Ivette Guzmán Zavala

Ivette Guzmán Zavala is from Caguas, Puerto Rico. She studied at the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras and Syracuse University. She got her Ph.D. from Rutgers University–New Brunswick and is a Professor of Spanish in the Languages Department. Her research focuses on art and literature of the Hispanic Caribbean and its diaspora. She co-curated the exhibition titled Dutchirican: A Latinx History of Central PA and published her book, Maternidades puertorriqueñas: esclavitud, colonialismo y diáspora en el arte y la literatura (2022) with Instituto Internacional de Literatura Iberoamericana in Pittsburgh. Her current research investigates images and narrative about birth and pregnancy focusing on oral histories of midwives, doulas, and Caribbean mothers in the islands and in the United States.  

Publications:

Dr. Ivette Guzmán Zavala, Professor of Spanish, published “La maternidad jíbara, las comadronas tradicionales y la intersexualidad como figuras devaluadas en la autobiografía de Carmen Luisa Justiniano” in Centro Journal, Fall, 2024, Vol 36, Number 3.

Presentations:

Dr. Guzmán-Zavala, professor of Spanish, spoke to an Art Theory class at the University of Puerto Rico’s Mayaguez Campus via Zoom on May 3. She talked about her recent book on Puerto Rican Motherhoods. Dr. Guzmán-Zavala was also interviewed on a Puerto Rico radio station during the “Si no lo digo reviento” segment as part of the Abolition of Slavery Celebration on March 22. She commented on her book about Puerto Rican Motherhoods, which includes enslaved mothers.