Dr. Spitz received her B.A. in English and Spanish at Monmouth College (IL), and her M.A. and PhD at Washington University (St. Louis, MO) in Hispanic Languages and Literatures.  Her research interests center on 19^th- and early 20^th-century Spanish American cultural production and cultural studies.  Her current obsession is the Peruvian Martín Adán (Rafael de la Fuente Benavides, 1909-1985), on whom she has published and given papers.  She is also interested in Spanish and Latin American film.  María has also recently received certification in the Oral Proficiency Interview, a method of evaluation of progress in a second language developed by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages and Language Testing International.

María comes to us from Blackburn College (IL), where she was Chair of the Dept., Director of the Mexico semester and coordinated an exchange program between Blackburn College and the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.  Her hobbies include working out, biking, music, politics, and hanging out with Pepe, who happens to be the best dog in the world.