José Manuel Batista

Coordinator of the Undergraduate Certificate Hispanic Literary Studies

Overview
José Manuel Batista is an Associate Professor of Spanish in the Department of Languages, Cultures and Translation. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Spanish and Spanish American culture and literature. He also contributes to the Honors College program by offering a CTCM section as often as possible. His research interests include Latin American poetry, Hispanic literature, and Caribbean literature and culture. His most recent publications have appeared in The Latin Americanist. Currently, Dr. Batista is exploring the tradition of the Iberian epic as an intertex in Twentieth Century and Contemporary Latin American and Latino
literatures.

Education

Ph.D. Romance Languages, University of Georgia at Athens. Dissertation: “Exposing the Specter of Universality in Early Afro-Hispanic Poetry” (2003)

M.A. Hispanic Literature, University of Georgia at Athens. (1998)

B.A. English Literature, Magna Cum Laude, Manhattan College Phi Beta Kappa (1994)

Appointments

Interim Graduate Director of the Department of Languages, Cultures and Translation, 2023

Associate Professor of Spanish, UNC Charlotte, 2009-Present

Assistant Professor of Spanish, UNC Charlotte, 2003-2009

Research Interests
Transatlantic Studies
Latin American Poetry
Cuban & Dominican Studies

Teaching Areas
Latin American Thought
Latin American Baroque
Spanish American Poetry
Spanish American Genres
Spanish Caribbean Literature and Culture

Select Courses
CTCM 2530-H73: Critical Thinking and Communication: What is a Hero?
SPAN 3208: Introduction to Literary Analysis
SPAN 3210: Spanish American Culture and Civilization: A Deliberative Approach
SPAN 4210: Spanish American Poetry
SPAN 4215: Studies in the Regional Literature of the Americas: The Dominican Novel

Recent Publications
“Saint Rose of Lima, Folk Tradition and Imaginary Prisons in Alejo Carpentier’s Los pasos perdidos,” The Latin Americanist. Annals Issue, vol. 70, num. 1, March 2026, pp. 43-56.
“The Whitewash of Blackface in Fernando Perez’s José Martí: El ojo del canario,” The Latin Americanist, vol. 66, num. 1, 2022, pp. 9-24.