Dr Rhian Davies

School of Languages and Cultures

Senior Lecturer

SLC Rhian Davies
Profile picture of SLC Rhian Davies
rhian.davies@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 0551
Jessop West

Full contact details

Dr Rhian Davies
School of Languages and Cultures
Jessop West
1 Upper Hanover Street
91直播
S3 7RA
Profile

I came to 91直播 in 1996 to take up the 4-year post as HEFCE/AHRB Institutional Fellow for the Gald贸s Editions Project, following a 2-year post as Laming Junior Fellow at The Queen's College, University of Oxford. I was offered a permanent post as Lecturer in 2000 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2005.

I became the Director of the Gald贸s Editions Project in 2003 and have worked on three projects funded by CILASS (Centre for Inquiry Based Learning on the Arts and Social Sciences). The first involved creating an electronic learning package to complement my electronic edition of Torquemada en la hoguera, the second was a grammar package for Level 2 (Post A-level) students and I was the Programme Leader for the School of Languages鈥 Interactive Year abroad Project from 2007-11.

During my time at 91直播 I have undertaken numerous administrative roles, including Director of Learning and Teaching and Year Abroad Coordinator for Hispanic Studies. I was Head of the Department of Hispanic Studies from 2013-2016 and the Deputy Director of Learning and Teaching for the School of Languages and Cultures (SLC) and the Programme Level Approach (PLA) Lead from 2017-2020. I am currently SLC鈥檚 Director of Postgraduate Research (2020-).

I have served on various interview panels and committees both inside and outside the University, including the University鈥檚 Equality and Diversity Board, the Faculty of Arts鈥 Graduate Research Committee, the LLAS Subject Centre鈥檚 Advisory Board, and the AHGBI Executive Committee. I was a member of Review group of the QAA Benchmark Statement for Languages and Related Studies in 2007 and 2014. 

I have taught on a wide range of modules covering the nineteenth-, twentieth- and twenty-first centuries. Literature is my main passion (especially nineteenth-century novels and contemporary Canarian literature) and I also immensely enjoy teaching film, which I regard as an important 鈥榬oute into reading鈥. (See the 鈥楾eaching鈥 section for more information). I love 鈥榓ll things Canarian鈥, particularly the novels of Miguel Aguerralde (1978-) and the artworks of Sherezade Morales (1984-). I would relish the opportunity to supervise theses on topics related to my interests in the fin de siglo and to learn more, particularly about Canarian literature and culture.

Qualifications

BA Joint Honours (French and Spanish), MA, DPhil (Oxon) (Spanish at The Queen鈥檚 College, University of Oxford)

Research interests

My research interests include nineteenth-century Spanish culture and literature (particularly Gald贸s), the role of journalism during the fin de siglo and the uses of IT in producing electronic indexes and editions of novels. My research projects include 'From the Window of the Motherland', which looks at perspectives on Spanish America in the cultural review La Espa帽a Moderna, the Torquemada novels and Gald贸s's work as a journalist. My latest passion is contemporary Canarian literature and culture, especially the novels of Miguel Aguerralde (see ) and the artworks of Sherezade Morales (see ).

I have been invited to speak and have delivered papers at numerous conferences/ institutions in the UK (e.g. Bristol, Liverpool, London, Manchester), Spain (e.g. Madrid [Universidad Aut贸noma], Las Palmas [Gran Canaria], C谩diz, the University of Palma Mallorca and Valencia) and the USA (Brown University). I have attended many of the AHGBI conferences and have delivered papers at every Congreso Internacional Galdosiano that has taken place since my arrival in 91直播 in 1996). I have also chaired panels/ acted as Secretaria de mesa on many occasions.

As can be seen below, I have supervised theses on a range of topics and I would welcome the opportunity to supervise on nineteenth or twentieth-century Spanish literature/culture or contemporary Canarian literature.

Supervision experience:

(Postdoctoral)

(2005-07): Dr Mar铆a Ascensi贸n Ruiz (Postdoctoral Research Fellow sponsored by Spain's Ministry of Education) working on the reception of Gald贸s鈥檚 work in the UK

(2002-3) Support for Dr Rodrigo Varela (Postdoctoral Research Fellow) working on Gald贸s鈥檚 El doctor Centeno

(PhD 鈥 all supervised to successful completion)

(2017) Inma Ridao Carlini: 鈥榃ealth, Poverty and Social Mobility in Restoration Spain: A Critique of Liberal Society in the Novelas contempor谩neas of Benito P茅rez Gald贸s鈥. Winner of the Peter Bly Prize. Published as Rich and Poor in Nineteenth-Century Spain: A Critique of Liberal Society in the Later Novels of Benito P茅rez Gald贸s (Tamesis, 2018)

(2016) Morgane Guinard for 鈥楲a Parabole du Savoir Interdit, ou les Interdits philosophiques et religieux sur la connaissance en France au XVIIIe si猫cle鈥

(2016) Carla Almanza G谩lvez: 鈥楿topian Narrative in 18th-century Spain: Generic Frameworks and Social Reformism鈥. Winner of the AHGBI Publication Prize. Published as Form and Reform in Eighteenth-Century Spain: Utopian Narratives and Socio-Political Debate (Legenda 2018)

(2013) Michelle Hunt: 鈥楲iterary and Social Aspects of El Pensador: An Essay-Periodical of Social Reform in Eighteenth-Century Spain鈥

(2009) Anna Homan: 'Education and Genesis in Gald贸s's El doctor Centeno' (funded by a University Project Studentship)

(2004) Patricia Scott: 'Women in the novels of E莽a de Queiroz and Benito P茅rez Gald贸s'

(MA)

MPhil (2005) Clare Skirrey for 'The Natural World in the Short Stories of Leopoldo Alas'

I have supervised numerous students on the MA in Hispanic Studies programme and on the MA Applied Languages Programme (2011-2018), plus a Mundus student.

I have also chaired numerous upgrade panels/ confirmation reviews in SLC (on theses relating to French, German, History and Spanish)

Teaching activities

I have taught Undergraduate modules at all levels, focussing primarily on the Spanish nineteenth century, but also on twentieth- and twenty-first-century literature and culture and some Latin American authors. I have also taught Spanish language at Levels 2 and 3.

My literature modules (notably HSS 3000) have often been commended by External Examiners for their innovative approach and my teaching methods have been regarded as examples of good practice both within and outside 91直播, and served as case studies for TEL events.

I have published articles on my teaching experiences, including:

鈥楴ew Ways of Teaching Literature鈥, commissioned and peer-reviewed by the LLAS Subject Centre (2006). See

'Teaching Students to Read: The Uses of IT in Studying the Novels of Benito P茅rez Gald贸s', Languages and Linguistics and Area Studies Subject Centre C&IT Supplement, ed. Janet Bartle (Southampton: CILT, 2002), pp.12-14

'The P茅rez Gald贸s Editions Project: Creating Electronic Scholarly Editions', Teaching European Literature and Culture with Communication and Information Technologies: Selected Papers, ed. Sarah Porter & Stuart Sutherland (Oxford: CTI Centre for Textual Studies, 1999), pp.24-26 (see )

Details of the modules I have taught:

HSS130/1: Literature Tutorial groups (in connection with the 鈥楾exts鈥 component of the core course) & a series of lectures on Torquemada en la hoguera

Level 1 

MDL105: 鈥業ntroduction to the Social and Political History of Iberia and Latin America鈥

Level 1

MDL 106: 鈥楿nderstanding Spanish and Latin American Culture鈥

Level 1

HSS227: 鈥楾radition, Transition and Modernity鈥

Level 2

HSS251: 鈥楬ispanic Fiction鈥

Level 2 

HSS234: 鈥業ssues & Ideologies in the Modern Hispanic World鈥

Level 2

HSS260: 'Spanish-American literature'

Level 2

HSS264: 'The Novels of Benito P茅rez Gald贸s' 

Level 2

MDL217: 鈥楬ispanic Spaces鈥

Level 2

MDL226: 鈥楻eality and Fantasy in Spain and Latin America鈥

Level 2

HSS335: 鈥楪enesis and Genre: From Novel to Play to Screen: Gald贸s Today鈥

Level 3

HSS369: 'The Politics and Fiction of Crisis: 1868-98'

Level 3

HSS371: 鈥楧issidence and Debate鈥

Level 3

HSS3000: 鈥楢daptations and Transformations鈥

Level 3

HSS3015 鈥楾he Media in Spain鈥

Level 3

MDL338: 鈥楺uestioning Spain鈥 (formerly HSS3014)

Level 3

I have also taught Level 2 Spanish at both Beginners鈥 level and Post A-level (HSS 230/1 and HSS 270/1), final-year Spanish language (HSS 330/1 and HSS 338/9) and MA Directed reading modules.

Professional activities and memberships

Examination-related activities:

(2016-20) External Examiner for Hispanic Studies at Cardiff University

(2012-14) External Examiner for the MA in Translation & Interpreting/ MA in Professional Translation degrees at Swansea University

(2009-14) External Examiner for Hispanic Studies at Swansea University

I have also examined MA and PhD theses at 91直播 and the University of Leeds

Advisory work:

(2014 and 2007) QAA Benchmark Statement for Languages and Related Studies Review Group

(2007-11) LLAS Subject Centre鈥檚 Advisory Board

(2007-11) AHGBI Executive Committee

(2008-11) LLAS Subject Centre鈥檚 鈥3 Es鈥 Advisory group

(2006) 91直播鈥檚 SoTL (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning) Special Interest Group

(2003-11) LLAS鈥檚 Special Interest Group on the 鈥楾eaching of Literature and Culture鈥

I have acted as referee/ reader for the following:

(Journals)

Bulletin of Hispanic Studies (Liverpool), Bulletin of Spanish Studies (Glasgow), Hispanic Research Journal (London), Hispanic Review (Pennsylvania, USA), Letras Femeninas (Arizona, USA), Letras Hispanas (Texas, USA), Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hisp谩nicos (Ottawa, Canada)

(Publishers)

Legenda and the University of Wales Press

Liaison with External bodies:

(2006-17) Organization of the Annual Gald贸s Lecture series, sponsored by the Oficina Cultural of the Spanish Embassy

(2008) Co-organised (with the LLAS Subject Centre) the 鈥楾exts in Translation鈥 event

(2008) Local Conference Secretary for the AHGBI conference (91直播)

Memberships:

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

Member of the Association of Hispanists of Great Britain and Ireland (AHGBI)

Member of the Asociaci贸n Internacional de Galdosistas (AIG)

Member of the XIX Red de Hispanistas

Publications

Books/ edited works (inc. electronic edition of Torquemada en la hoguera)

  • The Place of Argument: Essays in Honour of Nicholas G. Round, ed. with Anny Brooksbank Jones (London: Tamesis books, 2007) 264pp.
  • Electronic edition of Torquemada en la hoguera, ed. Rhian Davies (91直播: HriOnline, 2005)
  • Gald贸s y L谩zaro: una breve y fruct铆fera colaboraci贸n (1889-91) (Madrid: Fundaci贸n L谩zaro Galdiano/Ollero y Ramos, 2002) 165pp.
  • La Espa帽a Moderna and 搁别驳别苍别谤补肠颈贸苍: A Cultural Review in Restoration Spain (1889-1914) (Manchester: Ca帽ada-Blanch Publications, 2000) xii + 212pp.

Journal articles

  • 鈥楻evisting 鈥淧lace鈥 in a Realist Novel: 鈥淭hinking Space鈥 in Gald贸s鈥檚 Torquemada en la hoguera (1889)鈥, Hispanic Research Journal, 21(4) (2021), 353-76  
  • 鈥楬idden Secrets, Utopias, Ghosts and the Hispanic Periphery in Los abrazos rotos (2009): Pedro Almod贸var鈥檚 Homage to Lanzarote and C茅sar Manrique (1919-92)鈥, Bulletin of Spanish Visual Studies, 5(1) (2021), 31-60  
  • 鈥楢 Journey through Uncharted Territories?: Reassessing Canarian literature and the Novela Negra through an Analysis of Identity, Solitude and Place in Miguel Aguerralde鈥檚 Claro de Luna (2009)鈥, Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies, 26(2) (2020), 83-105  
  • 鈥樷淰ampires in the Canaries?鈥 Miguel Aguerralde鈥檚 狈辞肠迟谩尘产耻濒辞 (2010): Revitalizing Vampire Traditions in the Hispanic Periphery鈥, Horror Studies, 10(2) (2019), 189-207  
  • 鈥楾he Meaning of Words: The Art (or Artlessness) of Communication in Gald贸s鈥檚 Torquemada en la hoguera鈥, Bulletin of Spanish Studies, 95(8) (2019), 121-34  
  • 鈥楥rime and Reform in La Espa帽a Moderna (1889-1914)鈥, Bulletin of Spanish Studies, 95(4) (2018), 243-272  
  • 鈥楽pace and Place in Alejandro Galindo鈥檚 1950 Film Adaptation of Gald贸s鈥檚 Do帽a Perfecta (1876)鈥, Bulletin of Hispanic Studies, 95(4) (2018), 417-434  
  • 鈥樎縈ujeres al borde de un naufragio鈥 or Potential Female Redeemers: The Representation and Role of Women in Gald贸s鈥檚 Torquemada 狈辞惫别濒蝉鈥, Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies, 23 (2017), 297-316  
  • 鈥樷淟a cuesti贸n femenina鈥 and La Espa帽a Moderna鈥, Bulletin of Spanish Studies, LXXXIX, (January 2012), 61-86  
  • 鈥楥ervantes in La Espa帽a Moderna (1889-1914)鈥, Bulletin of Hispanic Studies (Liverpool), 84 (2007), 145-60  
  • 'The Background to Torquemada en la hoguera', Bulletin of Hispanic Studies (Glasgow), LXXVI (1999), 399-413  
  • '"La revista es m铆a et amicorum": Jos茅 L谩zaro Galdiano y La Espa帽a Moderna (1889-1914)', Goya: revista de arte (dedicado a D. Jos茅 L谩zaro Galdiano), 261 (November-December 1997), 545-554
  • 'Editar los manuscritos de Benito P茅rez Gald贸s en CD-Rom', Cuadernos Cervantes de la lengua espa帽ola, 15 (July-August 1997), 51-53

Conference proceedings

  • 鈥樎柯獷n busca del 芦hombre nuevo禄? Retratos de la masculinidad en las Novelas de Torquemada (1889-95)鈥, In La hora de Galdos. Actas del XI Congreso Internacional de estudios galdosianos, ed. Yolanda Arencibia et al (Las Palmas: Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria, 2019), pp.893-914  
  • 鈥楨l mundo del siglo XIX en la obra novel铆stica y period铆stica de Gald贸s鈥, in Actas del X Congreso Internacional de estudios galdosianos (Las Palmas: Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria, 2015), pp.167-73  
  • 鈥樎獿a Ciudad Imperial禄: Toledo en la obra period铆stica y novel铆stica de Gald贸s鈥, in Actas del IX Congreso Internacional de estudios galdosianos (Las Palmas: Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria, 2011), pp.571-83  
  • Gald贸s y la prensa: hacia una revisi贸n cr铆tica de la mina inagotable鈥, in Actas del VIII Congreso Internacional de estudios galdosianos (Las Palmas: Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria, 2009), pp.509-19  
  • (With Nicholas Round) 'Hacia una nueva lectura de las novelas contempor谩neas de Gald贸s: la nueva tecnolog铆a y el P茅rez Gald贸s Editions Project', Actas del VII Congreso Internacional de estudios galdosianos (Las Palmas: Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria, 2005), pp.885-89
  • 'Towards the Modern Reader: The Uses of IT in Editing the Novels of Gald贸s', in Digital Evidence: Selected Papers from DRH 2000, ed. Michael Fraser, Nigel Williamson & Marilyn Deegan, OHC 14 (London: Offices for Humanities Communication, 2001), pp.169-78

Book chapters

  • 鈥楬ow To Be A Writer for the Press 鈥 and How to Write about It鈥, in Spain in the Nineteenth Century: New Essays on Experiences of Culture and Society, eds Andrew Ginger & Geraldine Lawless (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2018), pp.174-90
  • 鈥楲as escritoras en La Espa帽a Moderna (1889-1914)鈥, in Escritoras espa帽olas en los medios de prensa (1868-1936), ed. Carmen Serv茅n and Margherita Bernard (Madrid: Editorial Renacimiento, 2014), pp.61-94
  • Civilization and Barbarity in the Torquemada 狈辞惫别濒蝉鈥, in Studies in Honor of Vernon Chamberlin, ed. Mark Harpring (Newark: Juan de la Cuesta-Hispanic Monographs, 2011), pp.49-64
  • 鈥La Espa帽a Moderna y la literatura hispanoamericana鈥, in Literatura hisp谩nica y prensa peri贸dica (1875-1931), ed. Javier Serrano Alonso et al (Santiago: USC, 2010), pp. 727-43
  • 鈥搁别驳别苍别谤补肠颈贸苍 and Philosophy in the Torquemada 狈辞惫别濒蝉鈥, in The Place of Argument: Essays in Honour of Nicholas G. Round, ed. Rhian Davies and Anny Brooksbank Jones (Woodbridge: Tamesis books, 2007), pp.86-102
  • 'The Manuscript of Torquemada en la Cruz: A Stage in a Creative Process', in New Gald贸s Studies, ed. Nicholas Round (London: Tamesis, 2003), pp.43-58

Other

  • Literary encyclopaedia entry on Benito P茅rez Gald贸s (published 14 December 2009)  
  • 鈥楽emblanza鈥 of Jos茅 L谩zaro Galdiano (in connection with the Historia Cultural de la Edici贸n Iberoamericana/ Semblanzas editoriales, published 2015 on the Cervantes virtual site)  

Journal reviews

  • Review of Approaches to Teaching the Writings of Emilia Pardo Baz谩n, ed. by Margot Versteeg and Susan Walter. New York: Modern Language Association of America, for the Bulletin of Spanish Studies, 96(4) (2019) 712-13
  • Review of La novela ideol贸gica (1875鈥1880): la literatura de ideas en la Espa帽a de la Restauraci贸n, by Ignacio Javier L贸pez, Madrid, Ediciones de la Torre, for the Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies, 20(1-2), 175-76. 
  • Review of Olga Guadalupe Mella, Epistolaridad y Realismo: La correspondencia privada y literaria de Juan Valera, Emilia Pardo Baz谩n y Benito P茅rez Gald贸s. Santiago de Compostela: Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, 2016, for the Bulletin of Spanish Studies, 95(6) (2018) 735-36
  • Review of Christine Arkinstall, Spanish Female Writers and the Freethinking Press 1879-1926, for the Bulletin of Spanish Studies, 94 (2017), 10-12
  • Review of Benito P茅rez Gald贸s Correspondencia, ed. Alan Smith, Mar铆a 脕ngeles Rodr铆guez S谩nchez and Laurie Lomask. Madrid: C谩tedra, for the Bulletin of Spanish Studies in 2016
  • Review of Mark Gant, The Spanish Writer and Publisher Carlos Frontaura (1834-1910): A Study of His Social Influence and Ideology (Lewiston/ Queenston/ Lampeter: Edwin Mellen Press, 2012), for the Bulletin of Spanish Studies, XCII, 6 (2015), 1027-28
  • Review of Antonio Prado, Matrimonio, familia y estado: Escritoras anarco-feministas en La Revista Blanca (1898-1936) (Madrid: Fundaci贸n de Estudios Libertarios Anselmo Lorenzo, 2011), for the Bulletin of Spanish Studies, XC, 8 (2013), 1385-86
  • Review of Margot Versteeg, Jornaleros de la pluma: La (re)definici贸n del papel del escritor-periodista en la revista Madrid C贸mico (Vervuert: Iberoamericana, 2011), for the Bulletin of Spanish Studies, XC, 7 (2013), 1208-09
  • Review of Traducci贸n y cultura: La literatura traducida en la prensa hisp谩nica (1868-98), ed. Marta Gin茅 & Solange Hibbs (Bern: Peter Lang), for the Bulletin of Spanish Studies, LXXXIX, 5 (2012), 812-13
  • Ignacio Javier L贸pez, Pedro Antonio de Alarc贸n (Prensa, pol铆tica, novela de tesis), for the Bulletin of Spanish Studies, LXXXVIII, 3 (2011), 426-27
  • John H. Sinnigen, Benito P茅rez Gald贸s en el cine mexicano: literatura y cine, for the Bulletin of Hispanic Studies, 88.1 (2011), 125-25
  • Charnon-Deutsch, Lou, Hold That Pose: Visual Culture in the Late-Nineteenth-Century Spanish Periodical (Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006), for the Modern Language Review, 106.1 (2011), 270-272
  • Bacon, Kathy, Negotiating Sainthood: Distinction, Cursiler铆a, and Saintliness in Spanish Novels (London: Legenda, 2007), for the Modern Language Review, 106.1 (2011), 269-70
  • C谩via, Mariano de, Azotes y Galeras, ed. Mar铆a 脕ngulo Egea & M陋 del Rosario Leal Bonmati (Zaragoza: Asociaci贸n de la Prensa de Arag贸n, 2008), for the Bulletin of Spanish Studies, LXXXVII (2010), 271-72
  • McGovern, Timothy, Gald贸s Beyond Realism: Reading and the Creation of Magical Worlds (Newark: Juan de la Cuesta, 2004), for the MLR (July 2007), 868-69
  • Smith, Alan E., Gald贸s y la imaginaci贸n mitol贸gica (Madrid: C谩tedra, 2005), for the Revista de Estudios Hisp谩nicos , XLI.1 (2007), 148-150
  • Benito P茅rez Gald贸s, Prosa cr铆tica, intro. and ed. by Jos茅-Carlos Mainer; notes by Juan Carlos Ara Torralba (Madrid: Espasa, Biblioteca de Literatura Universal, 2004), for the Bulletin of Hispanic Studies (Liverpool), 83(1) (2006), 125
  • John Sinnigen, Benito P茅rez Gald贸s en la prensa mejicana de su tiempo (M茅xico: Universidad Nacional Aut贸noma de M茅xico, 2005), for the Bulletin of Hispanic Studies
  • Benito P茅rez Gald贸s, El doctor Centeno, ed. Jos茅-Carlos Mainer, for the Bulletin of Hispanic Studies (Liverpool), 82(2) (2005), 260-61
  • Vernon A. Chamberlin, 'The Perils of Interpreting Fortunata's Dream' and Other Studies in Gald贸s: 1961-2002, for the Bulletin of Hispanic Studies (Liverpool), 82(2) (2005), 261-62
  • Monteagudo, 3a. 茅poca, no. 7 ('Revistas literarias y literatura del siglo XX'), ed. Francisco Javier D铆ez de Revenga, for the Bulletin of Hispanic Studies (Liverpool), 82(2) (2005), 267-68
  • James Whiston, Creatividad textual e intertextual en Gald贸s, for the Modern Language Review, 98:3 (2003), 743-44
  • Luisa Elena Delgado, La imagen elusiva, for the Bulletin of Spanish Studies (Glasgow), LXXVIII (2001), 428-29