can include existing conditions about relationship, political dislocation, gender identity and agency. The project will examine the various approaches of Hispano Canadian poets that merge performance art, installation-making and digital media devices such the Internet and computer-generated hypertexts in their work, to ascertain why they chose certain sites for their works, and how they overcome challenges in the professional, personal and socio-political spheres.
My project proposes to compare and contrast the use of the arts—poetry-based, though not confined to the traditional book in print format—as vehicles for agency and reaffirming multicultural and transcultural actions in the world.
Prioritizing the focus on the effects of digital spaces of encounter in contrast with live performances bridges various aspects of the performative in relation to spoken word, visual and sound elements in relationship to subjectivity. Each work reveals the innovative and ever changing textures of these artistic creations into dialogue within larger national and global conversations.
Description:This project studies e-poetic expressions of Hispanic Diaspora writers in Canada. The relation to space, identity and culture interweave with imagined and embodied awareness that is expressed creatively though web presence, word, sound and image. Themes of (im)migration, belonging, vernacular identity and (inner/outer) exiles are communicated in hyper-spaces of encounters. Situated in relation to new studies in Latin American cyber literature, the e-works in Spanish and English make available insights into the current innovations in e-poetry by the Hispanic-Canadian diaspora.
Project Type: FundedRole: Principal Investigator
Start Date:
- Month: May Year: 2020
End Date:
- Month: Aug Year: 2020
Collaborator: Natasha Sarazin
Collaborator Institution: York University
Collaborator Role: Research Assistant
Funders:
LA&PS
All Publications
“La retórica visual y el tango como imagen performática: Texto iluminado, cuerpo y voz en El canto rojo de Melisa Machado” [Visual Rhetoric and Tango as a Performative Image: Illuminated Text, Body and Voice in Melisa Machado’s The Red Song."
“El lugar de las cosas indecibles: El silencio en la estrategia novelística de Verónica Lecomte que desmorona el orden discursivo de la violencia.” [The Place of Unsayable Things: Silence in Veronica Lecomte’s Narrative Strategy of Deconstructing the Discursive Order of Violence]. ¿Decir lo indecible? Traumas de la historia y las historias del trauma en las literaturas hispánicas [Saying the Unsayable? Traumas of History and the History of Trauma in Hispanic Literatures]. Eds. Dominika Jarzombkowska and Katarzyna Moszczy. Warsaw: Institute of Iberian and Ibero-American Studies, 2015. 285-310.
“The Rhythm of Values: Poets and Musicians in Ekphrasis and the Case of Uruguay, 1960-85.” Chapter 6. In Pablo Vila, ed., The Militant Song Movement in Latin America: Chile, Uruguay and Argentina. New York: Lexington (RLPG), 2014. Pp. 282. 143-164.
“Kahlo, Kristeva, Prado: Retratando ‘el porvenir de la revuelta’ poética.” [Kahlo, Kristeva, Prado: Portraits of Poetic Revolt]. In Alejandro Zamora, Berenice Villagómez and Esther Raventós, eds., México en sus revoluciones / Mexico in its Revolutions . Universidad Autónoma de Morales, México, York University and University of Toronto, 2013. Pp. 266. 81-101.
“El Camino de Santiago en O Diário de um Mago de Paulo Coelho: puntos de partida y crisol narrativo.” Aportes recientes a la literatura y el arte españoles: Estudios de crítica narrativa (Recent Developments in Spanish Literature and Art: Studies in Narrative Criticism). London: Edwin Mellen Press, 2012. 87-109. ISBN: 0-7734-2643-4
“From Pablo Neruda to Luciana Souza: Latin America as Poetico-Musical Space.” Latin American Identity after 1980. An Interdisciplinary Volume. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2010. 167-195.
“Latin American Song as an Alternative Voice in the New World Order.” The New World Order: Corporate Agenda and Parallel Reality. Ed. Gordana Yovanovich. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2003. 178-200.
“The Legend of La Llorona: Excavating and (Re)-Interpreting the Archetype of the Creative/Fertile Feminine Force.” Latin American Narratives and Cultural Identity: Selected Readings. New York: Peter Lang, 2003. 232-243.
Rev. of Painting, Literature and Film in Colombian Feminine Culture, 1940-2005: Of Border Guards, Nomads and Women by Deborah Martin. Suffolk, UK: Tamesis, 2012.viii + 234 pp. Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies. Publication date: 15 Sept 2014 (Online), 01 Oct 2014 (Print).
Rev. of Gender, Discourse, and Desire in Twentieth-Century Brazilian Women’s Literature by Cristina Ferreira-Pinto. West Lafayette, Indiana: Purdue University Press, 2004. Hispania 89: 3 Sept 2006: 530-531.
Curriculum Design and Praxis in Language Teaching presents a variety of methodologies and theoretical perspectives for current and future postsecondary instructors in the areas of linguistics, second language acquisition, and world literatures. Offering valuable insights for instructors, the materials presented in this collection integrate perspectives and resources from various target languages, world regions, and cultures into areas related to teaching and learning within the field of language.
From critical assessments of the current academic curriculum to the fine-tuning of lesson planning, the materials in this book address the innovative design and implementation of traditional, blended, and online language courses. Including inter-artistic approaches, case studies, and practical guides, this book provides theoretical and hands-on suggestions regarding how to mindfully reinforce students’ socio-cultural engagement and linguistic development both inside and outside of their language learning classrooms. While implementing technology, enhancing engaged spaces of learning, and adapting to the ever-changing field of pedagogy, the innovative ideas for language pedagogy presented in this book attest to agile ways of blending old and new approaches to carry forward in twenty-first century postsecondary classrooms.
Figueredo, Maria Lujan. 2018. Creation Sounds: Music, Gender and Performativity in Contemporary Latin American Literature. Champaign, IL: Common Ground Research Networks. doi:10.18848/978-1-61229-951-8/CGP.
The Poetry of Sports & the Sport of Poetry: POET-TREE 2015. Edited by Maria Figueredo. A collection of poems contributed by poets across the Americas for the Toronto Pan American and Parapan American Games 2015, in bilingual translation. Trans. Maria Figueredo, Catherine Marinoni, Bruce Bartra. Includes original poetry by 31 poets from 14 different countries, including Miguel Avero (Uruguay), Andrés Bazzano (Uruguay), Evgueni Bezzubikoff (Peru), José Cantero Verni (Argentina), Dider Castro (Colombia), Martín Cerisola (Uruguay), Roberto Cruz Arzabal (Mexico), Andrea Durlacher (Uruguay), Ernesto Estrella Cózar (US/Spain), Kela Francis (Trinidad and Tobago), Paola Gómez Restrepo (Colombia/Canada), Gustavo Gómez Rial (Uruguay), David Hernández (El Salvador), Hoski (Uruguay), Leonardo Lesci (Uruguay), Lasana Lukata (Brazil), Irene Marques (Portugal/Canada), Santiago Pereira (Uruguay), Néstor Rodríguez (Dominican Republic), Dan Russek (Canadá), Carmen Urioste de Azcorra (Spain/US), Enrique Winter (Chile), Ed Woods (Canada). Toronto: York University Press, 2015. 68 pages. ISBN: 978-1-77221-027-9
Figueredo, Maria L. Poesía y canto popular: Su convergencia en el siglo XX. Uruguay, 1960-1985. [Poetry and Popular Song: Their Convergence in the Twentieth Century. The Case of Uruguay, 1960-1985.] Montevideo: Linardi y Risso, 2005. Pp. 206. ISBN: 9974-559-58-8.
York Resources for Research in the Relationship of Literature and Music in Spanish America, Complete Bibliography. Compiled by Professor Maria Figueredo and Research Assistants Robert Kenigsberg (2007) and Leslie Usín-Rojas (2008). Toronto: York University, 2008.
“Poesía y videojuegos en voz de mujer, o ¿la resistencia a/de cuáles avatares?” [Poetry, Video Games and Women’s Voices: Which Avatar Resists/Persists?] Poéticas: Revista de Estudios Literarios. Granada, Spain. (forthcoming: January 2019)
“Poetry, Bodies and the Shadow of Nation at the 2012 London Olympics.” Letras Femeninas: A Journal of Women and Gender Studies in Hispanic Literature and Culture. Asociación Internacional de Literatura y Cultura Femenina Hispánica. Special Edition: "Naciones Incorporadas [Incorporated Nations]." 42.1 (Summer-Fall 2016): 115-127.
“Networked Poetries: Two Latin American Perspectives.” The International Journal of Communication and Media Studies (inaugural volume): New Media, Technology, and the Arts. Volume 1, Issue 1 (2016): 23-29.
“Paulo Coelho: The Author’s Quest as Reader of the World.” Journal of Literature and Art Studies (JLAS). Vol. 10 (2012): 925-937.
“El Camino de Santiago en O Diário de um Mago de Paulo Coelho: puntos de partida y crisol narrativo.” [“The Camino in Paulo Coelho’s O Diário de um mago: Points of Departure in Coelho’s Writing and His Narrative as Latin American Cultural Crisol.”] In E. Raventós, ed., Aportes recientes a la literatura y el arte españoles: Estudios de crítica narrativa [Recent Developments in Spanish Literature and Art: Studies in Narrative Criticism]. London: Edwin Mellen Press, 2012. Pp. 267. 87-109.
“Trayectoria y proyección del enunciado femenino, o la revolución en poesía musicalizada, del Canto Popular Uruguayo: El caso del dúo Cristina Fernández y Washington Carrasco en ‘Canto de madre’”. [“Mother’s Song: Feminine Revolt Surfacing in the Canto Popular Song of the Duo Washington Carrasco and Cristina Fernández] . Cuadernos de música, artes visuales y artes escénicas 6: 1 (Jan-March 2011): 53-64.
“Acercamiento a la subjetividad en la poesía de Alvaro Figueredo.” [An Approach to Subjectivity in the Poetry of Alvaro Figueredo] Montevideo, Uruguay. Hermes Criollo: Revista de Crítica y de Teoría Literaria y Cultural. Ed. Hebert Benítez. Montevideo, Uruguay. Año 6. N°. 12 (Summer 2007 / Fall 2008): 78-86.
“El retrato eres tú: Perspectivas sobre el auto-retrato en Frida Kahlo y sus reflejos en textos de Elena Poniatowska y Carlos Fuentes.” [The Portrait is You: Perspectives on Self-Portraiture in Frida Kahlo and Its Reflection in Texts by Elena Poniatowska y Carlos Fuentes] Revista Sophia Austral, Facultad de Humanidades, Ciencias Sociales y de la Salud, Punta Arenas, Chile. Vol. 11 (2006): 40-49. 10 pages.
“Desire, Duality and Naming the Other in Unamuno’s Niebla: Retrieving the Archeype of the Instinctual Self in the Search for Integrated Consciousness.” Scripta Mediterranea. Vol. XXIII. Toronto: Canadian Institute for Mediterranean Studies, U of Toronto Press, 2002. 31-53. 22 pages.
“El eterno retorno entre la poesía y la música popular” [‘Eternal Recurrence’ in Poetry and Popular Music]. Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hispánicos, Vol. XXVI, 1-2. (2001/2002) : 299-319.
“Entre la poesía oral y la escrita: la canción y la cultura literaria” [Between Oral and Written Poetry: The Song and Literary Culture]. “La inscripción de la oralidad en las culturas latinoamericanas” [The inscription of orality in Latin American Cultures]. Estudios hispánicos en la red. 10 September 1999. 12 pages.
"E-poetry, Performance, and Identity: Perspectives From Latinx Canadian Poets," KAMC2020: The Kyoto Conference on Arts, Media & Culture of the The International Academic Forum (IAFOR). Kyoto, Japan. Nov. 11-14, 2020. (Virtual paper presentation: https://issuu.com/iafor/docs/mediasia-programme-2020)
“Literature and Music: An Inter-artistic Approach to Teaching and Learning.” American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, 2019 AATSP-Ontario Annual Conference. Panel 3: Non-Traditional Tools in Teaching, University of Toronto, November 9, 2019.
“Our history, our past, is our future”: Conjuring Tacit Knowledge in Contemporary Indigenous Art in Canada and the Poetry of Melisa Machado in Uruguay.” Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences “From Far & Wide: The Next 150,” Meeting of the Canadian Association of Hispanists (ACH). Ryerson University, Toronto. 31 May – 2 June 2017.
“Melisa Machado (Uruguay), Lía Colombino (Paraguay) and Rocío Cerón (Mexico): Mobilizing the Body as Affective and Relational Resistance in Poetry and Music in the 21st Century.” Crossing Borders / Cruzando Fronteras. 26th Annual Conference of The International Association of Hispanic Feminine Literature and Culture / Asociación Internacional de Literatura y Cultura Femenina Hispánica (AILCFH). The University of Houston, Houston. 10-12 Nov. 2016.
“Poetic Bodies in Cyberspace and The Politics of Agency: Peri Rossi’s Playstation and Gaché’s ‘Radikal Karaoke’.” Session: Digital Humanities and Latin America: New Trends, Challenges, and Developments; session chair: Hilda Chacon, Nazareth College. The 46th annual convention of the Northeast Modern Language Association (NEMLA) . In partnership with University at Buffalo, The State University of New York. Ryerson University. Toronto, Ontario. 30 Apr. – 3 May 2015.
“Positioning Bodies through Cyberspace in E-Poetry: Peri Rossi’s Playstation and Gaché’s “Radikal Karaoke.” E-POETRY [2015] Conference. New Paths, New Voices / Nuevas Rutas, Nuevas Voces . Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero. Buenos Aires, Argentina. 9-12 June 2015.
“Poetry Installations for the TORONTO2015 PanAm / Parapan Am Games: The Sport of Poetry and the Poetry of Sport.” The International Academic Forum (IAFOR)’s European Conference on Arts & Humanities, ECAH2015 . Thistle, Brighton, East Sussex, United Kingdom. 12-16 July 2015.
“Poesía es +.” Taking Poetry to the Skies and the Unmaking of the Invisibility of the Poetic Body. XXII ANNUAL CONGRESS OF THE ASOCIACIÓN INTERNACIONAL DE LITERATURA Y CULTURA FEMENINA HISPÁNICA (AILFCH): “Entre la tierra y el ciberespacio / Between the Earth and Cyberspace.” Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids, Michigan. November 7-11, 2012.
“The Power of the Mother Tongue: Spanish and German textual and musical references in the Identity-formation of the Subject in Inés Arredondo’s Short Story, ‘Canción de cuna’ [Lullaby].” ‘Language, Power & Difference’ session. POWER & DIFFERENCE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE. Tampere, Finland. 27-29 August 2012.
“Embodied Texts and Musical Readings: The Multimedia Novel by Laura Esquivel.” XXI ANNUAL CONGRESS OF THE ASOCIACIÓN INTERNACIONAL DE LITERATURA Y CULTURA FEMENINA HISPÁNICA (AILCFH): “Habitar el género / Inhabiting Gender.” Universitat de Barcelona. Conference session: “En diálogo: género, literatura y otras artes [In Dialogue: Gender, Literature and Other Arts]”. Barcelona, Spain. 19-21 October 2011.
“Mother’s Song”: Feminine Revolt Surfacing in the Canto Popular Uruguayo of the duo Wáshington Carrasco and Cristina Fernández.” Session: Literature and Other Arts. 65TH ANNUAL ROCKY MOUNTAIN MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION (RMMLA) CONVENTION. Scottsdale, Arizona. 6-8 October 2011.
“The Camino de Santiago in Paulo Coelho’s O Diário de um mago: Points of Departure in Coelho’s Writing and His Narrative as Latin American Cultural Crisol.” “Luso-Brazilian Language and Literature – I.” 64TH ANNUAL ROCKY MOUNTAIN MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION CONVENTION. Albuquerque, New Mexico. 12-15 October 2010.
“From Neruda to Luciana Souza: Imagining América in Music.” CFP: Rethinking Multiculturalism: Brazil, Canada and the United States. Saturday, January 30th in the “Literature and Music” panel, 3:15-4:45pm. CERLAC-sponsored conference at York University, January 28-30, 2010.
“La poesía en un puente de guitarra [Poetry on the Bridge of a Guitar]”, in response to a Call for Papers circulated for the Conference, “Mi pueblo me hace cantar / La nueva canción latinoamericana / Latin American New Song: A 21st Century View”, University of East Anglia, United Kingdom, 16-17, April 2010. [Could not be presented due to Icelandic ash cloud eruption]
“Revueltas: poesía y cuerpo en performance desde Frida Kahlo a Nadia Prado” [Revolts: Poetry and the Body in Performance from Frida Kahlo to Nadia Prado]. “México en sus revoluciones: Coloquio internacional” [Mexico in Its Revolutions: An International Colloquium], York University, Glendon College, Toronto, 30 Septiembre - 2 October, 2010.
“Trayectoria y proyección del enunciado femenino en el Canto Popular Uruguayo: El caso del dúo Cristina Fernández y Washington Carrasco en ‘Canto de madre’” [Trajectory and Projection of the Feminine Voice in the Canto Popular Uruguayo: The Case of the Duo Cristina Fernández y Washington Carrasco in ‘Canto de madre’]. “Entrecruzamientos de la poesía y la música” The relationship of poetry and music]. Three part session. This paper was presented in part III: “La relación texto/música en su producción y recepción” [The relationship of music and text in its production and reception]. Canadian Association of Hispanists, Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Meeting of the Canadian Association of Hispanists, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, 26 May – 3 June, 2010.
“El Camino de Santiago en O Diário de um mago de Paulo Coelho: Puntos de partida en su trayectoria novelística y crisol de su narrativa” [The Camino de Santiago in Diary of a Magus by Paulo Coelho: Puntos of Departure in His Novelistic Trajectory and Crucible of His Narrative Work]. Letra e Imagen: España desde el siglo XXI [Letters and Image: Spain since the Twenty First Century]: International Colloquium. 26 September 2009.
“Seeing the World with Brazilian Eyes: Paulo Coelho’s World Literature.” Session: “Contesting Territorialities.” The American Comparative Literature Association’s 2009 Annual Meeting, “Global Languages, Local Cultures.” Harvard University, Boston, Massachusettes. March 29, 2009.
“The Author’s Quest as Reader of the World: Borges’ Library and Bakhtinian Interaction of the Text in Paulo Coelho.” Session Chair: “Literature.” 7th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities. Honolulu, Hawaii. January 9-12, 2008.
“‘ ‘Todo canta’: La musicalización de la poesía de Álvaro Figueredo, su música inherente y la interpretación de Abayubá Caraballo” [‘Everything sings’: Alvaro Figueredo’s Poetry Set to Music, its Inherent Musicality and Its Interpretation by Abayubá Caraballo]. Annual Meeting of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP), Canada Chapter. Oakham House, Ryerson University. October 2008.
“Neruda y la Nueva Tradición: Poesía y Música y el imaginario de América Latina en su viaje por el mundo” [Neruda and the New Tradition: Poetry and Music and the Latin American Imaginary in its World Trajectory]. Primer Congreso Internacional 2007: La desmarginalización y las tendencias literarias y lingüísticas en América Latina. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. Unidad de Post-Grado Facultad de Letras y Ciencias Humanas, Lima, Peru, August 2007.
“Taking Neruda’s Lead: Poetry in Music and its Transnational Crossings.” Finding a Place: Latin America and the Caribbean in a Transnational Context. One-day Interdisciplinary Conference, University of Guelph, Guelph, March 2007.
“El subtexto musical y el acceso a jouissance en la narrativa cuentística de Arredondo y Tusquets” [Musical Subtext and Access to jouissance in the Short Story Narratives of Arredondo and Tusquets]. In “Música, imagen y literatura: Nuevas perspectivas en estudios hispánicos” [Music, Image and Literature: New Perspectives in Hispanic Studies]. Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, XLII Meeting of the Canadian Association of Hispanists, York University, Toronto, May - June, 2006.
“La Biblioteca de Babel y el misterio de la escritura/lectura del mundo en Paulo Coelho” [The Library of Babel and the Mysterious Writing/Reading of Paulo Coehlo’s World]. Annual Meeting of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP), Canada Chapter, University of Guelph, Guelph, November 2006.
“Rhythm Nation: Negotiating Notions of Place, Belonging and History in the Process of Setting Poetry to Song” [Rhythm Nation: La negociación de espacio e identidad en la musicalización contemporánea de poesía en Uruguay]. Session Coordinator: “Literatura em diálogo: música.” Estudos Literarios, Culturais e Históricos. IV Congresso Brasileiro de Hispanistas, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, September 2006.
“El (auto)-retrato en lo visual y lo verbal: Consideraciones sobre los textos de Elena Poniatowska, Carlos Fuentes y Frida Kahlo” [The Portrait is You: Perspectives on Self-Portraiture in Frida Kahlo and Its Reflection in Texts by Elena Poniatowska y Carlos Fuentes.] 11th Annual Festival of Images and Words / Onceno Festival de la Palabra y de la Imagen / Festival des Mots et des Images. Annual meeting hosted by Celebración Cultural del Idioma Español y Portugués (CCIE) [Cultural Celebration of the Spanish Language], York University (Glendon Campus), Toronto, November 2005.
“El mundo es una cama: visión y representación de Frida Kahlo” [A Bedridden World: Vision and Representation in Frida Kalho]. Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Meeting of the Canadian Association of Hispanists, University of Western Ontario, London, May - June 2005.
“Globalizing Frida Kahlo: Cross-Cultural Representations and Rescuing the Image of the Fragmented Self.” Joint Conference of the Canadian Association for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CALACS) and the Canadian Council of Area Studies Learned Societies (CCASLS), Furthering the Globalization Debate: Cross-Regional Comparisons, Montreal, April - May 2005.
“Beyond Resistance: Music’s Responses to Tensions in the New World Order.” The New World Order Book Launch, Conference and Art Exhibition. University of Toronto, Toronto, October 2003.
“Reading the Transient Wor(l)d: Poetry, Silence, Desire.” Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Meeting of the Canadian Association of Hispanists, Dalhousie University, Halifax, May - June 2003.
“La poesía musicalizada de Idea Vilariño y la integración del yo poético al cancionero popular” [The Poetry of Idean Vilarino Set to Music and the Integration of the Self in the Popular Song Book of a Nation]. Canadian Association for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CALACS) Congress, Latin America: Between Representations and Realities, UQAM, Montreal, October 2002.
“Los puentes del exilio/desexilio en la obra poética de Mario Benedetti” [Bridges of Exile/Des-exilio in the Poetic Works of Mario Benedetti]. Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities, Meeting of the Canadian Association of Hispanists, University of Toronto, Toronto, May 2002.
“The legend of ‘La Llorona:’ Excavating and (Re) Interpreting the Archetype of the Creative/Feminine Force.” Storytelling in the Americas International Conference, Brock University, St. Catharines, August 2001.
“The Interface of Poetry and Popular Music: the New Songs of Latin America in the Context of Social Change.” Image and Imagery: An International Conference on Literature and the Arts, Brock University, St. Catharines, October 2000.
“Cantar con fundamento: El Canto Popular Uruguayo, la protesta y la comunicación social, 1960-85” [Singing With Purpose: Canto Popular Uruguayo, Protest and Social Communication]. General Meeting of the Canadian Association for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CALACS), Latin America and the Caribbean into the Coming Millenium: Equity, Democracy and Sustainability, Carleton University, Ottawa, October 1999.
“El eterno retorno entre la poesía y el canto popular: Uruguay, 1960-85” [‘Eternal Recurrence’ in Poetry and Popular Music]. 4th International Colloquium of the Nortel Professorship, University of Toronto, Toronto, May 1999.
“Entre la poesía oral y la escrita: la canción y la cultura literaria” [Between Oral and Written Poetry]. XXXXV Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities, Meeting of the Canadian Association of Hispanists, Lennoxville, June 1999.
“Lenguaje subversivo y juego de identidades políticas en ‘Before the Civil War’ de Monserrat Roig” [Subversive Language and the Play of Political Identitues in the Short Story ‘Before the Civil War’]. Annual Meeting of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, University of Guelph, Guelph, March 1995.
“Las bases anti-románticas, populares y dramáticas en la poesía de Nicolás Guillén: Evidencia en dos artes poéticas” [Anti-Romantic, Popular and Dramatic Bases in the Poetry of Nicolás Guillén]. International Conference on the Writings of Nicolás Guillén, Havana, Cuba, July 1994.
“Poetry Installations for the Toronto 2015 Pan American / Parapan American Games: The Poetry of Sport and the Sport of Poetry.” ISSN 2188-1111 The European Conference on Arts & Humanities 2015: Official Conference Proceedings 2015. Nagoya, Japan: The International Academic Forum, 2015. 7-18.
“The Author’s Quest as Reader of the World in Paulo Coelho: Borges’ ‘Library of Babel,’ Bakhtin and the ‘Presumption of an Einsteinian Universe’ in the Text.” Conference proceedings of the 7th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Arts and Humanities. Honolulu, Hawaii. January 12, 2008. (CD-Rom) 11 pages.
“Neruda y la Nueva Tradición: Poesía y Música y el imaginario de América Latina en su viaje por el mundo” [Neruda and the New Tradition: Poetry and Music and the Latin American Imaginary in its World Trajectory]. Conference Proceedings of the Primer Congreso Internacional 2007: La desmarginalización y las tendencias literarias y lingüísticas en América Latina [Demarginalization and Literary and Linguuistic Tendencies in Latin America]. Lima, Perú: Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. December 2007. (CD-Rom) 12 pages.
“Rhythm Nation: La negociación de espacio e identidad en la musicalización contemporánea de poesía en Uruguay” [Rhythm Nation: Negotiating Notions of Place, Belonging and History in the Process of Setting Poetry to Song]. IV Congresso Brasileiro de Hispanistas, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 2006. In Daher, Del Carmen; Sant´Anna, Vera L. Anais do 4º Congresso Brasileiro de Hispanistas. Vol III. (eletronic media / bilingual edition) . Rio de Janeiro: UERJ/CNPq/ABH, 2007, v.4. p.2200. (ISSN 1982-521) . 7 pages.
“Cama-mundo, efigie y muerte: la mediación del cuerpo en la visión y representación de Frida Kahlo” [A Bedridden World: Vision and Representation in Frida Kalho]. Actas del XLI Congreso de la Asociación Canadiense de Hispanistas, Portal del Hispanismo, Instituto Cervantes. 2005. 12 pages.
“Globalizing Frida Kahlo: Cross-Cultural Representations and Rescuing the Image of the Fragmented Self.” Conference Proceedings of the CALACS-CCASLS Conference, Furthering the Globalization Debate: Cross-Regional Comparisons, May 2005. 10 pages.
“ ‘In-Between’ Positions and Performing Plurality: The Networked Poetries of Melisa Machado, Lía Colombino and Rocio Cerón.” School of International Letters and Cultures, Arizona State University. 19 Feb. 2015.
“Gaming Poetry in Wor(l)d Play: Poetry and Video Games in Latin American Poetic Practice.” Invited Speaker. Transatlantic Graduate Studies Seminar. University of Western Ontario. London. 6 Nov. 2015.
“Embodied Texts and Musical Readings: The Multimedia Novel by Laura Esquivel.” International Guest Lecture: Maria Figueredo. School of International Letters and Cultures. Arizona State University. Tempe, Arizona. 23 Jan. 2014.
“Memory, Tango and Exile in Maria Benedetti’s La borra del café.” Latin American Studies lecture series, Ryerson University, Toronto, October 30, 2012.
Lecture on “Frida Kahlo: Image, Text, Woman”, in the lecture series “IDEAS & ISSUES,” an Outreach Program of the Kitchener Public Library, Waterloo.
“Writing the Unspeakable: Gender Violence and (Re)Inscribing Memory in Lecomte’s The Place of Hidden Things.” Talking Bodies 2017: An international, interdisciplinary conference. Institute of Gender Studies, University of Chester, Chester, United Kingdom. 19-22 Apr. 2017.
“Uruguay.” The Americas: An Encyclopedia of Culture and Society. Ed. Kim Morse. Two-Volumes. Broomfield, CO: ABC-CLIO, 2020. 14,000 words. (July 2022)
Virtual Poster Presentation. Figueredo, Maria and Natasha Sarazin. “E-Poetry, Performance and Identity: Perspectives from Hispano Canadian Poetics.” 18th International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities. Transcultural Humanities in a Global World, 1-3 July 2020, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Venice, Italy. (The conference was held virtually only, due to Covid-19.)
Website Content Creation
“Álvaro Figueredo: Las otrísimas luces del yo.” The official website of Uruguayan poet, essayist, educator and theorist Alvaro Figueredo (1907-1966). Created this site, envisioned its thematic and design content, and continually update it with reference to his primary works, the relevance of his work in literary history, documentaries and scholarly studies about his oeuvre, as well as popular references and musical settings of his poetry. https://www.alvarofigueredo.org (since 2018)
Approach to Teaching
Dr. Maria L. Figueredo was awarded the President's University-wide Teaching Award (Full-time Faculty Category) in 2016. This award is an important recognition of her passion as a teacher and mentor, and of her teaching strategies that foster intellectual growth and challenge students to achieve a higher level of critical thought and analytical writing.
In the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics and at York University in general, Dr. Figueredo has spearheaded several co-curricular activities, including the establishment of a trilingual journal to publish student work, and the Pan Am games “Poet-Tree” project, an official Ignite community project of the Toronto 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games. This project produced an onsite poetry art installation at York University's Keele Campus at Founders College with online components, as well as an anthology in print titled The Poetry of Sports & the Sport of Poetry: POET-TREE 2015 of poets from across the Americas who submitted poems. Ed. M. Figueredo with a preface by Uruguayan poet and youth group organizer of "Orientación poesía" Miguel Avero. Trans. M. Figueredo, C. Marinoni, B. Bartra. Includes works by 31 poets from 14 different countries. Toronto: York University Press, 2015. 68 pages. ISBN: 978-1-77221-027-9.
Teaching Philosophy:
"I strongly believe that teaching goes beyond solely disseminating knowledge to students and instilling basic skills. It includes developing higher order critical thinking skills, instilling confidence in students' written and oral communication, and stirring them to become astute readers (of the world, not only of texts); increasing student involvement and active learning to build cultural identities and a sense of community on many levels; and boosting students' pursuit of goals coherent with their personal inclinations and professional aspirations. To these ends, I have actively kept myself as prepared as possible with new teaching techniques and pedagogical approaches. In particular, in my over 25 years of teaching (at York University, since July 1, 2006), I have participated in or led numerous teaching workshops to make myself the best classroom teacher I can be and to share my experiences. I have also worked to build student cultural awareness and a sense of community. To do so I have instituted several initiatives, including film-screenings, poetry and music performances, community engagement, arts based assignments and professionally geared contextual references to ensure that students’ learning is solidly based in cultural understanding and a sense of interconnectedness with peers and the institution, as well as beyond the university. I have created numerous courses (Aspects of Spanish American Literature, La narrativa de Gabriel García Márquez, Frida Kahlo: Image, Woman, Text, Poetry and Popular Music in Spain and Latin America, and Literature and Music in Spanish America), and aided my home department with curricular planning. I have taught at all undergraduate levels in Spanish language, translation, and Peninsular and Latin American literature and culture.
My goal is to maintain the highest standards that fairly reflect students’ capabilities at each level and prepare them to excel academically, professionally and personally. Between 2002 and 2015, I revised most of the courses I was assigned.
Overall, I integrate my research, theoretical interests and cultural analysis into a context for the materials studied. Many of my courses are innovative both in substance and in pedagogical approach. I have made substantial use of electronic media for class discussions, document delivery and communication services. Whether interpreting literary texts, presenting oral projects, or exploring cultural themes, student group-learning is an essential component of my courses. I strive to foster ways of thinking that are attained through the study of literature and that develop key areas of competence in critical analysis and dynamic socio- cultural dialogue.
Each course I design is based on my research and specialization in 20th Century and Contemporary Spanish American Literature, and on the greater framework of the literary heritage of Hispanic literatures and cultures in a global context. These all integrate the teaching of Spanish language, literatures and cultural expressions from the 15th century to the present.
My teaching also reaches beyond the classroom to create in students the awareness of how the material we study in class reaches into their real life experiences, connects with actual communities in which these literary traditions and contemporary practices engage with current events, values and cultural identities, and also to inform them and allow them greater access to experiential ways of putting their skills into practice. This combined approach, linking theory, reading, writing, oral communication mastery at each undergraduate course level, then manifests into creative, effective and professional volunteer and community service experience that they can add to their Curriculum Vitae.
One of the most prominent ways I have done so is with the co-founding of literary magazine Entre Voc/zes. Birthed out of discussions on assignments and meetings with students outside the classroom in a course I was teaching on Literature and Music in Spanish America (AP/SP 4650) in 2007, it united the student’s passion for literature and their creative inspiration in the writers we studied. It received an Academic Initiative Fund grant in 2010, recognizing its engagement of student experiences and its ability to connect pedagogical objectives, intercultural activities and service learning in the community. Each of the magazine’s seven editions had a different theme selected by the yearly editorial panel composed of students and faculty advisors, and is launched in yearly celebration that includes performances of music and dance, and readings of original works of prose and poetry by York University students and GTA community members. The translation of works from Spanish and Portuguese into English amplify the scope of the magazine’s reception. Since its inception in 2007, the magazine’s activities grew to incorporate tutoring and writing assistance for students at York University.
In a multi-part community-based project called “The Sport of Poetry & the Poetry of Sports: Poetry, Music, Action” I organized events at York University (July 11 and September 30), at Earlscourt Park (July 8) during the Pan American Games, and another proposed at Harbourfront (August 7 to 15) during the Parapan American Games. The Poet-Tree Project, an Ignite community partner of the Games, envisioned the interaction of poetry, music, civic memory and intercultural dialogues to share cultural heritages, traditions and viewpoints from the 20 Hispanic and Portuguese-speaking immigrant populations in Toronto. The events were delivered with students, faculty and community volunteers of the project, and in collaboration with a number of multi-ethnic community groups. The partners included the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, Office of Research and Office of External Relations; the Office of the Master, Founders College; the Centre for Research in Latin America and the Caribbean, at York University; Abrace; Magia Negra and Toronto Candombe Cultural Committee; San Lorenzo Community Centre; and ANTARES Trilingual Publishing House and Cultural Organization.
As Project Manager, I brought my over 20 years of experience as educator, researcher and organizer of community-based and academic events. For the proposed event, I worked closely with the members of the Latin American community with whom I was serving in the Latin American Working Group, the Organizing Committee of the Torch Celebration Event and the LatAm at PanAm Pavillion, and by extension, the communities represented by each of these constituencies.
As a faculty member and specialist in Latin American culture and language, my work in this regard represents York University’s strong commitment to multilingual study, diversity and being “open to the world,” strengthening intercultural linkages by finding innovative, creative, sustainable and formative ways to build these bridges. This is evident in the project’s aim to embody the links between innovation and tradition, communicated in the university’s motto: Tentanda Via: The way must be tried.” This interdisciplinary approach celebrates the stated mission and the spirit espoused by the Toronto 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games, by connecting sport and the arts and culture. Community learning and service experience such as this one also provides opportunities for intercultural dialogue and promotes the core values of democratic citizenry.
I was awarded the Hispanic Women’s Network “Creando Puentes” [Building Bridges] Award at its inaugural annual Award Meeting held at Toronto City Hall, Toronto in March 2009. This was a great honour for me, as I was nominated by former students whom I had taught at York University in AP/SP 4650, and whom I had supervised as founding Faculty Advisor for the student literary magazine Entre Voczes housed at York University since 2007, and who later completed their graduate studies at the University of Guelph’s interdisciplinary Masters in Latin American Studies."
As Undergraduate Program Director--Languages and Literatures, I served many other languages and literatures programs, not only the Spanish and Portuguese and Luso-Brazilian Studies section. During my term as UPD-LL I created the Wor(l)d Cultures Buddy Program that was awarded funding through the 2012/2013 International Initiatives Fund for Academic Units, through the Office of the Associate Dean, External. The program paired international students with students registered in programs housed at the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics. Selected by first language(s), visiting international students, whose life experiences and knowledge of their home culture and literature were matched with a DLLL student peer (enrolled in a language, literature or linguistics course) at York University. Each international student was invited to pair up with a DLLL student who is interested in that area of the world."
Courses taught:
SP 4880 3.0 Nos/otras: Contemporary Poetic Expressions of Spanish American Women (created this course, and have taught it every 3 years or so since 2013)
SP 4650 6.0 Literature and Music in Spanish America (created this new interdisciplinary course, and have taught it every 2 years or so since 2007). New in 2018-2019: embedded an experiential education component by establishing the "Literature and Music in Dialogue" series featuring eight lectures/workshops/demonstrations and local community engagement: http://spanish.dlll.laps.yorku.ca/students/resources/).
In past years performances organized in conjunction with program events, and included visits by Mexican cellist and composer Dr. Gustavo Martín, Escuela Nacional de Música de la UNAM, in conjuction with bolero and the novel, and scholar Dr. Illa Carrillo Rodríguez, Université Paris I – Panthéon-Sorbonne, with relation to her work on political agency and popular identity in Argentine folk music of the long 1960s).
Co-chaired and led the committee that created the new General Education course: AP/DLLL 1000 6.0 World Literatures in Perspective (General Education course).
SP 4640 6.0 The Spanish American Novel of the Twentieth Century (F/W 2012-13: Inaugurated a new blog spot connection for students with author Pablo Urbanyi on his official website, and Skype visits by writers P. Urbanyi and V. Lecomte in 2012-2013).
SP 3210 6.0 Aspects of Spanish American Literature (visits by writers such as María Ángeles Lescano in 2007, and writer Eduardo Rejduch de la Mancha in 2009, the latter with a reading by the author open to the public and complemented by presentations on the author and musical performance by students: http://yfile.news.yorku.ca/2009/10/06/uruguay-born-sailor-author-and-adventurer-to-give-reading-at-york/).
SP 2200 6.0 Introduction to Spanish Literature, a core required course for Spanish Program majors and minors; the course was renamed "Introduction to Spain's & Latin America's Greatest Writers" in 2017.
SP 2020 6.0 Intermediate Spanish Abroad - Ávila, Spain
SP 2000 6.0 Intermediate Spanish, coordinator
SP 4900 3.0 La narrativa de Gabriel García Márquez: Novela (Independent Study Course)
Current Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall/Winter 2024 | AP/SP2200 6.0 | A | Introduction to Literature | ONLN |
| Fall/Winter 2024 | AP/SP2000 6.0 | A | Intermediate Spanish | ONLN |
Upcoming Courses
| Term | Course Number | Section | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall/Winter 2024 | AP/SP2000 6.0 | A | Intermediate Spanish | ONLN |
| Fall/Winter 2024 | AP/SP2200 6.0 | A | Introduction to Literature | ONLN |
