Maria Julia de León Hernández

Dr. Julia de León Hernández is a Peninsularist who focuses on twentieth- and twenty-first-century Spanish literature and visual studies with a specialization in the representation and self-representation of Romani people.

She received her Ph.D. in Hispanic Studies from the University of Kentucky in 2019. She earned a M.A. in Hispanic Studies from the University of Washington, Seattle, and a B.A. in History from the University of Valladolid, Spain. She also holds a M.A. in Linguistics with a specialization in Teaching Spanish as a Second Language and a Bachelor of Social Work from Universidad Nacional a Distancia in Madrid.

Dr. de León has taught Spanish language, literature, film, and culture courses at several universities in the United States, such as William & Mary and Georgetown University, in classes spanning from beginning language courses to advanced cultural studies courses.

Within the field of Romani Studies, her research examines the historical and contemporary mechanisms through which structural antigypsyism has shaped public discourse and cultural narratives in Spain. In particular, her work analyzes the design and construction of marginalized urban spaces, barrios, that share and outline a common genealogy of internal colonization and racial formation as a result of institutionalized racism in the country.