Lucas Ruppel

Research Interests 

• Latin American Literature and Culture
• Autonomy of Migration
• Latin American Travesti Theory
• Care
• Collaborative Research Methods
• Archival Practices
• Digital Storytelling
• Film and Visual Culture
• Documentary Theater

 Courses Taught

Upper Division Spanish

• SPA 168: Introduction to Latinx Culture: Fronteras internas — Instructor of Record, Summer Session I 2026
• SPA 169: Special Topics in Latinx Studies: Narrativas del cuidado en contexto de migración — Instructor of Record, Winter 2025
• SPA 170: Introduction to Latin American Studies: Memoria, archivo y comunidad — Instructor of Record, Summer Session I 2024
• SPA 177: California y América Latina — Teaching Assistant, Spring 2023

Lower Division Spanish

• SPA 23: Spanish Composition — Instructor, Fall 2026
• SPA 1Y: Spanish for Travelers — Instructor, Winter 2026
• SPA 031: Spanish for Native Speakers I — Instructor, Fall 2025
• SPA 003: Elementary Spanish — Instructor, Spring 2025
• SPA 022Y: Intermediate Spanish — Instructor, Fall 2024
• SPA 003Y: Elementary Spanish — Instructor, Spring 2024
• SPA 003Y: Elementary Spanish — Instructor, Winter 2024
• SPA 21: Intermediate Spanish — Instructor, Fall 2023
• SPA 002V: Elementary Spanish (Online) — Instructor, Summer 2023
• SPA 002: Elementary Spanish — Instructor, Winter 2023
• SPA 002: Elementary Spanish — Instructor, Fall 2022

Selected Publications

Book chapters

• “Travestipolítica del cuidado.” In Movilidades Humanas en las Américas: entre regímenes de expulsión, políticas de contención e industrias de cuidado, edited by Kelly Giovanna Muñoz Balcázar, Yuliet Bedoya Rangel, and Robert McKee Irwin, pp. 132–153. Bogotá: Editorial Bonaventuriana, 2026. ISBN: 978-628-7508-35-4.
  Available at: https://bibliotecadigital.usb.edu.co/entities/publication/5b132059-5017-43c7-8d9c-b2e19b0940a9 
• “Migrantes transgénero. Entre el tránsito y la transición.” In Movilidades sexo-genéricas en América Latina y el Caribe: debates y perspectivas teórico-metodológicas emergentes, co-authored with Robert McKee Irwin and Aster Rasnick, pp. 51–88. Ciudad de México: El Colegio de México, 2026. ISBN: 978-607-564-769-2.

Books

• Aguafuertes silvestres. Arlt desde Sierra de la Ventana (comp.) (forthcoming). Madrid: Paripé Books (Spain)
• 2019.Aguafuertes silvestres. Arlt desde Sierra de la Ventana (comp.). Bahía Blanca: Hemisferio Derecho (Argentina)
• 2020. El país de la leyenda bibliotecaria. Germán García por los Estados Unidos (ed.). Bahía Blanca: Biblioteca Popular Bernardino Rivadavia (Argentina)

Honors and Awards

• Provost Fellowship in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, 2021-2022, UC Davis Office of the Provost/Graduate Studies
• Humanizando la Deportación, Summer Grant 2022
• Working Group, UC Davis Humanities Institute, 2022-2023 
• Summer Research Fellowship 2023, Hemispheric Institute of the Americas, Summer 2023
• Global Aggies Award for LGBTQIA+ Rights, Global Affairs, Summer 2023
• Seed Funding Opportunity for Mobilities to Mexico, UC Alianza MX, Summer 2023
• Summer Dissertation Writing Fellowship, Department of Spanish and. Portuguese, Summer 2025
• UC Humanities Consortium Graduate Support Award, UC Davis Humanities Institute/ UC Office of the President, Summer 2025
• Global Grad Grant, Research Track, Global Learning Hub, Global Affairs, Summer 2025
• Global Grad Grant, Social Impact Track, Global Learning Hub, Global Affairs, Summer 2026

Affiliations

• Research Member, Volunteers Coordinator, and Webmaster, Humanizando la Deportación/el Asilo
• Graduate Student Affiliate, UC Davis Global Migration Center
• Graduate Student Member, Latin American Studies Association (LASA)
• Graduate Student Member, Modern Language Association (MLA)
• Graduate Student Member, Association for Jotería Arts, Activism, and Scholarship (AJAAS)