Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies

Staff Profile

Dr Dunja Fehimovic

Lecturer in Hispanic Studies

Background

I joined Newcastle University's School of Modern Languages in September 2016, after completing an AHRC-funded PhD at the University of Cambridge on national identity in contemporary Cuban film. During my MPhil in Latin American Studies, also at the University of Cambridge, I worked on Latin American film more widely, as well as on music (rap and reggaetón) in Cuba. My thesis was an exploration of documentary films shown at the Muestras de Nuevos Realizadores in Cuba in relation to national identity. 

I have a background in English literature and Spanish (language and literature), and have dabbled in documentary filmmaking. I have worked on the Latin American news website Pulsamérica (www.pulsamerica.co.uk) as both writer (for the Caribbean) and sub-editor. I have contributed to the Palabras errantes (www.palabraserrantes.com) project as translator.

I teach mainly on the literatures, films, and cultures of Spain and Latin America, and my research focuses on Cuban, Puerto Rican and Dominican cinema.

Areas of expertise

  • Cuba
  • Caribbean
  • Film
  • Latin American studies
  • Cultural studies

Google scholar: Click here.
SCOPUS: Click here.
ORCID: Click here.

Research

My work on Caribbean - and particularly Cuban - cinema so far has developed a particular focus on:

  • Genre, particularly horror
  • Place and space
  • The representation of children on screen
  • Cultural, place, and nation branding
  • Ethics, hospitality, and otherness
  • National, transnational and diasporic identities

 

My current work is characterised by a comparative approach, drawing on concepts such as Relation (Glissant) to argue for the productivity and importance of making connections between the cinemas of the Caribbean, and between these filmmaking traditions and World cinema. 

Teaching

I am module leader of

LAS2033: Envisioning Identities in Latin American Film

LAS4032: Caribbean Imaginaries: Image, Text, Music


and I contribute to

SML1021: Introduction to International Film

SPA4081: Level D (HE Further Advanced) Spanish: Advanced Writing Skills 

FMS8055: Approaches to Film History and Theory (Masters)

FMS8037: Cinematic Others (Masters)


PhD Supervision

I currently co-supervise Ellen Bishell (Year 1, SML, FT) on her project entitled 'En Movimiento: Music Video, Intersectionality, and Queer Performance in 21st-Century Latin America', together with Dr Jorge Catalá-Carrasco and Dr Francisco-J. Hernández-Adrián (Durham University).

I am interested in reviewing and supervising MLitt and PhD work on Caribbean and Latin American cinema and visual culture (including music video), and on other inter-disciplinary areas (please see research interests). 


Publications