Robin Ragan
Professor of Modern Languages (Spanish)
Meet Professor Ragan
Years at Knox: 2000 to present
"My current interest is translation and interpreting along with community engagement. I am a certified medical interpreter and have been using my translation and interpreting skills to engage with programs that assist asylum seekers at the border. My dissertation and early research combines my love for literature as well as my engagement in feminist theory. My work has focused on issues of the body, specifically the female body. I am particularly intrigued with the way 19th century medical discourse portrays illness as a natural state in women such as hysteria, anorexia, and menstrual troubles. In this vein my early research analyzes the work of midwives, fashion critics, and school teachers' engagement with science. I also love to travel abroad with my students and have directed programs in Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Oaxaca, and Guatemala"
Education
Ph.D., 2001, University of Illinois.
M.A., 1995, University of Illinois.
B.A., 1993, University of Illinois.
Teaching Interests
Spanish translation and interpreting, Spanish literature (19th and 20th century), representations of women, medical issues in literature, Spanish youth movements, digital storytelling.
Selected Professional Accomplishments
Honors/Grants
- Humanities Innovation Grant from the Modern Languages Association Humanities to support new coursework on “Interpreting for Crisis Contexts in Immigration” 2020
- American Council on Teachers of Foreign Languages Global Engagement Initiative Award 2020
- Exceptional Achievement Award 2019 from Knox College for distinguished civic engagement service to the College and students in her interpretation and advocacy work with immigrant communities locally and nationally, and its relationship to innovative course development.
- Knox Faculty Research / Creative Work Grant - Censorship in Music Lyrics and Concerts 1968-present, 2016-2017.
- Knox Mellon Faculty Career Enhancement Grant - Interdisciplinary Course Development: Court Interpretation and Medical Interpretation, 2016-2017.
- Grant from the Public Education for Peacebuilding Support Initiative of the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) for the Peacebuilding Conference, 2013.
- Grant from the Spanish Film Club (SFC), an initiative by PRAGDA to help universities bring the very best in contemporary Spanish and Latin American cinema to campuses to introduce students to the language and cultures of these territories. A film festival was held on the Knox campus in Winter 2013, including an interview with the director of La Yuma (Nicaragua.)
- Program for Cultural Cooperation between Spain's Ministry of Culture and United States Universities. Grant to hold film festival titled "Family Dynamics and Body Politics: Women Directors of the Spanish-Speaking World," Oct. 2008.
- Phillip Green Wright Teaching Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2006.
Publications
"Going All in to Help Asylum Seekers at the U.S-Mexico Border", American Translators Association Chronicle, July/Aug 2020, pp. 20-24.
“Women Writing Hygiene in fin-de-siglo Spain: Midwives, School Teachers, and Fashion Critics.” Hispanic Journal, vol. 40, no. 2, 2019, pp. 121-144.
"Censorship in Political Music Lyrics and Concerts During the Transition to Democracy and the 1980s in Spain," Hispanic Journal, 38.1 (2017): 29-44.
"'La enfermedad extraña': Inapetencia, class and eating disorders in La esfinge maragata", Hispanic Review, 79.2 (2011): 213-233.
"Desarreglos propios del sexo: Advertising Menstrual Disorders and Regulating Women in fin-de-siglo Spain", Decimononica, 7.1 Winter/Invierno 2010.
"La monogamia y sus descontentos: el amor y el deseo en el cine español contemporáneo", Los hábitos del deseo: Formas de amar en la modernidad, Eds. Carme Riera y Meri Torras. Barcelona, Spain (2005): 121-125.
"Another Look at Nucha's Hysteria: Pardo Bazán's Response to the Medical Field of the Late Nineteenth-Century Spain", Letras femeninas, Spring 2004.
"Carmen de Burgos 'La mujer fria': A Response de Necrophilic Aesthetics in Decadentist Spain", Disciplines on the Line, Edited by Thomas Lathrop, Juan de la Cuesta-Hispanic Monographs, Newark: Juan de la Cuesta, 2003.
Presentations
"The Role of Translators and Interpreters in Immigration Detention" in Humanity Beyond Bars, Rethinking Punishment, Building Community. American University of Paris. December 3, 2020.
“Interpreting at a Detention Center for Asylum Seekers” American Translator’s Association Palm Springs, Ca. October 23-26, 2019.
"Los preceptos de higiene en la mujer española del siglo XIX: maestras, críticas de moda y las matronas," XX Congreso Internacional de Literatura y Estudios Hispánicos, Santiago de Compostela, Spain. June 21-23, 2017.
"A multi-faceted approach to raising male participation rates in study abroad," IES Abroad Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, October 2014.
"Folk singers in Spain during the late Franco and early democratic years: Four cases of censorship explored," 45th Annual Conference of the Association for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies, Modena, Italy, June 2014.
"Desarreglos propios del sexo: Advertising Menstrual Disorders in fin-de-siglo and Early Twentieth-Century Spain." 40th Annual Conference of the Society for Spanish and Portuguese Historical Studies, Kansas City, Missouri, April 2009.
"The Border between Family and Friends: Family Systems Theory and the Films Icíar Bollaín." 20th Century Literature Conference, University of Louisville, February 2006.
"Advertising Amenorrhea: The Medical Politics of Abortion and Anorexia in fin-de-siglo Spain." Institute for Feminist Theory and Research, University of Liverpool, 2003.
Campus & Community Involvement
- Volunteer translator and interpreter for various programs aiding asylum seekers
- Court Appointed Special Advocate in Knox County
- Resident Director, Knox College Program in Buenos Aires, 2006, 2007.
- Resident Director, Knox College Program in Barcelona, 2004-5, 2010-12, 2016-17.
- Former Director, Eleanor Stellyes Center for Global Studies.