Dr. Juan De Urda
“The Persistence of Memory,” the Robert W. Kasling Memorial Lecture, will be given by Dr. Juan De Urda on Oct. 22.
Dr. De Urda, a professor of Spanish in the Department of World Languages and Cultures, will present the talk at 2 p.m. in Juliet J. Rosch Recital Hall.
The recipients of the 2024 William T. and Charlotte N. Hagan Young Scholar/Artist Award, Dr. Courtney Wigdahl-Perry, who is an associate professor in the Department of Biology; and Dr. Wentao Cao, an associate professor of Geology, will also be recognized at the ceremony. SUNY Fredonia Provost David Starrett and Dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences Andy Karafa will present the awards.
The Kasling presentation draws on the common theme that permeates De Urda’s recent scholarship work: memory and memories. De Urda has researched mostly on the cultural representations of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) and the literature of Equatorial Guinea, the only country in Africa where Spanish is the official language. Writing about those topics, he noticed that many of their cultural products are crafted around the prevalence, importance and persistence of memory. Or, on the other hand, they are used to reinterpret the past as part of specific agendas.
During his presentation, he will examine various works of art (and other objects and places) as memory artifacts, and the ways in which they capture, re-create, and construct memories, both personal and collective. Whether we are reflecting on significant personal moments or looking back at political conflicts, the past and its representations continue to shape our present. For instance, he will elaborate about how the reflections and the representations of the Spanish Civil are still a haunting presence in Spanish Culture nowadays. De Urda will also discuss the work of Francisco Zamora, one of the most relevant Guinean authors, to show his whole production is an exercise of memory in which recreates a country left behind. But Zamora will approach the process very differently when writing different genres, as De Urda will explain.
De Urda is originally from Spain, and has been a member of the SUNY Fredonia faculty since 2007. His teaching interests are Spanish culture, writing in Spanish and translation. He has published and presented extensively about culture of the Spanish Civil War and Equatorial Guinea literature. He published the book “Francisco Zamora: escribiendo la poscolonialidad (Francisco Zamora: writing postcoloniality),” two poetry volumes, and other pieces of poetry and fiction. Before coming to SUNY Fredonia, De Urda earned a Hispanic Philology and a Law degree from the University of Granada (Spain), and a Ph.D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
The Kasling Memorial Lecture is named for Robert W. Kasling, a professor of Geography at Fredonia from 1946 to 1966, who is remembered for unflinching personal integrity and a high standard of scholarship. The lecture, focused on explaining the methods, purposes, and results of a particular field, are intended to be accessible to a general audience while broadening the understanding of research being undertaken at Fredonia.
About the Hagan award winners
Dr. Wigdahl-Perry is an associate professor of Biology and the program coordinator for Environmental Science at Fredonia. She holds a B.S. in Biology (Environmental Science concentration, ʼ05) and M.S. in Biology (Aquatic Science concentration, ʼ07) from the University of Wisconsin - La Crosse. She earned her Ph.D. in Ecology and Environmental Sciences from the University of Maine in 2012 and joined the faculty at SUNY Fredonia in 2014. As an aquatic ecologist, Dr. Wigdahl-Perry’s research program centers around understanding how lakes respond to environmental change. She works on local lakes in western New York as well as other systems around the world, primarily focusing on algae growth patterns and water quality issues that affect local communities. Her research interests span different timescales, using field sampling techniques and high-frequency sensors to study lakes today, as well as studying biological fossils preserved within lake sediments to explore the past history of these important water resources.
Dr. Cao, an associate professor in the Department of Geology and Environmental Sciences, utilizes rocks and models to understand the past geological processes of planet Earth. He has conducted research on geological specimens from various areas, Tibet, Greenland, Brazil, Botswana and Canada. His recent field area is the Grenville Province in southern Ontario, western Quebec, and the Adirondacks in New York. After joining the faculty at SUNY Fredonia, he has (co)authored 12 peer-reviewed papers and 24 conference abstracts (including eight student-authored abstracts) in regional to international professional conferences, and been funded both internal and external grants. Dr. Cao is an associate editor of four internationally published journals, Geosphere, Geochemistry, Lithosphere, and ES-cubed (Earth Science, Systems and Society), and reviews for funding agencies. Before joining the Department of Geology and Environmental Sciences in 2017, Dr. Cao received his Ph.D. degree from the University of Iowa and B.S. and M.S. degree from China University of Geosciences (Beijing).
The Hagan award, established through the Fredonia College Foundation and named in honor of SUNY Distinguished Professor Emeritus William T. Hagan and his wife, recognizes an individual who has made outstanding achievements in research or creativity.
