Maria Belen Melena
Second Year Spanish Ph.D. Student
- mmelenam@nd.edu
Biography
María Belén Melena is a first-year Ph.D. student in Spanish at the University of Notre Dame, where she has been awarded the Notebaert Premier Fellowship. Born and raised in Quito, Ecuador, she holds a B.A. in Communication and Literature from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador, an M.A. in Hispanic Studies from Boston College, and an M.A. in Humanities from Universitat Oberta de Catalunya.
As a scholar, researcher, and writer, she has taught at the university level for several years and has participated in national and international conferences, focusing on interdisciplinary approaches to literature. In recognition of her commitment to teaching, she received the Donald J. White Teaching Excellence Award (2021) at Boston College. She has also worked as a proofreader and editor, and has collaborated with initiatives that promote open access to literature.
Her research explores contemporary Latin American Gothic literature written by women, particularly how monstrosity becomes a form of resistance against dominant systems and is deeply entangled with the territories it emerges from. Through this lens, her work examines how literature offers critical insights into regional realities and broader questions of identity, embodiment, and power.
Research Interests
Modern and Contemporary Latin American Literature, Gothic fiction and representations of monstrosity, Comparative Literature, Literary Rewriting, Ecocriticism, Migra