Luis García-Torvisco, Ph.D.

Professor - Spanish; Modern Languages and Literature

Born and raised in Madrid, Spain, Professor García-Torvisco earned a BA degree in Hispanic Philology (University Autonoma, Madrid, Spain) and a Certificate in English Studies (Coventry University, UK). He did his graduate studies at Georgetown...

Portrait of Luis Garcia-Torvisco, Professor of Modern Languages & Literature—Spanish

Contact Information

Education & Curriculum Vitae

Ph.D., Spanish and Latin American Literature and Cultural Studies (with Unanimous Distinction), Georgetown University

Certificado de Aptitud Pedagógica (CAP) (“Postgraduate Certificate on Education“), University Complutense (Madrid, Spain)

B.A., Filosofía y Letras, Filología Hispánica (“Philosophy and Humanities. Hispanic Philology”), Autónoma University

Courses Taught

SPAN 301/320: Advanced Spanish 

SPAN 322: The Struggle for Modernity: Spanish Lit from 18-21 Century

SPAN 304: Survey of Spanish Literature II

SPAN 334: Lorca's Body and Contemporary Spain

SPAN 342 : Mexican Civilization and Culture

SPAN 407: Peninsular Contemporary Short Story

SPAN 409: Spanish Civilization and Culture

SPAN 415: Spanish Cinema: The Movies of the Democracy

SPAN 417: The Movies of Pedro Almodóvar

SPAN 480: 20th Century Spanish Literature


Born and raised in Madrid, Spain, Professor García-Torvisco earned a BA degree in Hispanic Philology (University Autonoma, Madrid, Spain) and a Certificate in English Studies (Coventry University, UK). He did his graduate studies at Georgetown University, where he received a PhD with distinction on Spanish and Latin American Literature and Cultural Studies. He has taught at Georgetown University and George Washington University, both in Washington D.C. Currently working at Gonzaga University as an Associate Professor, he teaches classes on Spanish writing and advanced grammar, Spanish film history, contemporary Spanish literature, and Spanish culture. Prof. García-Torvisco's research interests include contemporary Spanish Literature, Spanish cinema, and Spanish popular culture from the democratic period. He has published several articles, and has lectured extensively on a variety of subjects related to Spanish and Latin American literature, movies, and culture. He was the Spanish Program Director at GU from 2013-2016. He has been the appointed director of the Cuernavaca (Mexico) summer program since 2008, and has served as Visiting Faculty Member for the ILACA (Independent Liberal Art Colleges Abroad) in Granada (Spain).

“Articulaciones del mito del hombre fuerte en dos documentales norteños recientes: Narco Cultura (Shaul Schwarz, 2013) y El alcalde (Diego Enrique Osorno, Emiliano Altuna, Carlos Rossini, 2013) ("Articulations of the ‘Strong Man’ Myth in Two Recent Documentaries About Northern Mexico: Narco Cultura and El alcalde.” Palimpsesto: el norte de México desde la perspectiva crítica nacional e internacional, edited by Mónica Torres Torija, Felipe Saavedra, and Vladimir Guerrero. 2022. 

“Viaje al mito a través de los géneros en El muerto y ser feliz (Javier Rebollo, 2012)” (“Journey to Myth Through Cinematic Genres in El muerto y ser feliz”). Peripherica. Journal of Social, Cultural, and Literary History. Vol. 1, N. 2 (2020): Image and Storytelling: New Approaches to Hispanic Cinema and Literature. pp. 73-101..

"Las cenizas de la infancia en Fuego de marzo (1995), de Eduardo Mendicutti: identidad queer y nostalgia" La verdadera patria del hombre. Infancia y adolescencia en el relato español contemporáneo, edited by María Pilar Celma Valero and Carmen Morán Rodríguez. Iberoamericana/Vervuert, Madrid, 2019, pp. 49-66.

"Fragmentación y nostalgia en Quebrando (Roberto Fiesco, 2012)" Escrituras locales en contextos globales 2. Estrategias de resistencia, edited by Claudia Hammerschmidt. Inolas Publisher LTD, London, 2018, pp. 347-362.

“Psicoanálisis, hibridez de género y pastiche en Inconscientes (2004), de Joaquín Oristrell” (“Psychoanalysis, Genre Hybridity, and Pastiche in Unconscious (2004), by Joaquín Oristrell”). Selected Proceedings II Congreso Internacional Historia, Literatura y Arte en el Cine en español y en portugués. De los orígenes a la revolución tecnológica del siglo XXI. Salamanca: 2013.

La Luna de Madrid: Movida, posmodernidad y capitalismo cultural en una revista feliz de los ochenta” (“La Luna de Madrid: Movida, Postmodernism, and Cultural Capitalism in a Happy Magazine of the 80’s”). MLN (Modern Language Notes): Volume 127, Number 2 (Hispanic Issue). March 2012. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Peer Reviewed Journal.

“Dialéctica y (no) síntesis en El diputado, de Eloy de la Iglesia (1978)” [“Dialectics and (Non) Synthesis on Confessions of a Congressman, by Eloy de la Iglesia (1978)”]. Cine-Lit VII. Essays on Hispanic Film and Fiction. Ed. Fernando Fabio-Sánchez, Gina Hermann, and Guy H. Wood. Corvallis: Cine-Lit, 2012. Peer Reviewed Volume.

“La narrativización del excesivo yo de la Movida en Patty Diphusa (1983-4) de Pedro Almodóvar” (“Narrative Excess and the Movida in Pedro Almodóvar´s Patty Diphusa”). Actas del XVI Congreso de la Asociación Internacional de Hispanistas (AIH). Editorial Iberoamericana: Madrid, 2010 (pp. 208-216). Selected Proceedings. 

  • Contemporary Spanish Literature and Culture
  • Critical Theory / Cultural Studies Theory / Women and Gender’s Studies Theory
  • Spanish Film History and Film Theory
  • Spanish Cultural Studies
  • Hispanic Documentaries