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Meet the Madrid Faculty

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Classes offered through the Madrid Program are taught by local faculty, the Center Director, and by one Stanford Faculty-in-Residence per quarter. Many local professors hold regular appointments at Spanish universities. Courses are taught in Spanish unless otherwise noted.

Faculty in Residence

Each quarter, one Stanford professor serves as Faculty in Residence in each of the BOSP program locations. These faculty teach classes in their own disciplines, developing courses that incorporate unique features of the local culture and environment or that provide comparative perspectives on a particular topic. View a list of current and future faculty.

Local Faculty

María Almudena Ariza Armada

Almudena Ariza has completed doctoral studies in Numismatics and received her PhD in Arabic and Islamic Studies from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. She has received scholarships from both Spanish and international institutions to conduct research in Spain as well as European and Arabic countries and currently collaborates with several U.S. university programs in Madrid. Almudena has participated in national and international symposia and is the author of several articles on Islamic Numismatics as well as various academic websites that have been recognized and recommended by the international academic community. Her last book, De Barcelona a Orán. Las emisiones monetales a nombre de los califas Ḥammūdíes de al-Andalus, wan the Jury Prize Javier Conde Garriga 2015

Alberto Bosco

Alberto is a composer, pianist, and music critic. Originally from Italy, he completed his Composition Degree and Piano Performance Degree at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Torino and received a Degree in Music History and a PhD in Comparative Literatures and Cultures from the Università di Torino.  He has received multiple grants and scholarships both as a student and as a professor, including a Fulbright Visiting Scholar appointment at Columbia University, the "Luigi and Eleonora Ronga" Award for musicological studies from the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei in Rome and a research grant from the Paul Sacher Stiftung in Basel. Based in Madrid, he serves as a foreign correspondent for the Italian-language news outlets Il Giornale della Musica and Il Corriere Musicale, and writes for the Spanish music magazine Scherzo. As an essayist and lecturer he is regularly invited by the some of the most important Italian concert societies (Orchestra Nazionale della RAIUnione Musicale) and opera theaters (Teatro alla Scala di MilanoTeatro Regio di TorinoTeatro Lirico di Cagliari). In addition to performing, Alberto also teaches at Saint Louis University's Madrid campus and has lectured at the Cursos de Verano de la Universidad Complutense.

María Teresa Camblor Portilla

Maite received her PhD in Spanish Linguistics from Georgetown University. She has served as a language instructor at various U.S. universities, including Georgetown University.  She has also collaborated on several language instruction books and has served as an educational advisor to the Spanish Embassy in Washington, D.C.  Currently, as a full-time lecturer, she teaches and coordinates the Spanish language courses at the Stanford University BOSP in Madrid where she also manages the programs with Spanish students. In addition, she collaborates with other U.S. programs in Spain as well as several Spanish institutions, including the Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo, the Universidad de Oviedo and the Ministry of Education.

Pablo Campos Calvo Sotelo

Is a PhD Architect, PhD in Education, Academic-Royal Academy of Doctors and Full Professor of the Universidad CEU-San Pablo. He is the author of 16 books about University Spaces, together with a large number of articles in international Reviews, In 2010 and 2012 he received the Research Awards “Ángel Herrera” for his research works. Dr. Campos is the author of the concept of “Educational Campus” for the innovation of University campuses. He has been a consultant to the Ministry of Education in Spain for the Program “Campus of International Excellence” (2008-2011). Since 1990, professor Campos has designed university spaces. In 2012, Dr. Campos was recipient of the International “Education Leadership Award”, by World Education Congress (Mumbai, India)

Jean Castejon Gilabert

Holds a degree in Franco-Spanish Philology from the Sorbonne University in Paris and a Master's Degree in Visual Anthropology from Denis Diderot University in Paris. As a filmmaker-teacher he collaborates with Hamilton College in the United States (State of New York) and with its program in Madrid, HCAYS. He also teaches and creates documentary film workshops in different Spanish institutions (Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid Film Institute, TAI School, SGAE, Institute of Fine Arts of Madrid, Conde Duque Cultural Center, Casa Encendida and several Spanish Cultural Centers of Latin America). He also collaborates with Latin American institutions of international renown (Casa Comal Film School of Guatemala City, San Antonio de los Baños International Film School of Cuba, Filmoteca de Quito, Cartagena de las Indias International Film Festival, FUNGLODE de Santo Institution Sunday). His cinematographic works, documentaries focused on the theme of portraiture and historical memory, have been selected in several international festivals.

Raúl de la Fuente Marcos

Is a Spanish astronomer and a member of the American Astronomical Society. He obtained his Ph.D. in Physics (Astrophysics) from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) with a thesis entitled Dynamical Evolution of Open Star Clusters that received the UCM Ph.D. Thesis Prize Award for Outstanding Research. Raul has collaborated with several U.S. universities in Madrid and he is currently a member of the Spanish team of WSO-UV, an International project to put an ultraviolet telescope in space. He studies galactic, stellar and Solar System dynamics, and his research interests include numerical simulations and data mining. He has helped to identify multiple co-orbital companions of Venus, Earth, Mars, Uranus and Neptune, including several quasi-satellites of our own planet. Raul has coauthored several studies on near-Earth asteroids and impacts, and multiple papers on the subject of the existence of planets beyond Pluto. Nature, Science, New Scientist, Newsweek and Time, among others, have featured highlights from his results during the last five years. His publications include eighty-five papers in International peer reviewed journals.

Julia Doménech López

Dr. Julia Doménech completed her Ph.D. (Magna cum Laude) at the Universidad Autónoma Madrid (1997) and has been Associate Professor at its Art History Department (2007-2010). Since 1998 Dr. Doménech has taught at New York University Madrid and, at present, she also teaches at B.O.S.P. in Madrid program.

She has written extensively on painting and the visual arts, especially in the long Nineteenth Century concentrating on gender issues, text image relations and visual knowledge. Her book La belleza pétrea y la belleza líquida. El sujeto femenino en la poesía y las artes victorianas. (Petrified Beauty and Liquid beauty. The female subject in Victorian Poetry and Visual Arts) was published in 2010 (Editorial Fundamentos). Currently she is completing a new book on the construction of visual space in the Nineteenth Century.

Guerda Cecilia Estrada Villaseñor

Holds a PhD in International Migration and Development Cooperation: International Migration from the Comillas Pontifical University. High experience in: Sociological and anthropological studies. Qualitative and Quantitative research and analysis.

Director of the Chair of Refugees and Forced Migrants as well as coordinator of the Ibero-American Observatory on Human Mobility, Migration and Development (OBIMID) at Comillas Pontifical University. Her published works include a large number of articles : The human right to housing among the immigrant population in Spain,  The impact of Covid-19 on immigration journalism in Spain: continuities and possible ruptures and books: What the quietness hides, Labor market insertion of the Venezuelan population in Latin America, Migratory Flows at the borders of our world.

Laura Luceño Casals

Has a PhD in philology from the University of Perpignan (France), having done a thesis on fashion. She obtained a DEA in Audiovisual Communication at the Complutense University of Madrid. Her field of research is the history of costume and fashion, as well as the analysis of the catwalk.

She has taught at several universities, including her course on Spanish and international fashion in the Bing Program at Stanford University in Madrid. She has been part of the Scientific Committee and organizer of the First International Fashion Congress in Madrid, CIM 2008. For five consecutive years she was the Secretary of Fashion Summer Courses of the Polytechnic University of Madrid, as well as in the Rey Juan Carlos University. She has collaborated in several fashion magazines such as El País Semanal, Vogue, Woman, S-MODA, YoDona and Marie Claire.

She has been part of the organizing team of the CSDMM Tributes to Elio Berhanyer, Jesús del Pozo and Enrique Loewe. She is currently in charge of Institutional Relations and Professor of the Centro Superior de Diseño de Moda de Madrid, where she also participates in the organization of fashion shows and exhibitions.

Mónica Méndez Lago

Mónica Méndez Lago is Technical Advisor at the Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas (CIS), where she was also Head of the Research Department. 

She graduated in Political Science and Sociology at the University Complutense (Madrid)  and obtained the Post-graduate Diploma in Social Science Data Analysis at the University of Essex (UK). She obtained her Ph.D. at the European University Institute (Florence, Italy). Her Ph.D. thesis analyzed the organizational strategy of the Spanish Workers´ Socialist Party between 1975 and 1996. Her research interests are focused on survey methodology, immigrant social and political integration and the study of political behavior. She has been a lecturer in Politics at the University of Murcia. Previously she taught at the University of Salamanca. In addition to the University of Murcia, she teaches in several post-graduate and Ph.D. programs (Universidad Autónoma (Barcelona)), Universidad Carlos III (Madrid)), among others.

Laura Murcia Cánovas

Laura began her training as a professional flamenco dancer during her early childhood, studying at various schools of Danza española in Cartagena, Murcia. Later, in Madrid, she continued her studies at the renowned flamenco school Amor de Dios with professors such as Cristobal Reyes, Antonio Canales, and Merche Esmeralda.  She has danced on diverse stages both as a soloist and as a member of dance companies such as Compañía de Rafael AguilarBallet de Carmen Romero, or Teatro Español de Madrid. Laura holds a degree in Performing Arts and an M.A. in Scenic Arts from the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos. She has over twenty years of teaching experience in various cultural centers, dance schools and study abroad programs.

Alicia Pérez Blanco

Holds a PhD, MD in Critical Care Medicine as well as a degree in Medicine, both from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.  She also has a Master Degree in Bioethics from the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos. At present, Alicia is a physician working for the National Transplant Organization (ONT) in charge of pediatric organ donation, bioethics committee and heart transplantation. She is actively involved in research and publication, contributing to journals such as Intensive Care MedicineTherapeutic Updates in Cardiology and the Journal of Medical Ethics.  She regularly participates in conferences and courses both nationally and internationally, with recent highlights including a clinical bioethics course for medical professionals at Harvard’s Medical School (2012) and a summer program through The Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics at Yale University (2013).

Beatriz Pérez Galán

Is a Professor in the the National Distance Education University (UNED). She is PhD in Social Anthropology from Complutense University of Madrid (1999) and completed pre-doctorate studies at University of London and pos-doctorate studies at The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). She has been Visiting Professor at universities and research centers in South America and collaborated with different US universities study abroad programs in Madrid. From 1994 the main center of attention of her ethnographic research is focused on clichés in relation with the study of ethnic and cultural identities construction in indigenous communities in the Andes (Peru, Bolivia and Colombia.)

Pedro Perez-Leal

Pedro J. Pérez Leal has been the director of the Stanford Center in Madrid since 2016. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) and a Ph.D. in Hispanic Literature and Cultural Studies from Georgetown University. Pedro also took postgraduate courses in Sociology and Cultural Anthropology at UAM. His doctoral dissertation dealt with the intersection between culture and disease. His study-abroad experience includes serving as Assistant Director of the Georgetown University Summer Program in Ecuador, Academic Coordinator of the Hamilton College Program in Madrid and Associate Director of the Suffolk University Madrid Campus. Pedro has taught a wide variety of language, culture and literature courses. Pedro’s courses at the Stanford Center in Madrid are titled “Philosophy and Literature of Travel” and “Introduction to Spanish Culture”.

Olivia Virginia Reyes Hernando

Bachelor in Geography and History (speciality: Archaeology) and PhD in Natural and Cultural Heritage from the  University of Valladolid, Spain.

She has participated in different research projects: Terrritorium Caucensis in times of Theodosius the Great, Scan priuata of Theodosiana tempora, Cauca Integral Project among others. Some of her publications: Villas romanas de la provincial de Segovia, Arqueología y Arquitectura de representación, Archeology, Roman Villas, Late Antiquíty, New Technologies applied to Archeology, Latin Epigraphy, History of Ancient Art, Cultural Heritage.

Óscar Sánchez Fuster

Óscar has completed doctoral courses in Drawing and Etching, Teaching, Research, and Creativity at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.  An active artist, his work is a “reflection of his own personal experiences and emotions transformed to communicate universal messages.”  When painting, he works with combinations of acrylic, oils, and encaustic mediums.  In his sculptures he works with wood, polyester, latex and iron.  Óscar has participated in individual and group exhibitions throughout Spain, France, and Portugal and often creates artwork for use in marketing and advertising campaigns.  As a professor, he collaborates with several U.S. university programs in Madrid and also teaches as a guest lecturer in local Spanish institutions.

Almendra Staffa-Healey

Almendra is an Intercultural Trainer & International and Experiential Learning Educator. She teaches 'Integration into Spanish Society: Service Learning and Professional Opportunities' in the Bing Overseas Studies Program in Madrid. She was born in Granada, Spain to US American parents, and has lived extensively in both countries as a child and as an adult. Over the past twenty years she has worked in the field of international and intercultural education and business. Almendra’s professional focus is cross-cultural understanding through education and training. She co-authored En clase, en el trabajo, entre la gente, a book commissioned by the European Union's Leonardo da Vinci Mobility Programme on perfecting foreign language, interpersonal and intercultural skills through internships abroad.  Almendra is a Qualified Administrator (QA) of the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI ®), one of the most widely used tools for assessing and developing intercultural competence at the individual, group, and organizational levels. She is also a Senior Facilitator of the cross cultural and transitions methodology Personal Leadership, Making a World of Difference®. Almendra holds a Bachelor's degree from New York University in Art History, an MBA from the Instituto de Estudios Bursátiles, an institution associated with the Universidad Complutense of Madrid and the Madrid Stock Exchange, as well as an MA in Social Anthropology from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. She has served as the SIETAR Spain President. SIETAR is the Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research, and international network of professionals dedicated to the intercultural field.