Veronica Cora-Castillo

Veronica Cora-Castillo is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in Romance Studies at Duke University, where she also pursues graduate certificates in African and African American Studies, Caribbean and Latin American Studies, and College Teaching. Her interdisciplinary research explores the construction of race in the Iberian world from the 16th century onward, with a focus on how these racial logics persist and evolve in art and literature. She is particularly interested in late 19th- and early 20th-century Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Brazilian literatures and their representations of Black subjectivity and the transition from slavery to legal freedom.

Originally from Puerto Rico, Veronica began her studies at the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón before relocating to Texas Tech University following hurricanes Irma and María. There, she earned a B.A. in Global Studies and Spanish (Cum Laude, 2020) and an M.A. in Hispanic Literature and Cultures (2022). She has participated in internationally staged translation projects of Spanish Golden Age theater and previously served as the Spanish Graduate Liaison in Duke’s Romance Studies department (2023–2025). As a Graduate Instructor, she teaches elementary Spanish courses, drawing on her passion for literature and cultural studies to promote linguistic proficiency and critical engagement in the classroom.

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) student in Romance Studies: Spanish, Latin American, and Latino/a studies track

Educational Background

Bachelor of Arts (BA)
Global Studies and Spanish,  Cum Laude (2020)
Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 

Master of Arts (MA)
Romance Languages: Hispanic Literature and Cultures (2022)
Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX