Veronica Cora-Castillo

Veronica Cora-Castillo is a third-year PhD student in Romance Studies at Duke University. Committed to interdisciplinary scholarship, Veronica is concurrently enrolled in certificate programs in African and African American Studies, Caribbean and Latin American Studies, and College Teaching. After beginning her studies at the Universidad del Sagrado Corazón in Puerto Rico, she transferred to Texas Tech University due to hurricanes Irma and María. There, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Global Studies and Spanish with Cum Laude honors in 2020, followed by a Master of Arts in Hispanic Literature and Cultures in 2022. Her academic journey has included work on translation projects of Spanish Golden Age theater that have been performed internationally.

Currently, Veronica serves as the Spanish Graduate Liaison in the Romance Studies department and teaches Spanish as a Graduate Instructor at Duke University. As a Spanish Instructor, Veronica brings her passion for literature and cultural studies into the classroom, fostering critical thinking and linguistic proficiency among her students. Her research centers on the construction of race in the Iberian world during the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly in the context of expansion into Africa and the Americas. She examines how these racial constructs are reflected in late 19th and early 20th century Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Brazilian literatures, focusing on the transition from slavery to citizenship for Black populations

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