Tulane University

Contact Info
ratencio@tulane.edu

Department Affiliation
Spanish and Portuguese

Degrees

• B.A., Johns Hopkins University, Latin American Studies, 2000
• M.A., University of Wisconsin-Madison, Portuguese, 2003
• Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison, Portuguese, 2006

Academic Experience

• Associate Professor, Tulane University, 2009 –
• Assistant Professor, Tulane University, 2009 – 2014
• Assistant Professor, University of North Caroline-Charlotte, 2006 – 2009

Research & Teaching Specializations: Contemporary Brazil, the Brazilian military dictatorship, Memory Studies, Transitional Justice, Luso-Brazilian Literatures and Cultures, Postdictatorial Latin America, Political Violence and Memory, Testimonial and Exile Literatures

Related Experience

• Executive Committee Member, SECOLAS, 2014-
• Executive Committee Member, Brazilian Studies Association, 2012-
• Executive Committee Member, MLA Discussion Group, Lusophone Literatures outside of Portugal and Brazil, 2012-
• Founder, “Transitional Justice in Brazil” (blog), 2012-
• Editorial Board Member, The Latin Americanist, 2008-
• Editorial Assistant, Luso-Brazilian Review, 2005-2006

Distinctions

• Winner of the Simon Rodríguez Award for Best Undergraduate Teacher, Tulane University, 2017
• Honorable Mention for Robert Reis Best Book Prize, Brazilian Studies Association, 2016
• Thomas Award for Best Book, Southeastern Council of Latin American Studies, 2015
• Sturgis Leavitt Award for Best Article, Southeastern Council of Latin American Studies, 2011
• Glick Fellowship, School of Liberal Arts, Tulane University, 2011
• Faculty Research Grant, UNC-Charlotte, 2006 and 2009
• Evjue Foundation Research Award, 2004

Languages:

• Portuguese
• Spanish
• French

Overseas Experience

• Brazil
• Argentina
• Cuba
• Nicaragua

Selected Publications

• 2016. “O momento da memória: A produção artístico-cultural e a justiça de transição no Brasil.” Revista Anistia. Vol. 10: 114-130.
• 2016. “Toward of Culture of Memory in Brazil: Reading Bernardo Kucinski’s K. as Testimony and Literature.” Luso-Brazilian Review. 53(2): 117-132.
• 2016. “The Vivid Legacy of Dictatorship in Brazil.” With Nina Schneider and Ann Schneider. Introduction to Special Issue on “Memories and Legacies of the Brazilian Military Dictatorship: New Perspectives.” Bulletin of Latin American Research. 35(4): 1-2.
• 2016. “Reckoning with Dictatorship in Brazil: The Double-Edged Role of Culture.” With Nina Schneider. Latin American Perspectives 20(2): 1-17.
• 2015. “Reconciliation or Resistance? Fernando Gabeira’s O que é isso, companheiro? and the Amnesty Law.” Luso-Brazilian Review 51(1).
• 2014. Memory’s Turn: Reckoning with Dictatorship in Brazil. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
• 2013. “Acts of Witnessing: Site-Specific Performance and Transitional Justice in Postdictatorship Brazil.” Latin American Theatre Review (46.2): 7-24.
• 2012. “Art and Transitional Justice.” Co-authored with Nancy Gates-Madsen. Encyclopedia of Transitional Justice. Eds. Lavinia Stan and Nadya
  Nedelsky. Cambridge UP.
• 2012. “A Prime Time to Remember: Memory Merchandising in Globo’s Anos Rebeldes.” In The Memory Market in Latin America. Ksenija Bilbija and Leigh
  Payne, eds. Durham: Duke University Press. 41-68.
• 2006. “Dangerous Minds: Brazil’s Escritura da exclusão and Testimonio.” Hispania. 89 (2): 278-288.

Recently-Taught Latin American-Related Courses: PORT 3130: Introduction to Brazilian Culture, PORT 4510: Brazilian Cities, Soccer in Brazilian Culture; Legacies of Dictatorship in Contemporary Brazil; Human Rights and Cultural Production in Brazil; PORT 3340: Brazilian Women Writers, SPAN 3070: Latin American Literature in English Translation

Number of Dissertations or Theses Supervised in the Past 5 Years: 7

Full CV or Website
Curriculum Vitae
Departmental Biography