Jack MartÃnez Arias
Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies
Jack Martínez Arias’ research focuses on the intersections of literature, capitalism, and the ecological impacts of extractive industries in the indigenous communities of the Andes.
As writer of fiction, Martinez is the author of two novels: Bajo la sombra (2014) and Sustitución (2017).
He received his bachelor’s degree in Latin American literature from the National University of San Marcos in Lima, Peru, and his Ph.D. in Spanish and Portuguese from Northwestern University.
Jack taught a variety of courses on Latin American literature and culture at 51ÁÔÆæ from 2017 to 2021. He also taught at Saint Michael’s College in the last academic year.
Recent Courses Taught
Creative Writing in Spanish
Indigenous Migration: Why and Where
Introduction to Hispanic Cinema
Introduction to Latin American Literature
Literature and Modernity in the Andes
Spanish Conversation
Third Term Spanish
Spanish Immersion II
Spanish Immersion I
Select Publications
- “Mining, pollution, and irony in Manuel Scorza’s Redoble por Rancas (1970).” Bulletin of Hispanic Studies. Vol. 100, No. 6 (2023): 635-649.
- “Medioambiente y transculturación en El abrazo de la serpiente (2015).” Brújula: revista interdisciplinaria de estudios latinoamericanos. Vol. 16 (2023): 19-46
- “Interpretaciones del cristianismo en la tradición oral andina: Arguedas, Condori Mamani y el mito del Inkarrí.” Revista de Crítica Literaria Latinoamericana. 96 (2nd semester of 2022): 273-291.
- “Ante el realismo cíclico en los Andes: la ciencia ficción como alternativa de resistencia.” Confluencia. Revista Hispánica de Cultura y Literatura. 38.2 (Spring 2023): 95-107.
- “La Independencia postergada: colonialismo e indigenismo en el fin de siglo boliviano.” Taller de Letras 66 (2020): 103-118.
- “Modernizing the Andes: Literature and Mining Industry in a Foundational Novel.” Decimonónica 14.2 (2017): 54-70.
- “La fotografía como evidencia y premonición en “La noche de los visones” de Pedro Lemebel.” Chasqui 46.1 (2017): 45-56.
- “Entren los que quieran: Calle 13 y la construcción de lo latino(americano).” Studies in Latin American Popular Culture 35 (2017): 195-209.
- “Estética, política y economía: dinámicas dialécticas en Amauta.” Horizonte de la Ciencia 6.11 (2016): 15-26.
- “Pendiendo de la maquinaria: autos y hombres en “La autopista del sur” de Julio Cortázar.” A Contracorriente 12.3 (2015): 220-239.
College Service
Latin American Studies Committee, 2023-26
Spanish Club, 2023-24
Spanish Table, 2022-
Teaching at Clinton Elementary School, 2017-19
Radio host of Ritmos Latinos, the radio show of the Hispanic Studies Department, 2020-21
Professional Affiliations
Latin American Studies Association
Appointed to the Faculty
2022Educational Background
Ph.D., Northwestern University
B.A., Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos