DrDiana Battaglia

I am a university lecturer and researcher with more than 15 years of teaching experience in different countries and educational systems (Irish, Spanish, Italian, English). Both my training (BA, MA and PHD) and my teaching practice cover several languages and subjects providing me with a fully rounded education and a very international and interdisciplinary academic profile. Both my education, teaching training and practice combine the cultural and language aspects. My research interests  are broadly in the area of Hispanic Studies. They include contemporary Latin American literature (especially Cuban  literature);  Spanish and Latin American detective fiction, and the representation of cultural memory and cultural identity in crime fiction; Memory studies; Cultural studies; Literary theory; Postcolonial Studies; Gender studies; Identitity, migration and cultural heritage; Didactics of languages; Second language acquisition and ELE; Interculturality.

After a BA and MA degree in Foreign Languages and International Communication at the University of Catania (Italy), I have completed a Ph.D. at the University of Leeds (UK). My thesis, entitled "Representing Cubanness: Time, Space and Cultural identity in the work of Leonardo Padura Fuentes", focused on the narrative representation of Cuban identities. Starting from the narrative categories of time and space I analyse how Padura's characters constantly negotiate and reshape their identities in relation to the Cuban socio-political changes of the Special Period and post-Soviet era.

 

Before coming to UCD I worked for various years as a PG teaching assistant and language tutor at the University of Leeds and, then, as a Lecturer in Latin American Studies at Queen's University Belfast teaching both content and language modules at all levels.