PCAL Modern Languages

On Tuesday, October 19, 2021, students of the WKU Spanish Program discussed the life          of an important Mexican writer and teacher, Julio Torri. Rather than pulling out textbooks or watching a video on the writer’s life, Dr. Inmaculada Pertusa, a professor of Spanish and Literature at WKU, invited Dr. Elena Madrigal to engage students through a Zoom presentation about Torri. Dr. Madrigal is a principal researcher of Julio Torri from a literary and academic standpoint and is also a professor at the Centro de Estudios Lingüísticos y Literarios (the Center of Linguistic and Literary Studies) at El Colegio de México A.C., a higher learning institution in Mexico.

Throughout the presentation, Dr. Madrigal shared information about Torri’s personal life, education, early works, and characteristics of his works (including allusions or phrases from other canons of literature, significant of Torri’s wide experience as a reader). Additionally, students had the opportunity to hear Dr. Madrigal read one of Torri’s fictional short stories “La Cocinera” before engaging in a larger discussion of Torri’s purpose in writing his short stories, which is to encourage readers to think, to become more intelligent, and to develop opinions. At the conclusion of the presentation, students had                  an opportunity to interact with the researcher and ask questions regarding Torri’s different texts.

Overall, this experience allowed students to become acquainted with one of the most prominent Mexican writers whose talent and style has influenced literature and short stories of other Spanish speaking countries. If you are interested in learning more about opportunities like this one or are considering a  major or minor in Spanish, please reach out to modern.languages@wku.edu for more information.