Distinguished CLACS Alumnus Discusses Cultural Studies and Global Change at SJU

October 3, 2017

On Friday, September 22, 2017, Malcolm A. Compitello, Ph.D., ‘68C, ‘70G delivered the lecture, “From the Classroom to the World and Back Again: Cultural Studies as Mediator of Curricular and Global Change.” The event took place at 1:30 p.m. in the Global Language and Culture Center (GLCC) on the Queens Campus. Alina Camacho-Gingerich, Ph.D., Professor of Spanish and Chair of both the Department of Languages and Literatures and the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS), organized the event and presented Dr. Compitello with a plaque from the department for his accomplishments.

Dr. Compitello is currently Professor and Head of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Arizona. He received his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in Spanish from St. John’s University before going on to Indiana University, Bloomington for his Ph.D. in Hispanic Literature with a minor in Comparative Literature. He has taught at the University of Arizona since 1995.

The author of Ordering the Evidence: Volverás a Región and Civil War Fiction (Puvill, 1983), Dr. Compitello has also published numerous journal articles and book chapters. He co-edited the volumes: Critical Approaches to the Writings of Juan Benet (The University Press of New England, 1984); Rewriting the "Good Fight." Critical Essays on the Literature of the Spanish Civil War (Michigan State University Press, 1989); and De Fortunata a la M:40:  Un siglo de cultura de Madrid (Alianza Editorial, 2003). He is the founder and has been executive editor of the Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies since 1996. In 2016, Dr. Compitello received the Award for Distinguished Service to the Profession from the Association of the Departments of Foreign Languages.

During his lecture, Dr. Compitello discussed the importance of exposing students to other cultures both in and beyond the classroom setting to prepare them for a fast-paced global market. He argued that students and professors should not think of the classroom as in isolation from the rest of the world, but rather in a symbiotic relationship with it. The classroom, according to Dr. Compitello, is where we educate tomorrow’s world leaders.

“Dr. Compitello is a distinguished alumnus of St. John’s University and we are honored to have him back here for this event,” said Dr. Camacho-Gingerich.