Jonathan Godinez Paez
Assistant Professor of Spanish
My research focuses on 20th- and 21st-century Mexican literary and cultural studies. I am particularly interested in how literary genres like science fiction and speculative fiction can provide alternative frameworks for thinking about citizenship, borders, and climate change. My work aims to highlight how extractivist capitalism, hydraulic megaprojects, and technology have contributed to socio-economic disparity, structural violence, and environmental depletion of water resources across Mexico.
How we as humans grapple with the ever-present possibility of droughts, floods, and water pollution—and how we (dis)engage with hydropolitics— is currently the primary focus of my research and book project. I am interested in how fiction can help us imagine and cultivate more sustainable relationships with water.
Beyond science fiction, I am also interested in genetic criticism. I am currently working on a project with Carlos Fuentes’s Papers (1928–2012) held by the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Princeton University. Working with textual variations and genetic criticism has become an important and exciting part of my research agenda.
Before joining Wellesley College, I taught a wide range of introductory and advanced Spanish language courses, as well as courses on Latin American literature and culture, at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. This semester at Wellesley, I redesigned a course on Modern Mexico, and I am looking forward to developing new courses and seminars on Mexican literature and culture. In all my courses, I strive for an interdisciplinary approach to teaching and for my students to acquire cultural competence, while fostering an inclusive student-centered classroom environment.
Aside from teaching and research, I enjoy photography, podcasting, and Texas BBQ, which is always a good excuse to spend time with friends and family.
Education
- B.A., The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
- M.A., The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
- M.A., University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus
- Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus