Sarah J. Townsend

Sarah J. Townsend is an Associate Professor of Spanish and Portuguese at Pennsylvania State University, affiliated with the College of the Liberal Arts. She holds a PhD from New York University and a BA from the University of Iowa. Her research integrates Marxist theory, political ecology, and performance studies to explore intersections between culture and capitalism in Latin America and beyond.

• Education: PhD in Spanish & Portuguese (NYU), BA in Spanish (University of Iowa)

Her current projects include Opera in the Amazon: Culture, Capital, and the Global Jungle, analyzing the Teatro Amazonas opera house’s role in rubber-boom era capitalism, and Rio-mar, Mare internum, examining transnational connections between the Amazon and Mediterranean regions. She has held prestigious fellowships, including the ACLS Burkhardt Residential Fellowship (2021–2022).

Research interests span Amazonian studies, avant-garde theater, sound studies, and critical race theory. Notable publications include The Unfinished Art of Theater: Avant-Garde Intellectuals in Mexico and Brazil (2018), winner of multiple awards, and co-edited volumes like Stages of Conflict (2008).

• Awards: Modern Drama Outstanding Article Prize (2018), ACLS Burkhardt Fellowship (2020)

Academic service includes organizing the Hemispheric Americas lecture series and leading the Redesigning Modernities grant project. Teaching focuses on Latin American performance, modernisms, and cultural ecology, with courses in Portuguese, Spanish, and English.