Inela Selimovic
Associate Professor of Spanish
Research and teaching center on 20th and 21st century Latin American literature and cinema.
Much of my recent research engages with contemporary Argentine literature and cinema while highlighting gender, political dissent, cultural memory, intermediality, multisensoriality, and affect. I have authored two books and co-edited four.
My first book, Affective Moments in the Films of Martel, Carri, and Puenzo (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018), studies the subtle tensions between affect and emotions as terrains of sociopolitical significance in several prominent Argentine women filmmakers’ aesthetically heterogeneous films. Such tensions significantly relate to the films’ core arguments, signaling these directors’ novel insights into complex manifestations of memory, desire, and violence.
The intersection between marginality and sensescapes in Paula Markovitch’s films is at the heart of my second monograph. The Cinema of Paula Markovitch: Contested Marginality (Edinburgh University Press, forthcoming) probes the director’s explorations of differently marginalized dwellers and their sensescapes as a vital feature of her oeuvre. By inviting the viewer into the socioemotional layers of homeless sites, hospice-like spaces, assisted-suicide intersubjectivities, and political displacements, Markovitch revitalizes the complexity of the margins in novel and expansive ways. Such aesthetic considerations of the margins also bring to light fecund modes for broader sociocultural critiques in Markovitch’s films.
Working on my first two books inspired additional collaborations with my colleagues from the United Kingdom, Holland, Italy, Latin America, and Spain. These collaborations resulted in several co-edited books, including The Feeling Child: Affect and Politics in Latin American Literature and Film (Bloomsbury, 2018), Inusuales: hogar, sexualidad y política en el cine hispano (Iberoamericana/Vervuert, 2020), Encuentros fortuitos. Agencialidad en conflicto y poder en movimiento en el cine hispano (Iberoamericana/Vervuert, 2023), and Imágenes de aflicción (Iberoamericana/Vervuert, forthcoming).
In 2023, I also co-edited a special issue (with Camilla Sutherland), “Interrupted Frames: Gender and Intermediality,” in Mistral: Journal of Latin American Women’s Intellectual & Cultural History. The issue explores the ways in which Latin American contemporary artists have generated singular intermedial relations with films, fiction, photography, painting, audio recordings, and video.
I have published articles in peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies, Chasqui: Revista de literatura y cultura latinoamericana e indígena, Mistral: Journal of Latin American Women’s Intellectual & Cultural History, Bulletin of Hispanic Studies, and Revista Hispánica Moderna. Some of my book and film reviews have appeared in Human Rights Quarterly, World Literature Today, and La Jornada Zacatecas.
My research and teaching are coupled with service to the Spanish Department and the College in general. I served as the Intermediate Spanish Coordinator from 2016 to 2018 and have been the Casa Cervantes Faculty Advisor and Director from 2019 to 2021. I have been part of the International Study Committee on several occasions (2016-2018; 2019-2021; 2023-2025) and chaired it twice (2020-2021 and 2024-2025). I served on the Agenda Committee (2017-2018 and 2022-2023) as well. More recently, it been rewarding to partake in the Albright Faculty Research Affiliate (AFRA) Program (2025-2026), just as it has been magnificent to contribute to the Fulbright Committee at Wellesley College (2020-2025).
Beyond my academic pursuits, I have conducted several human rights-related projects at home and abroad. Some of these projects took place at The United Nations Security Council (UNSC), The International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). These undertakings have remained an inspirational force for my interdisciplinary research and teaching efforts.
In terms of teaching, I believe in pedagogical dynamism that encourages critical thinking, academic rigor, and meaningful creativity in and among my students.
Personal website: https://selimovic09.wixsite.com/inelaselimovic
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Education
- B.A., Sewanee: The University of the South
- M.A., University of Kentucky
- Ph.D., University of Kentucky
Current and upcoming courses
Intermediate Spanish
SPAN202
Intensive review of all language skills and introduction to the art, literature, and cultures of Spain and Latin America. Emphasis on oral and written expression and critical analysis.
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Intermediate Spanish
SPAN202H
Intensive review of all language skills and introduction to the art, literature, and cultures of Spain and Latin America. Emphasis on oral and written expression and critical analysis. -
Seminar: Argentine Women Filmmakers
SPAN303
This course focuses on fundamental films by prominent contemporary Argentine women filmmakers. We examine these directors’ influence on the New Argentine Cinema (NAC) and explore their diverse aesthetic contributions to the country’s film industry. Interdisciplinary readings about the country’s socio-political and cultural changes from 1995 onwards guide our discussions, explorations, and analyses. Films by Albertina Carri, Lucrecia Martel, Julia Solomonoff, Paula Markovitch, María Victoria Menis, Gabriela David, and Lucía Puenzo.