Dr Marta F. Suarez

Academic profile:

I am a Senior Lecturer in Latin American and Spanish Cultural Studies (Screen Media) at Manchester Metropolitan University.

One of my research projects explores representations of society in speculative fiction in streaming media. I am interested in the way in which Sci-fi, Fantasy, or Dystopian genres articulate visions of societies that underpin contemporary anxieties and desires. This project emerged when I organised student research internships through the RISE program at MMU under the theme “Reimagining the Nation: Latin America, Race and Netflix”, which then evolved to encompass other content from popular media and expand the points of enquiry. As part of this project, I am exploring series such as Diablero (Netflix, 2018-2020), 3% (Netflix, 2016-2020), The Expanse (Syfy, Amazon, 2015-2022), The Witcher (Netflix, 2019-present), The Last of Us (HBO, 2023-present).

Connected to this research in relation to issues of representation but not part of it, I am also writing chapters on Lucrecia Martel’s work for the volume Intermedial Imaginings: Alternative Voices (edited by Dr Fiona Noble and Dr Nadia Albaladejo) and a chapter on Everything, Everywhere, All at Once for a volume on revisions of Alice in Wonderland (edited by Dr Anna Backman Rogers and Dr Houman Sadri). 

A second project, in development, interrogates film tourism and the cinematic city in the North West of England. If you are working in a similar area, I would love to get in touch and collaborate on a grant application I am slowly putting together.

There are other areas of interest that I have been exploring. For example, the use of screen media for pedagogical aims,  an area in which I have co-edited a book with Dr Carmen Herrero. Issues of pedagogy in HE but in the area of cultures are also explored in a Special Journal Issue for the Modern Language Open, where I chaired the ECR Dialogues (Early Career Researchers). I have also worked on character design and gender in The Walking Dead (2010-2022) and have a paper in development on the portrayal of the border in Fear the Walking Dead (2015-2023). 

I was part of the British Association for Film, Television and Screen Studies (BAFTSS) Executive Committee between 2015 and 2020. During my time of service I organised workshops for PGRs, such as on “Demistifying the REF” and “Getting Published”. I was also elected as a judge for the Collected Edition BAFTSS Awards 2020.

I am Chief Editor for Open Screens , editor of Screen Media for Vector, and a member of the Advisory Board for Poesía y Métrica. In 2008, I was awarded the 20th “Ana María Matute” literary prize for the short story “Manes“, which was published by Torremozas.

My PhD (Screen Studies, LJMU, fully funded) explored the construction of national identity in Spain through the racialised Latin American and African other in the context of the financial crisis and its aftermath. Titled “Reimagining Spain in Times of Crisis: Articulating Nation Through the Latin American and African Other in Contemporary Spanish Film (2005-2015)”. it engaged with theories of globalisation, society, and culture, such as those by Bauman, Bourdieu, or Castells. It was supervised by Dr Lydia Papadimitriou and Dr Ruth Doughty. The examiners were Professor Rob Stone, from the University of Birmingham, and Dr Steven Spittle, from Liverpool John Moores.

Previously, I completed a MA in Latin American Cultural Studies at the University of Manchester, where I focused on the areas of film, history, coloniality, and digital cultures. My dissertation explored the performance of a hybrid digital identity in an online forum for Chicanos.

My undergraduate degree was in the areas of literature, culture and language (Hispanic Philology, Spain), were my chosen route focused on literature and literary theory, adaptation studies, philosophy and approaches to literary and film analysis.

I am a Fellow of the Higher Academy since 2016, when I completed my PGC AP (Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice / Teaching and Learning in HE). I also hold a PGCE from Spain on Literature and Humanities (2005) and the UK Qualified Teaching Status (2008). I am currently completing the process to obtaining the Senior Fellowship of the HEA.

I hold certifications from the Instituto Cervantes for the Teaching of Spanish as a Second Language, and examiner certifications for all levels A1-C2. Random language-related facts: I studied one year of classic Greek and four years of Latin. I also have official language certifications for Galician (C1) and Valencian (B2), as well as assessments for French (B1), although a good refresher course would be needed for the latter two!