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Staff Profile

Dr Jorge Catala-Carrasco

Head of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies

  • Telephone: Tel: (+44) 0191 208 7455
  • Address: Office 5.33
    School of Modern Languages
    Old Library Building, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne
    NE1 7RU, United Kingdom

Background

I am from Valencia (Spain) and I have been living in the UK since 2007. I joined Newcastle University in 2010 after completing my PhD at The University of Nottingham. I also hold an MA in Hispanic Studies by the University of Georgia (USA).

I am currently Head of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies. I am also external examiner for Spanish Studies at the University of Stirling and for Spanish and Latin American Studies at Queen Mary University.

Research

I am a Hispanic cultural studies specialist who focuses on contemporary Spanish and Latin American cultural production from the 20th century through the 21st century. Trained as a literary scholar, I have complemented my early philological education with a visual culture formation on graphic narrative, memory studies, intermediality and the analysis of periods of crisis. I was Co-PI with Patricia Oliart for the Marie Curie Horizon2020 research project Cultural Narratives of Crisis and Renewal (2015-2018), involving 63 researchers from 8 institutions in 6 countries in Europe and Latin America. In my first monograph, Vanguardia y humorismo gráfico en crisis, I studied the development of avant-garde graphic humour in Spain and Cuba during two critical periods, the Spanish Civil War and the early years of the Cuban Revolution. My interest in comics led to a co-edited volume titled Comics and Memory in Latin America (Pittsburgh, 2017), published also in Spanish in 2019 by Cátedra. I am a co-investigator in the international research project (COST-EU funded) entitled iCOn-MICS – Investigation on comics and graphic novels in the iberian cultural area (hypotheses.org). As part iCOn-MICs, I have coordinated two Training Schools: the Cultural Legacy of Iberian and Latin American Comics (7-9 Sept, 2022) with Gustaffo Vargas as invited artist; and the Comics and Civic Society (7-8 May, 2024) with Marta Cartu, Ana Galvañ and Nadia Hafid as invited artists.


I have also studied exile through the lens of Chilean-Spanish playwright José Ricardo Morales. In 2015 I co-authored the documentary José Ricardo Morales. Escrito en el agua (Malvalanda). Jose Ricardo Morales | Malvalanda

My current project is a monograph in which I examine the notion of euphoria in Spain.

PhD Supervision

PhD theses supervised to completion:

  • (2018) Felix Lossio (FT): The Construction of Latin America as a Brand in Peru and Cuba. Co-supervised with Dr. Patricia Oliart. 
  • (2021) Katie Salmon (FT). Crisis and Mental Health in Contemporary Chilean and Spanish Culture. Co-supervised with Dr. Philippa Page and Dr. Angela Woods.
  • (2023) Evie Hill (FT). Designs for Dissensus: Political Posters, Africa and the Tricontinental Movement. Co-supervised with Dr. Matt Davies and Dr. Matt Benwell.
  • (2024) Lydia Wysocki PhD Education (PT). British Values in Contemporary Comics. Co-supervised with Dr. Heather Smith and Prof. Anoop Nayak.  

Research funding:

2023 - £2,510 - QS Funding for Social Justice and Visual Culture exhibition.

2023 - 2,300 euros - Fellowship Giner de los Ríos for an invited research stay at the Universidad de Alcalá de Henares (Spain).

2020-2024 - COST Action (Horizon 2020). iCOnMICs. Investigation on Comics and Graphic Novels in the Iberian Cultural Area. Co-investigator and UK representative. PI. Prof. Viviane Alary (Univ. Clermont Auvergne). 

2019- NISS, £3,085 (Newcastle Institute for Social Renewal) for the Research & Comics Seminar Series

2018 - HISPANEX, 8,770 euros (Ministry of Culture in Spain) for the photography exhibition RENEWAL by NOPHOTO. 

2018 - NISR, £4,500 (Newcastle Institute for Social Renewal) for the photography exhibition RENEWAL by NOPHOTO.

2016 - Institute for Latin American Studies (London) £1,800 (in collaboration with Dr. Raquel Ribeiro at the University of Edinburgh) for the seminar series “After the thaw. Cultural approaches to research on Cuba.”

2015 - Marie Curie-RISE (Horizon 2020), 1 044 000 euros for the research project Cultural Narratives of Crisis and Renewal (CRIC). http://ec.europa.eu/research/infocentre/article_en.cfm?artid=47656 

2015 - NISR, £1,000 (Newcastle Institute for Social Renewal) for the documentary José Ricardo Morales. Escrito en el agua. 

2013 Faculty Research Fund £2,446 (Research trip to Cuba, July-August 2013)

2012 HaSS Faculty Futures Grant £500

2011 Santander Travel Scheme £1,000 (Research trip to Chile - April 2011).

2009 SLAS Postgraduate Travel Grant £600 (Research trip to Cuba, March – April 2009).

2004 Tinker Grant. Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies $1,200 (research trip to Peru).

Teaching

I teach a range of modules across all stages. I am module leader for SPA1019 Introduction to the History, Culture and Society of the Iberian Peninsula (stage 1) and SPA4005 Cultura Popular en España y Cuba (stage 4). I also contribute to the module SPA2025 Representaciones de Revolución, Dictadura y Democracia en España y América Latina (stage 2).

Publications