Elena Deanda-Camacho

Elena Deanda-Camacho is a Professor of Spanish and Black Studies, and Director of the Black Studies Program at Washington College. She holds a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University (2010) and a B.A. from the University of Veracruz, Mexico (2001). Her research focuses on early modern Spanish literature, colonial Mexico, and intersections of gender, race, and censorship. Notable works include her 2022 monograph Offensive to Pious Ears, which won the SESXVIII Best Monograph Prize, and her upcoming Pornopoetics. She has received grants from the Mellon Foundation, Spanish ministries, and the Fulbright Program.

Education:

• Ph.D., Vanderbilt University, 2010
• B.A., University of Veracruz, Mexico, 2001

Research Interests:

• Early modern Spanish literature
• Inquisitorial censorship and freedom of speech
• Gender and queer theory
• Colonial Mexico and its cultural production
• Pornography studies in imperial Europe

Awards:

• 2023 SESXVIII Best Monograph Prize
• 2023 Fulbright Global Scholar Award

Professional Roles:

• Outgoing President of the Ibero-American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (IASECS)
• Director of the Black Studies Program

Current Projects:

• Pornopoetics: A monograph theorizing pornography’s role in 18th-century imperial Europe
• Fulbright Global Scholar collaboration across Bonn, Oviedo, and UNAM