Kathryn McKnight

Kathryn McKnight is a Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of New Mexico (UNM). With expertise in Latin American colonial discourses, she bridges historical and cultural analysis with contemporary humanistic engagement, particularly in Health Humanities.

• Education
  • PhD, Stanford University, 1992
  • MA, Stanford University, 1987
  • Non-Degree Studies in Literature, Economics, and Theology, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Costa Rica and Seminario Bíblico Latinoamericano, San José, Costa Rica, 1983
  • BA, Earlham College, 1982

Research Interests span Early Modern Literature & Culture, with a focus on colonial Latin American discourses, Women's Agency in historical contexts, Afro-Hispanic Documentary Narratives, and Health Humanities. Her work interrogates how colonial power structures and marginalized voices shape cultural and literary production.

Scientific Awards & Honors include the prestigious MLA’s Katherine Singer Kovacs Prize for her groundbreaking book The Mystic of Tunja: The Writings of Madre Castillo, 1671–1742 (1997), which redefined scholarship on colonial female autobiography.

Contact Information: Email mcknight@unm.edu, Phone: 505-277-5907, Fax: 505-277-3885. Located in Room 419, Ortega Hall, UNM, Albuquerque, NM 87131-1070.