Lucas Ruppel

A man wearing glasses between two crowded bookshelves

Position Title
Graduate Student in Spanish, Emphasis in Human Rights
PhD Candidate
Faculty Advisor: Robert McKee Irwin

707 Sproul Hall
Office Hours
Spring 26: Mondays after class and Wednesdays by appointment
Remote
Bio

Research Interests 

  • Latin American Literature and Culture
  • Brechtian Aesthetics
  • Autonomy of Migration
  • Care
  • Latin American Travesti Theory
  • Archival Practices
  • Digital Storytelling
  • Film and Visual Culture

 Courses Taught

  • SPA 002 (Elementary Spanish), Fall 2022
  • SPA 002 (Elementary Spanish), Winter 2023
  • SPA 177: California y América Latina (Upper Division), Spring 2023
  • SPA 002V (Elementary Spanish) [Online], Summer 2023
  • SPA 21 (Intermediate Spanish), Fall 2023
  • SPA 003Y (Elementary Spanish), Winter 2024
  • SPA 003Y (Elementary Spanish), Spring 2024
  • SPA 170: Memoria, archivo y comunidad en América Latina (Upper Division), Summer Session I 2024
  • SPA 022Y (Intermediate Spanish), Fall 2024
  • SPA 169: Narrativas del cuidado en contexto de migración (Upper Division), Winter 2025
  • SPA 003 (Elementary Spanish), Spring 2025
  • SPA 031 (Spanish for Native Speakers I), Fall 2025
  • SPA 001Y (Spanish for Travelers), Winter 2026
  • SPA 003V (Spanish in Conversation) [Online], Spring 2026

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 

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 Literature Association (MLA)
Education and Degree(s)
  • B.A. in Spanish Language and Literature, Universidad Nacional del Sur, Argentina