Dr Rhian Davies

School of Languages, Arts and Societies

Senior Lecturer

SLC Rhian Davies
Profile picture of SLC Rhian Davies
rhian.davies@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 0551
Jessop West

Full contact details

Dr Rhian Davies
School of Languages, Arts and Societies
Jessop West
1 Upper Hanover Street
Sheffield
S3 7RA
Profile

I came to Sheffield in 1996 to take up the 4-year post as HEFCE/AHRB Institutional Fellow for the Gald坦s Editions Project, following a 2-year post as Laming Junior Fellow at The Queen's College, University of Oxford. I was offered a permanent post as Lecturer in 2000 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2005.

I became the Director of the Gald坦s Editions Project in 2003 and have worked on three projects funded by CILASS (Centre for Inquiry Based Learning on the Arts and Social Sciences). The first involved creating an electronic learning package to complement my electronic edition of Torquemada en la hoguera, the second was a grammar package for Level 2 (Post A-level) students and I was the Programme Leader for the School of Languages Interactive Year abroad Project from 2007-11.

During my time at Sheffield I have undertaken numerous administrative roles, including Director of Learning and Teaching and Year Abroad Coordinator for Hispanic Studies. I was Head of the Department of Hispanic Studies from 2013-2016 and the Deputy Director of Learning and Teaching for the School of Languages and Cultures (SLC) and the Programme Level Approach (PLA) Lead from 2017-2020. I am currently SLCs Director of Postgraduate Research (2020-).

I have served on various interview panels and committees both inside and outside the University, including the Universitys Equality and Diversity Board, the Faculty of Arts Graduate Research Committee, the LLAS Subject Centres Advisory Board, and the AHGBI Executive Committee. I was a member of Review group of the QAA Benchmark Statement for Languages and Related Studies in 2007 and 2014. 

I have taught on a wide range of modules covering the nineteenth-, twentieth- and twenty-first centuries. Literature is my main passion (especially nineteenth-century novels and contemporary Canarian literature) and I also immensely enjoy teaching film, which I regard as an important route into reading. (See the Teaching section for more information). I love all things Canarian, particularly the novels of Miguel Aguerralde (1978-) and the artworks of Sherezade Morales (1984-). I would relish the opportunity to supervise theses on topics related to my interests in the fin de siglo and to learn more, particularly about Canarian literature and culture.

Qualifications

BA Joint Honours (French and Spanish), MA, DPhil (Oxon) (Spanish at The Queens College, University of Oxford)

Research interests

My research interests include nineteenth-century Spanish culture and literature (particularly Gald坦s), the role of journalism during the fin de siglo and the uses of IT in producing electronic indexes and editions of novels. My research projects include 'From the Window of the Motherland', which looks at perspectives on Spanish America in the cultural review La Espa単a Moderna, the Torquemada novels and Gald坦s's work as a journalist. My latest passion is contemporary Canarian literature and culture, especially the novels of Miguel Aguerralde (see ) and the artworks of Sherezade Morales (see ).

I have been invited to speak and have delivered papers at numerous conferences/ institutions in the UK (e.g. Bristol, Liverpool, London, Manchester), Spain (e.g. Madrid [Universidad Aut坦noma], Las Palmas [Gran Canaria], C叩diz, the University of Palma Mallorca and Valencia) and the USA (Brown University). I have attended many of the AHGBI conferences and have delivered papers at every Congreso Internacional Galdosiano that has taken place since my arrival in Sheffield in 1996). I have also chaired panels/ acted as Secretaria de mesa on many occasions.

As can be seen below, I have supervised theses on a range of topics and I would welcome the opportunity to supervise on nineteenth or twentieth-century Spanish literature/culture or contemporary Canarian literature.

Supervision experience:

(Postdoctoral)

(2005-07): Dr Mar鱈a Ascensi坦n Ruiz (Postdoctoral Research Fellow sponsored by Spain's Ministry of Education) working on the reception of Gald坦ss work in the UK

(2002-3) Support for Dr Rodrigo Varela (Postdoctoral Research Fellow) working on Gald坦ss El doctor Centeno

(PhD all supervised to successful completion)

(2017) Inma Ridao Carlini: Wealth, Poverty and Social Mobility in Restoration Spain: A Critique of Liberal Society in the Novelas contempor叩neas of Benito P辿rez Gald坦s. Winner of the Peter Bly Prize. Published as Rich and Poor in Nineteenth-Century Spain: A Critique of Liberal Society in the Later Novels of Benito P辿rez Gald坦s (Tamesis, 2018)

(2016) Morgane Guinard for La Parabole du Savoir Interdit, ou les Interdits philosophiques et religieux sur la connaissance en France au XVIIIe si竪cle

(2016) Carla Almanza G叩lvez: Utopian Narrative in 18th-century Spain: Generic Frameworks and Social Reformism. Winner of the AHGBI Publication Prize. Published as Form and Reform in Eighteenth-Century Spain: Utopian Narratives and Socio-Political Debate (Legenda 2018)

(2013) Michelle Hunt: Literary and Social Aspects of El Pensador: An Essay-Periodical of Social Reform in Eighteenth-Century Spain

(2009) Anna Homan: 'Education and Genesis in Gald坦s's El doctor Centeno' (funded by a University Project Studentship)

(2004) Patricia Scott: 'Women in the novels of E巽a de Queiroz and Benito P辿rez Gald坦s'

(MA)

MPhil (2005) Clare Skirrey for 'The Natural World in the Short Stories of Leopoldo Alas'

I have supervised numerous students on the MA in Hispanic Studies programme and on the MA Applied Languages Programme (2011-2018), plus a Mundus student.

I have also chaired numerous upgrade panels/ confirmation reviews in SLC (on theses relating to French, German, History and Spanish)

Teaching activities

I have taught Undergraduate modules at all levels, focussing primarily on the Spanish nineteenth century, but also on twentieth- and twenty-first-century literature and culture and some Latin American authors. I have also taught Spanish language at Levels 2 and 3.

My literature modules (notably HSS 3000) have often been commended by External Examiners for their innovative approach and my teaching methods have been regarded as examples of good practice both within and outside Sheffield, and served as case studies for TEL events.

I have published articles on my teaching experiences, including:

New Ways of Teaching Literature, commissioned and peer-reviewed by the LLAS Subject Centre (2006). See

'Teaching Students to Read: The Uses of IT in Studying the Novels of Benito P辿rez Gald坦s', Languages and Linguistics and Area Studies Subject Centre C&IT Supplement, ed. Janet Bartle (Southampton: CILT, 2002), pp.12-14

'The P辿rez Gald坦s Editions Project: Creating Electronic Scholarly Editions', Teaching European Literature and Culture with Communication and Information Technologies: Selected Papers, ed. Sarah Porter & Stuart Sutherland (Oxford: CTI Centre for Textual Studies, 1999), pp.24-26 (see )

Details of the modules I have taught:

HSS130/1: Literature Tutorial groups (in connection with the Texts component of the core course) & a series of lectures on Torquemada en la hogueraLevel 1 
MDL105: Introduction to the Social and Political History of Iberia and Latin AmericaLevel 1
MDL 106: Understanding Spanish and Latin American CultureLevel 1
HSS227: Tradition, Transition and ModernityLevel 2
HSS251: Hispanic FictionLevel 2 
HSS234: Issues & Ideologies in the Modern Hispanic WorldLevel 2
HSS260: 'Spanish-American literature'Level 2
HSS264: 'The Novels of Benito P辿rez Gald坦s' Level 2
MDL217: Hispanic SpacesLevel 2
MDL226: Reality and Fantasy in Spain and Latin AmericaLevel 2
HSS335: Genesis and Genre: From Novel to Play to Screen: Gald坦s TodayLevel 3
HSS369: 'The Politics and Fiction of Crisis: 1868-98'Level 3
HSS371: Dissidence and DebateLevel 3
HSS3000: Adaptations and TransformationsLevel 3
HSS3015 The Media in SpainLevel 3
MDL338: Questioning Spain (formerly HSS3014)Level 3

I have also taught Level 2 Spanish at both Beginners level and Post A-level (HSS 230/1 and HSS 270/1), final-year Spanish language (HSS 330/1 and HSS 338/9) and MA Directed reading modules.

Professional activities and memberships

Examination-related activities:

(2016-20) External Examiner for Hispanic Studies at Cardiff University

(2012-14) External Examiner for the MA in Translation & Interpreting/ MA in Professional Translation degrees at Swansea University

(2009-14) External Examiner for Hispanic Studies at Swansea University

I have also examined MA and PhD theses at Sheffield and the University of Leeds

Advisory work:

(2014 and 2007) QAA Benchmark Statement for Languages and Related Studies Review Group

(2007-11) LLAS Subject Centres Advisory Board

(2007-11) AHGBI Executive Committee

(2008-11) LLAS Subject Centres 3 Es Advisory group

(2006) Sheffields SoTL (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning) Special Interest Group

(2003-11) LLASs Special Interest Group on the Teaching of Literature and Culture

I have acted as referee/ reader for the following:

(Journals)

Bulletin of Hispanic Studies (Liverpool), Bulletin of Spanish Studies (Glasgow), Hispanic Research Journal (London), Hispanic Review (Pennsylvania, USA), Letras Femeninas (Arizona, USA), Letras Hispanas (Texas, USA), Revista Canadiense de Estudios Hisp叩nicos (Ottawa, Canada)

(Publishers)

Legenda and the University of Wales Press

Liaison with External bodies:

(2006-17) Organization of the Annual Gald坦s Lecture series, sponsored by the Oficina Cultural of the Spanish Embassy

(2008) Co-organised (with the LLAS Subject Centre) the Texts in Translation event

(2008) Local Conference Secretary for the AHGBI conference (Sheffield)

Memberships:

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

Member of the Association of Hispanists of Great Britain and Ireland (AHGBI)

Member of the Asociaci坦n Internacional de Galdosistas (AIG)

Member of the XIX Red de Hispanistas

Publications

Books/ edited works (inc. electronic edition of Torquemada en la hoguera)

  • The Place of Argument: Essays in Honour of Nicholas G. Round, ed. with Anny Brooksbank Jones (London: Tamesis books, 2007) 264pp.
  • Electronic edition of Torquemada en la hoguera, ed. Rhian Davies (Sheffield: HriOnline, 2005)
  • Gald坦s y L叩zaro: una breve y fruct鱈fera colaboraci坦n (1889-91) (Madrid: Fundaci坦n L叩zaro Galdiano/Ollero y Ramos, 2002) 165pp.
  • La Espa単a Moderna and 檎艶乙艶稼艶姻温界庄坦稼: A Cultural Review in Restoration Spain (1889-1914) (Manchester: Ca単ada-Blanch Publications, 2000) xii + 212pp.

Journal articles

  • Revisting Place in a Realist Novel: Thinking Space in Gald坦ss Torquemada en la hoguera (1889), Hispanic Research Journal, 21(4) (2021), 353-76  
  • Hidden Secrets, Utopias, Ghosts and the Hispanic Periphery in Los abrazos rotos (2009): Pedro Almod坦vars Homage to Lanzarote and C辿sar Manrique (1919-92), Bulletin of Spanish Visual Studies, 5(1) (2021), 31-60  
  • A Journey through Uncharted Territories?: Reassessing Canarian literature and the Novela Negra through an Analysis of Identity, Solitude and Place in Miguel Aguerraldes Claro de Luna (2009), Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies, 26(2) (2020), 83-105  
  • Vampires in the Canaries? Miguel Aguerraldes 鰻看界岳叩馨恢顎鉛看 (2010): Revitalizing Vampire Traditions in the Hispanic Periphery, Horror Studies, 10(2) (2019), 189-207  
  • The Meaning of Words: The Art (or Artlessness) of Communication in Gald坦ss Torquemada en la hoguera, Bulletin of Spanish Studies, 95(8) (2019), 121-34  
  • Crime and Reform in La Espa単a Moderna (1889-1914), Bulletin of Spanish Studies, 95(4) (2018), 243-272  
  • Space and Place in Alejandro Galindos 1950 Film Adaptation of Gald坦ss Do単a Perfecta (1876), Bulletin of Hispanic Studies, 95(4) (2018), 417-434  
  • 多Mujeres al borde de un naufragio or Potential Female Redeemers: The Representation and Role of Women in Gald坦ss Torquemada 鰻看厩艶鉛壊, Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies, 23 (2017), 297-316  
  • La cuesti坦n femenina and La Espa単a Moderna, Bulletin of Spanish Studies, LXXXIX, (January 2012), 61-86  
  • Cervantes in La Espa単a Moderna (1889-1914), Bulletin of Hispanic Studies (Liverpool), 84 (2007), 145-60  
  • 'The Background to Torquemada en la hoguera', Bulletin of Hispanic Studies (Glasgow), LXXVI (1999), 399-413  
  • '"La revista es m鱈a et amicorum": Jos辿 L叩zaro Galdiano y La Espa単a Moderna (1889-1914)', Goya: revista de arte (dedicado a D. Jos辿 L叩zaro Galdiano), 261 (November-December 1997), 545-554
  • 'Editar los manuscritos de Benito P辿rez Gald坦s en CD-Rom', Cuadernos Cervantes de la lengua espa単ola, 15 (July-August 1997), 51-53

Conference proceedings

  • 多束En busca del 束hombre nuevo損? Retratos de la masculinidad en las Novelas de Torquemada (1889-95), In La hora de Galdos. Actas del XI Congreso Internacional de estudios galdosianos, ed. Yolanda Arencibia et al (Las Palmas: Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria, 2019), pp.893-914  
  • El mundo del siglo XIX en la obra novel鱈stica y period鱈stica de Gald坦s, in Actas del X Congreso Internacional de estudios galdosianos (Las Palmas: Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria, 2015), pp.167-73  
  • 束La Ciudad Imperial損: Toledo en la obra period鱈stica y novel鱈stica de Gald坦s, in Actas del IX Congreso Internacional de estudios galdosianos (Las Palmas: Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria, 2011), pp.571-83  
  • Gald坦s y la prensa: hacia una revisi坦n cr鱈tica de la mina inagotable, in Actas del VIII Congreso Internacional de estudios galdosianos (Las Palmas: Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria, 2009), pp.509-19  
  • (With Nicholas Round) 'Hacia una nueva lectura de las novelas contempor叩neas de Gald坦s: la nueva tecnolog鱈a y el P辿rez Gald坦s Editions Project', Actas del VII Congreso Internacional de estudios galdosianos (Las Palmas: Cabildo Insular de Gran Canaria, 2005), pp.885-89
  • 'Towards the Modern Reader: The Uses of IT in Editing the Novels of Gald坦s', in Digital Evidence: Selected Papers from DRH 2000, ed. Michael Fraser, Nigel Williamson & Marilyn Deegan, OHC 14 (London: Offices for Humanities Communication, 2001), pp.169-78

Book chapters

  • How To Be A Writer for the Press and How to Write about It, in Spain in the Nineteenth Century: New Essays on Experiences of Culture and Society, eds Andrew Ginger & Geraldine Lawless (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2018), pp.174-90
  • Las escritoras en La Espa単a Moderna (1889-1914), in Escritoras espa単olas en los medios de prensa (1868-1936), ed. Carmen Serv辿n and Margherita Bernard (Madrid: Editorial Renacimiento, 2014), pp.61-94
  • Civilization and Barbarity in the Torquemada 鰻看厩艶鉛壊, in Studies in Honor of Vernon Chamberlin, ed. Mark Harpring (Newark: Juan de la Cuesta-Hispanic Monographs, 2011), pp.49-64
  • La Espa単a Moderna y la literatura hispanoamericana, in Literatura hisp叩nica y prensa peri坦dica (1875-1931), ed. Javier Serrano Alonso et al (Santiago: USC, 2010), pp. 727-43
  • 檎艶乙艶稼艶姻温界庄坦稼 and Philosophy in the Torquemada 鰻看厩艶鉛壊, in The Place of Argument: Essays in Honour of Nicholas G. Round, ed. Rhian Davies and Anny Brooksbank Jones (Woodbridge: Tamesis books, 2007), pp.86-102
  • 'The Manuscript of Torquemada en la Cruz: A Stage in a Creative Process', in New Gald坦s Studies, ed. Nicholas Round (London: Tamesis, 2003), pp.43-58

Other

  • Literary encyclopaedia entry on Benito P辿rez Gald坦s (published 14 December 2009)  
  • Semblanza of Jos辿 L叩zaro Galdiano (in connection with the Historia Cultural de la Edici坦n Iberoamericana/ Semblanzas editoriales, published 2015 on the Cervantes virtual site)  

Journal reviews

  • Review of Approaches to Teaching the Writings of Emilia Pardo Baz叩n, ed. by Margot Versteeg and Susan Walter. New York: Modern Language Association of America, for the Bulletin of Spanish Studies, 96(4) (2019) 712-13
  • Review of La novela ideol坦gica (18751880): la literatura de ideas en la Espa単a de la Restauraci坦n, by Ignacio Javier L坦pez, Madrid, Ediciones de la Torre, for the Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies, 20(1-2), 175-76. 
  • Review of Olga Guadalupe Mella, Epistolaridad y Realismo: La correspondencia privada y literaria de Juan Valera, Emilia Pardo Baz叩n y Benito P辿rez Gald坦s. Santiago de Compostela: Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, 2016, for the Bulletin of Spanish Studies, 95(6) (2018) 735-36
  • Review of Christine Arkinstall, Spanish Female Writers and the Freethinking Press 1879-1926, for the Bulletin of Spanish Studies, 94 (2017), 10-12
  • Review of Benito P辿rez Gald坦s Correspondencia, ed. Alan Smith, Mar鱈a ngeles Rodr鱈guez S叩nchez and Laurie Lomask. Madrid: C叩tedra, for the Bulletin of Spanish Studies in 2016
  • Review of Mark Gant, The Spanish Writer and Publisher Carlos Frontaura (1834-1910): A Study of His Social Influence and Ideology (Lewiston/ Queenston/ Lampeter: Edwin Mellen Press, 2012), for the Bulletin of Spanish Studies, XCII, 6 (2015), 1027-28
  • Review of Antonio Prado, Matrimonio, familia y estado: Escritoras anarco-feministas en La Revista Blanca (1898-1936) (Madrid: Fundaci坦n de Estudios Libertarios Anselmo Lorenzo, 2011), for the Bulletin of Spanish Studies, XC, 8 (2013), 1385-86
  • Review of Margot Versteeg, Jornaleros de la pluma: La (re)definici坦n del papel del escritor-periodista en la revista Madrid C坦mico (Vervuert: Iberoamericana, 2011), for the Bulletin of Spanish Studies, XC, 7 (2013), 1208-09
  • Review of Traducci坦n y cultura: La literatura traducida en la prensa hisp叩nica (1868-98), ed. Marta Gin辿 & Solange Hibbs (Bern: Peter Lang), for the Bulletin of Spanish Studies, LXXXIX, 5 (2012), 812-13
  • Ignacio Javier L坦pez, Pedro Antonio de Alarc坦n (Prensa, pol鱈tica, novela de tesis), for the Bulletin of Spanish Studies, LXXXVIII, 3 (2011), 426-27
  • John H. Sinnigen, Benito P辿rez Gald坦s en el cine mexicano: literatura y cine, for the Bulletin of Hispanic Studies, 88.1 (2011), 125-25
  • Charnon-Deutsch, Lou, Hold That Pose: Visual Culture in the Late-Nineteenth-Century Spanish Periodical (Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006), for the Modern Language Review, 106.1 (2011), 270-272
  • Bacon, Kathy, Negotiating Sainthood: Distinction, Cursiler鱈a, and Saintliness in Spanish Novels (London: Legenda, 2007), for the Modern Language Review, 106.1 (2011), 269-70
  • C叩via, Mariano de, Azotes y Galeras, ed. Mar鱈a ngulo Egea & M捉 del Rosario Leal Bonmati (Zaragoza: Asociaci坦n de la Prensa de Arag坦n, 2008), for the Bulletin of Spanish Studies, LXXXVII (2010), 271-72
  • McGovern, Timothy, Gald坦s Beyond Realism: Reading and the Creation of Magical Worlds (Newark: Juan de la Cuesta, 2004), for the MLR (July 2007), 868-69
  • Smith, Alan E., Gald坦s y la imaginaci坦n mitol坦gica (Madrid: C叩tedra, 2005), for the Revista de Estudios Hisp叩nicos , XLI.1 (2007), 148-150
  • Benito P辿rez Gald坦s, Prosa cr鱈tica, intro. and ed. by Jos辿-Carlos Mainer; notes by Juan Carlos Ara Torralba (Madrid: Espasa, Biblioteca de Literatura Universal, 2004), for the Bulletin of Hispanic Studies (Liverpool), 83(1) (2006), 125
  • John Sinnigen, Benito P辿rez Gald坦s en la prensa mejicana de su tiempo (M辿xico: Universidad Nacional Aut坦noma de M辿xico, 2005), for the Bulletin of Hispanic Studies
  • Benito P辿rez Gald坦s, El doctor Centeno, ed. Jos辿-Carlos Mainer, for the Bulletin of Hispanic Studies (Liverpool), 82(2) (2005), 260-61
  • Vernon A. Chamberlin, 'The Perils of Interpreting Fortunata's Dream' and Other Studies in Gald坦s: 1961-2002, for the Bulletin of Hispanic Studies (Liverpool), 82(2) (2005), 261-62
  • Monteagudo, 3a. 辿poca, no. 7 ('Revistas literarias y literatura del siglo XX'), ed. Francisco Javier D鱈ez de Revenga, for the Bulletin of Hispanic Studies (Liverpool), 82(2) (2005), 267-68
  • James Whiston, Creatividad textual e intertextual en Gald坦s, for the Modern Language Review, 98:3 (2003), 743-44
  • Luisa Elena Delgado, La imagen elusiva, for the Bulletin of Spanish Studies (Glasgow), LXXVIII (2001), 428-29