Luigi Patruno, M.A., Ph.D.

Luigi Patruno is an Instructor in the Department of English and World Languages. He holds a PhD in Romance Languages and Literature from Harvard University. Before joining Southeastern, he taught at Trinity College, the College of the Holy Cross, and Tulane University. His research has received support from the Stone Center for Latin American Studies, the Argentina’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, and the Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut. His first book, Relatos de regreso. Ensayos sobre la obra de Juan José Saer (Rosario: Beatriz Viterbo, 2015), examines how travel narratives undermine notions of national identity projected onto homeland. He is currently completing a manuscript titled Staging the Masses: Urban Culture, Visual Politics, and the Making Modern Argentina (1943-1955), which explores how depiction of mass assemblies and discourses about “the people” shaped political legitimacy during the Peronist era.

Area of Expertise

Contemporary Latin American Culture, with an emphasis on visual studies, urban culture, and political theory. He also specializes in Latin American Literature, particularly in modern Argentina and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean.