Biography

Nelson López, a Professor Emeritus from Bellarmine University, holds a BA in Humanities-Drama from the University of Puerto Rico.  He has two terminal degrees in Arts and Literature, a M.F.A from Virginia Commonwealth University in Theater, and a Ph.D. in Peninsular Literature from the University of Florida.

 Dr. López is an educator at heart, and applies his theater training into the classroom by adhering to the Horatian maxim: to teach and entertain. However, it is not all fun and games for he is consistently learning about pedagogical methods to acquire and impart Spanish. On the lighter side, Dr. López is technology curious and inclined, making him a PC and console gamer. He is tech savvy enough to build his own PC's, dabble in Macs, Photoshop, Premiere, Camtasia, Snagit, and any other software that intrigues him. Some weekends you may run into him online engaging in Blizzard, Ubisoft, AE.

Research & Teaching Areas

Dr. López has a wide range of interests, including Spanish Renaissance and Golden Age Literature, Puerto Rican Popular Culture, Spanish for the professions, traveling, hobbies like gardening and reading detective and adventure fiction. He studies Hispanic and Latino Theater, with a focus in Performance Studies in Theater and Film. He has published two books, one being an acting edition in Spanish, El valiente negro en Flandes: edición para actores, Reichenberger Press, 2007.  The second piece of work is an annotated and critical edition, along with his English translation, done with Baltasar Fra-Molinero and Manuel Olmedo Gobante, of El valiente negro en Flandes (The Valiant Black Man in Flanders.) Liverpool Press, UK 2023. The book includes an introduction, three essays, and critical apparatus comparing eleven versions of the plays. A resource for Early Modern Spanish European literature and an educational aid for conversations about Blackness in Spain and its trans-Atlantic Empire.

He holds certificates in synchronous and asynchronous online teaching from ELEInternacional and Campus Difusión. Has served as table leader and grading for AP Spanish, both in language and literature; and has presented at conferences on ACTFL, ABC, NAFSA, MLA, and other national conferences on teaching, assessment, and study abroad. Dr. López believes studying abroad is important for connecting with cultures and languages. He is an experienced traveler and loves learning about other cultures. His 10 years plus of leading students abroad in Spain, and personal travels to other places, drives him to encourage with utmost passion studying abroad. For him, traveling means new food, language, people, and places to explore and learn.