Mehl Penrose

Mehl Penrose is an Associate Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Maryland’s School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures. He also holds affiliate roles as Associate Professor in Classics and faculty in the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Center. His research focuses on eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Spanish cultural and literary studies, with emphases on queer theory, non-normative masculinity, and intersections of legal/medical/journalistic discourses. Penrose earned his Ph.D. in Hispanic Languages and Literatures from UCLA.

Education:

• Ph.D., Hispanic Languages and Literatures, University of California, Los Angeles

Research Interests: Penrose examines how Spanish Enlightenment authors used literary tropes to explore gender and sexuality. He investigates figures like the 'petimetre' (effeminate male stock character) and 'bujarrón' (sexually fluid male), analyzing their roles in shaping national identity and critiquing French cultural influence. His work bridges Spanish literature with queer theory, exploring how pre-modern texts laid groundwork for contemporary gender discourse.

Teaching: Penrose teaches undergraduate courses on Spanish cultural history and graduate seminars on topics including Realist-Naturalist novels, gender in Enlightenment literature, and cross-cultural queer studies. He is a member of several scholarly societies including the Modern Language Association and American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies.