Ivette Gomez

Ivette Gomez is an Associate Professor in the Department of Spanish at the University of Southern California's Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences. She has taught at USC since Fall 2010, specializing in Spanish language courses (Spanish II/III) and upper-division courses examining literature, arts, politics, and societies in Spain and Latin America. Since 2017, she has directed the Cuba Maymester program, a 4-week intensive academic program studying urban decay and cultural narratives in Cuban literature.

• Education: Ph.D. in Spanish, University of California, Irvine (2009)

Her research focuses on urban decay and memory in Latin American cultural production, particularly Cuban literature. Key themes include:

• 20th/21st-century Latin American literature
• Urban decay as metaphor for national identity
• Body politics in postmodern narratives
• Critical memory and cultural palimpsests
• Intersection of travel literature and political critique

Her work analyzes how contemporary Cuban writers use urban ruins to explore historical memory and socialist identity fragmentation. The 2010 publication in Revista Iberoamericana exemplifies this focus through Abilio Estévez's theatrical ruins.

She has presented at major conferences including LASA (2009-2010) and ACLA (2008), discussing topics like:

• Pardo Lazo's portrayal of boredom in post-Castro Cuba
• Urban ruins as sites for cultural memory in 21st-century Cuban narratives
• Politicization of decay in Ponte's works

Office Hours: Mondays & Wednesdays 9:00 AM-10:00 AM (and by appointment).