Clara Esther Castro-Ponce is a senior lecturer in Spanish in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures. She received her B.A. in Hispanic studies and comparative literature from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras campus and her M.A./Ph.D. in Hispanic studies from Brown University. Prior to joining UNH in 2018, Castro-Ponce taught at Rider University as well as other higher education institutions. As a medievalist and Dorothy Danforth-Compton Foundation fellow, she has conducted doctoral work in Spain at the Real Biblioteca de El Escorial and at the Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid. As a generalist, Castro-Ponce has taught a wide array of Spanish language, literature and culture courses, and has taught Spanish translation and interpretation with a legal bent. Castro-Ponce’s research and teaching interests include Medieval Spanish literature, Golden Age literature (Lope de Vega and Cervantes); Latino and Hispanic Caribbean literature; Spanish translation and interpretation; women’s studies; language teaching and learning in the 21st century and cultural integration. Castro-Ponce’s critical edition, “Teresa de Cartagena. Arboleda de los enfermos y Admiraçión operum Dei: Edición crítica singular,” is currently used by scholars devoted to the study of the Castilian nun, who is a precursor of literary figures like Teresa de Avila and Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz. This critical edition reevaluates and situates Teresa’s writings within the context of the literary and moralizing polemics of her society. Castro-Ponce has published articles on Teresa de Cartagena in Magistra and Cincinnati Romance Review.
