Lisa Surwillo

Bio

Professor Surwillo teaches courses on Iberian literature, with an emphasis on the nineteenth-century. Her research addresses the questions of property, empire, race and personhood as they are manifested by literary works, especially dramatic literature, dealing with colonial slavery, abolition and Spanish citizenship. Surwillo is the author of Monsters by Trade (Stanford 2014), a study of slave traders in Spanish literature and the role of these colonial mediators in the development of modern Spain. She is also the author of The Stages of Property: Copyrighting Theatre in Spain (Toronto 2007), an analysis of the development of copyright and authorship in nineteenth-century Spain and the impact of intellectual property on theater. She is currently completing two books: the first is a study of freedom petitions by enslaved Afro-Cuban women during the 1870s and the second is a co-authored study, with Martín Rodrigo, of a major Cuban financier and Catalan real estate magnate.

Academic Appointments

• Associate Professor, Iberian and Latin American Cultures

Administrative Appointments

• Faculty Director, Introductory Seminars, Stanford (2019 - 2025)
• Department Director, Iberian and Latin American Cultures (2023 - 2025)
• Acting Department Director, Slavic Department Stanford (2021 - 2022)
• Department Director, Iberian and Latin American Cultures (2015 - 2018)
• Associate Professor, Stanford University (2013 - Present)
• Faculty Leader, Stanford Alumni Association. Cuba (2013 - 2013)
• Ponente, “Curso de Verano”, University of Cadiz (2011 - 2011)
• Assistant Professor, Stanford University (2006 - 2013)
• Assistant Professor, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park (2002 - 2006)
• Lecturer, University of California, Santa Cruz (2001 - 2001)
• Program Assistant, UC Berkeley Summer Sessions Program in Madrid (2001 - 2001)
• Graduate Student Instructor, University of California, Berkeley (2000 - 2000)
• Graduate Student Instructor, University of California, Berkeley (1995 - 1998)

Honors & Awards

• Fellowship, Clayman Institute for Gender Research, Stanford University (2023-24)
• W. Warren Shelden University Fellow in Undergraduate Education, Stanford University (2023-2028)
• Faculty Grant, Tinker Foundation (2023)
• Annenberg Faculty Fellow, University of Southern California (2010 - 2012)
• Fellowship, Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History (2006)
• Fellowship, Spanish Ministry of Culture Program for Cultural Cooperation (2006)
• Research Fellowship, University of Wisconsin Library (2000)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations

• Member, Modern Language Association Committee on the Status of Women in the Profession (2010 - 2013)
• Manuscript Evaluator, Bucknell University Press (2004 - 2004)
• Manuscript Evaluator, Bucknell University Press (2005 - 2005)
• Manuscript Evaluator, The journal of the Modern Language Association (2004 - 2004)
• Manuscript Evaluator, The journal of the Modern Language Association (2005 - 2005)
• Manuscript Evaluator, Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies (2006 - 2011)
• Manuscript Evaluator, Modern Philology (2009 - 2009)
• Manuscript Evaluator, Bulletin of Spanish Studies (2011 - 2011)
• Manuscript Evaluator, Eighteenth-century Studies (2013 - 2013)
• Member, Latin American Studies MA, Selection Committee, Stanford University (2011 - 2011)
• Member, Italian Search Committee, Stanford University (2011 - 2011)
• Member, Division of Literature, Cultures and Languages Working Group, Stanford University (2009 - 2009)
• Director of Undergraduate Studies, Stanford University (2006 - 2009)
• Director of Undergraduate Studies, Stanford University (2011 - 2013)
• Member, Planning and Personnel Committee, Stanford University (2007 - 2008)
• Chair, Curricular Committee, Stanford University (2007 - 2007)
• Faculty Scholar (VPUE), Stanford University (2013 - 2014)
• Pre-Major Advisor, Stanford University
• Fellowship Evaluator, Stanford Humanities Center (2006 - 2006)
• Fellowship Evaluator, Stanford Humanities Center (2007 - 2007)
• Fellowship Evaluator, Stanford Humanities Center (2008 - 2008)
• Fellowship Evaluator, Stanford Humanities Center (2012 - 2012)
• Member, Department of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese Search Committee, Pennsylvania State University (2004 - 2004)

Program Affiliations

• Center for Latin American Studies

Professional Education

• Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, Romance Languages and Literatures (2002)
• B.A., University of Wisconsin, Madison, History and Spanish (1994)