Ph.D. Candidate in Spanish, Rutgers University
M.A. in Spanish, Rutgers University
Department of Spanish and Portuguese
Academic Building, Office 5187
848. 932. 6449
Sandra C. Medina is a Ph.D. Candidate and Teaching Assistant in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. She holds an M.A. in Spanish Literature from Rutgers University, a B.A in Spanish and a B.A in English from Montclair State University in New Jersey.
Research information
She is currently writing her dissertation The Remnants of the Armed Conflict: The Body In/After Violence in Contemporary Colombian Cinema, which studies the effects of violence as (re)presented by documentaries and fictional narratives of children’s enrollment in the armed groups, the beginning and expansion of violence in rural areas, and the displacement of the victims of the conflict. Her research shows how the bodily, physical legacies of violence— disappearance, torture and body mutilation, displacement and migration— transform traditional gender norms, and problematize the reintegration and rehabilitation of victims and victimizers. The project analyzes the bodies of violence, both human bodies as incarnated by actors or visualized through animation, and the “body” of the film (as recently conceptualized by film theorists). It examines how the films use body image (skin color, tattoos), (lack of) body parts, the sexed body, body movement (comportment, mannerism), and body accessories (clothing, jewelry). It also pays close attention to the films’ “bodies” (including camera and/or editing techniques) to reveal how they reflect and hide crucial information about the armed conflict, and how, at the same time, they interrogate current political laws and social and economic disparities. Additionally, it considers the role of directors, critics, and the State towards a post-conflict Colombia.
Honors/Awards
- Rutgers University Teaching Assistant and Graduate Assistant Summer Professional Development Fund Award, May 2017
- Center for Latin American Studies Small Grant Award, May 2017
- Cinema Studies Program Small Grants Program Award, April 2017
- Rutgers University Teaching Assistant and Graduate Assistant Professional Development Fund Award, August 2015
- Department of Spanish and Portuguese Pre-Dissertation Travel Award, June 2017
Conferences
“Sin suciedad no hay limpieza: Navegando entre desperdicios hacia una vida reciclada en Paraíso travel de Jorge Franco”. 6th Crossing Over Symposium at Cleveland State University. (Oct 9-10, 2015)
“'When Film Techniques Become Ineffective: Criticizing Chircales (1966-1972) through the Lens of Agarrando pueblo (1979)", the College of Charleston’s 65th Annual Meeting of the Mountain Interstate Foreign Language Conference in Charleston, SC. (October 15-17, 2015)
“For Those Disabled: The (Non) Abled Bodied in La sombra del caminante.” Stony Brook’s Graduate Student Conference “Disputed Mediations: Interpretations and Aesthetic Value of Popular Culture in Latin America and Spain.” (November 4, 2016)
“Animated Bodies: Violence and Testimony in Pequeñas voces (2010).” The Graduate Center (CUNY)’S Comparative Literature Department Conference “I Love Pop.” (November 10-11, 2016)
“Animating the Documentary Through Pequeñas voces.” University at Buffalo’s 6th Annual Graduate Student Conference for Romance Languages and Literatures “Intersections: Collage of Urban Networks.” (April 7-8, 2017)
Teaching Experience
September 2017 - December 2017
Latin and Caribbean Studies Teaching Associate
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ
LCS 202: Color-Lines and Borderlands
June - August 2017
Summer Abroad Program in Spain/ Assistant Director
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ
SPAN all levels
January 2017 - May 2017
Latin and Caribbean Studies Teaching Associate
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ
LCS 202: Color-Lines and Borderlands
September 2016 - December 2016
Spanish Teaching Associate
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ
SPAN 132: Intermediate Spanish II
September 2015 - August 2016
Spanish Teaching Associate
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ
SPAN 131: Intermediate Spanish I
SPAN 131: Intermediate Spanish I (Online)
January 2015 - May 2016
Cinema Teaching Associate/Projectionist
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ
CINE 377: Topics in World Cinema
September 2014 - August 2015
Spanish Teaching Associate
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ
SPAN 131: Intermediate Spanish I
SPAN 131: Intermediate Spanish I
September 2012 - August 2013
Spanish Teaching Associate
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ
SPAN 101: Elementary Spanish I
SPAN 102: Elementary Spanish II
SPAN 102: Elementary Spanish II (ONLINE)
