Óscar Fernández, Ph.D. | Portland State University (original) (raw)
5-Word Bio: Building community through teaching & advocacy.
Comparative Literature Ph.D., The Pennsylvania State University
National Institutes of Health PHRP Certification Number 2257106
State of Oregon Qualified Health Care Interpreter: ID#010489
Born in San José, Costa Rica, Dr. Fernández specializes in inter-American studies, literary theory, and the intersection of culture, sexuality, and representations of disease in literature.
With more than 15 years of university teaching experience in private and public institutions in Oregon, he has taught at Reed College and Portland State University. His teaching trajectory, in both English and Spanish, has been delineated along four primary paths: (1) interdisciplinary and general education studies; (2) literary theory and Comparative Literature studies, with an emphasis on Latin American literature; (3) Spanish language and Heritage-language pedagogy; (4) advanced rhetoric and composition in both English and Spanish. His teaching philosophy challenges students to see the world differently and to question unexamined approaches. In this pedagogical "contact zone" of alternative and taken-for-granted worlds, he positions his teaching practice, his students, and himself.
Portland State University (PSU) students honored him with M.E.Ch.A.'s Community Service Award (2006). As head of the Spanish section in World Languages & Literatures at PSU and lead organizer for Cine-Lit ("cinema and literature") 2007, a preeminent film and literature international conference, he secured $75,000 in funds from the Northwest Film Center, the Oregon Council for the Humanities, Portland/Guadalajara Sister-City Association, and Centro Mexicano de Oregon. He is a translation and interpretation volunteer for BRAVO Youth Orchestras (an afterschool music program in North Portland). As a qualified medical interpreter in the metro area, Dr. Fernández gives voice—with knowledge and care—to Latinxs and Hispanics negotiating complex health-related issues.
Dr. Fernández is a University Studies core faculty member at PSU. In 2014-2015, he co-authored and piloted a new Freshmen Inquiry (FRINQ) course—Immigration, Migration, and Belonging (IMB)—for PSU's University Studies. He works with Mercy Corps Action Northwest to bring immigration-related workshops to our IMB students. Dr. Fernández facilitates student-to-student workshops for two Portland Public Schools programs: International Youth Leadership Conference (IYLC) and College for Youth. In 2016, he established a Race and Social Justice Dialogue Series. In 2017, he was named University Studies' first Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Coordinator and currently facilitates diversity and inclusion workshops for faculty, staff, and students.
His published work appears in Comparative Literature Studies, Oregon Literary Review, and PMLA (Publications of the Modern Language Association). Dr. Fernández is a holder of a Woodrow Wilson Foundation Practicum Grant, a Folger Institute Faculty Weekend Grant from the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., and more recently, a 2017 grant recipient from Bringing Theory to Practice's 2017-2018's "Campus Dialogue Grants: Realizing Higher Educator Greater Purposes."
Dr. Fernández earned his BA in English Literature from Ohio Wesleyan University and a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from The Pennsylvania State University.
Address: Óscar Fernández, Ph.D.
Portland State University
University Studies
1825 SW Broadway Ave.
Portland, Ore. 972011
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Papers by Óscar Fernández, Ph.D.
The Journal of General Education, 2019
University Studies, Portland State University's general education program, is now more than t... more University Studies, Portland State University's general education program, is now more than twenty years old; its leaders frequently answer questions from other higher education institutions regarding how the program takes high-impact practices to scale. In this article, three program leaders detail how University Studies' Peer Mentor and Senior Capstone Programs and one recently revised diversity learning goal demonstrate the opportunities and challenges of taking high-impact practices to scale. This article used published assessments of the program, experiences by current program leaders, and interviews from faculty members and peer mentors. Overall, the coauthors conclude that three dynamic qualities contribute to a scaling up of its programs and curricular initiatives: (1) focus on University Studies' aspirational goals; (2) interplay between scaling up and scaling inward—acknowledging the agency of its teaching and learning community to address challenges and effect...
![Research paper thumbnail of Oregon Literary Review, Introduction and Translation of "Los amantes" [The Lovers] by Jorge Debravo, complete text](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/44043365/thumbnails/1.jpg)
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Book Reviews by Óscar Fernández, Ph.D.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Thesis Chapters by Óscar Fernández, Ph.D.
ABSTRACT “Disease” has become an emergent metaphor in describing, policing, and regimenting sexu... more ABSTRACT
“Disease” has become an emergent metaphor in describing, policing, and regimenting sexual, racial, and political difference. This study of narrative and disease in the Americas reveals how dissident, sometimes queer, bodies come to be regarded as viral threats to the state, and how such a construction of illness comes to be resisted in AIDS narratives.
In moments of epidemiological crisis when governmental institutions enact states of emergency to counteract disease, regimens of biopower construct aberrant bodies as diseased and therefore as subject to state inspection, medical isolation, and criminalization. Reflecting characteristics of colonial and eighteenth-century narratives of an enervated New World, José Ricardo Chaves (Paisaje con tumbas pintadas en rosa, 1998, Costa Rica) depicts how AIDS in the Americas echoes colonial accounts of disease, race, and sexuality. With the emergence of AIDS, the Cuban government enacted states of emergency to contain and incarcerate its HIV-positive citizens. The literary manifestation of such detention wards is evident in works by Severo Sarduy (Pájaros de la playa, 1993, Cuba) and by Juan Goytisolo (Las virtudes del pájaro solitario, 1988, Spain).
In addition to those writers, who resist statist medical treatments and quarantines, this study examines how Reinaldo Arenas (El color del verano o Nuevo jardín de las delicias, 1990, Cuba) and Silviano Santiago (Stella Manhattan, 1985, Brazil) use religious iconography, especially localized in homoerotic representations of saints, to challenge the mechanisms that create, maintain, and police the state. Furthermore, mystical adumbrations are evoked in Sarduy and in Goytisolo, who construct biomedical policing, approach medical protocols, and lastly, re-write invocations of the hereafter. Narratives such as these attempt to reify the sacred component of all life, but especially life that has been interpreted to be aberrant and diseased. Contemporary history and writing in the Americas both show that before bodies are excluded, quarantined, or exterminated, they are denaturalized as diseased, heretical, criminal, and dangerous to the state.
Teaching Documents by Óscar Fernández, Ph.D.
Greetings to all of you! Also, welcome to ORTESOL, our newest members! As a leading organization ... more Greetings to all of you! Also, welcome to ORTESOL, our newest members! As a leading organization of ESOL professionals in Oregon, ORTESOL has been committed to providing various opportunities for our members' professional growth. One of the ways we make efforts to support our members has been grant awards we provide to our members. In the past year, we have awarded a number of grants to our members including Tri-TESOL, international TESOL conference travel grants, and free TESOL membership awards. Most recently, we sent out a call for proposals for Marge Terdal action research grant to support our members with funds to conduct research. I hope these funding opportunities are enjoyed by many of our members. Another way the ORTESOL supports its members has been to offer quality workshops and conferences to provide a venue for disseminating important information and promoting scholarship in TESOL. Currently, the ORTESOL board is diligently working to host our Spring Workshop, which will be held at the Oregon State University in Corvalis on April 30th. This workshop on the theme, Gathering & Growing: Invigorating Your Practice, promises to be a great opportunity to learn and connect with fellow professionals in ESOL. This year, we will be offering round-table discussions about issues in the community, focusing on all levels of ESOL instruction across the state (K-12, Higher Ed, Adult Ed, Refugee, and other educational contexts). I hope to see many of you there. It is an exciting and busy time for ORTESOL, and I am very pleased to announce that Governor Kate Brown proclaimed March 6 – 12 as Eng-lish as a Second Language Awareness Week. This proclamation reminds us of all the important work that we do to promote our understanding of English learners and ESOL profession in Oregon. This proclamation was also announced at the State English Learner Alliance Conference co-hosted by the Oregon Department of Education and the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators on March 9-11, 2016. Thank you for reading this newsletter in your busy time. I hope this edition of the newsletter will provide support in your work and help connect you to the larger community of ESOL educators in the state.
Statement of theme/topical area The movement of people across borders is a central political and ... more Statement of theme/topical area The movement of people across borders is a central political and cultural issue throughout the world. During fall term, students will learn about immigration, migration, and belonging (IMB) by examining their own specific IBM story.
Other by Óscar Fernández, Ph.D.
Fernández, Óscar. “Report 1/3: ARE YOU IN ON THE CONVERSATION? University Studies Hosts Race and ... more Fernández, Óscar. “Report 1/3: ARE YOU IN ON THE CONVERSATION? University Studies Hosts Race and Social Justice Dialogue Series.” Bringing Theory to Practice Campus Dialogue Grants, Washington, D.C., WordPress, May 11, 2017.
Fernández, Óscar. “Report 2/3: ARE YOU IN ON THE CONVERSATION? University Studies Hosts Race and ... more Fernández, Óscar. “Report 2/3: ARE YOU IN ON THE CONVERSATION? University Studies Hosts Race and Social Justice Dialogue Series / Review of Spring 2017 Programming.” Bringing Theory to Practice Campus Dialogue Grants, Washington, D.C., WordPress,
September 28, 2017.
The Journal of General Education, 2019
University Studies, Portland State University's general education program, is now more than t... more University Studies, Portland State University's general education program, is now more than twenty years old; its leaders frequently answer questions from other higher education institutions regarding how the program takes high-impact practices to scale. In this article, three program leaders detail how University Studies' Peer Mentor and Senior Capstone Programs and one recently revised diversity learning goal demonstrate the opportunities and challenges of taking high-impact practices to scale. This article used published assessments of the program, experiences by current program leaders, and interviews from faculty members and peer mentors. Overall, the coauthors conclude that three dynamic qualities contribute to a scaling up of its programs and curricular initiatives: (1) focus on University Studies' aspirational goals; (2) interplay between scaling up and scaling inward—acknowledging the agency of its teaching and learning community to address challenges and effect...
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
ABSTRACT “Disease” has become an emergent metaphor in describing, policing, and regimenting sexu... more ABSTRACT
“Disease” has become an emergent metaphor in describing, policing, and regimenting sexual, racial, and political difference. This study of narrative and disease in the Americas reveals how dissident, sometimes queer, bodies come to be regarded as viral threats to the state, and how such a construction of illness comes to be resisted in AIDS narratives.
In moments of epidemiological crisis when governmental institutions enact states of emergency to counteract disease, regimens of biopower construct aberrant bodies as diseased and therefore as subject to state inspection, medical isolation, and criminalization. Reflecting characteristics of colonial and eighteenth-century narratives of an enervated New World, José Ricardo Chaves (Paisaje con tumbas pintadas en rosa, 1998, Costa Rica) depicts how AIDS in the Americas echoes colonial accounts of disease, race, and sexuality. With the emergence of AIDS, the Cuban government enacted states of emergency to contain and incarcerate its HIV-positive citizens. The literary manifestation of such detention wards is evident in works by Severo Sarduy (Pájaros de la playa, 1993, Cuba) and by Juan Goytisolo (Las virtudes del pájaro solitario, 1988, Spain).
In addition to those writers, who resist statist medical treatments and quarantines, this study examines how Reinaldo Arenas (El color del verano o Nuevo jardín de las delicias, 1990, Cuba) and Silviano Santiago (Stella Manhattan, 1985, Brazil) use religious iconography, especially localized in homoerotic representations of saints, to challenge the mechanisms that create, maintain, and police the state. Furthermore, mystical adumbrations are evoked in Sarduy and in Goytisolo, who construct biomedical policing, approach medical protocols, and lastly, re-write invocations of the hereafter. Narratives such as these attempt to reify the sacred component of all life, but especially life that has been interpreted to be aberrant and diseased. Contemporary history and writing in the Americas both show that before bodies are excluded, quarantined, or exterminated, they are denaturalized as diseased, heretical, criminal, and dangerous to the state.
Greetings to all of you! Also, welcome to ORTESOL, our newest members! As a leading organization ... more Greetings to all of you! Also, welcome to ORTESOL, our newest members! As a leading organization of ESOL professionals in Oregon, ORTESOL has been committed to providing various opportunities for our members' professional growth. One of the ways we make efforts to support our members has been grant awards we provide to our members. In the past year, we have awarded a number of grants to our members including Tri-TESOL, international TESOL conference travel grants, and free TESOL membership awards. Most recently, we sent out a call for proposals for Marge Terdal action research grant to support our members with funds to conduct research. I hope these funding opportunities are enjoyed by many of our members. Another way the ORTESOL supports its members has been to offer quality workshops and conferences to provide a venue for disseminating important information and promoting scholarship in TESOL. Currently, the ORTESOL board is diligently working to host our Spring Workshop, which will be held at the Oregon State University in Corvalis on April 30th. This workshop on the theme, Gathering & Growing: Invigorating Your Practice, promises to be a great opportunity to learn and connect with fellow professionals in ESOL. This year, we will be offering round-table discussions about issues in the community, focusing on all levels of ESOL instruction across the state (K-12, Higher Ed, Adult Ed, Refugee, and other educational contexts). I hope to see many of you there. It is an exciting and busy time for ORTESOL, and I am very pleased to announce that Governor Kate Brown proclaimed March 6 – 12 as Eng-lish as a Second Language Awareness Week. This proclamation reminds us of all the important work that we do to promote our understanding of English learners and ESOL profession in Oregon. This proclamation was also announced at the State English Learner Alliance Conference co-hosted by the Oregon Department of Education and the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators on March 9-11, 2016. Thank you for reading this newsletter in your busy time. I hope this edition of the newsletter will provide support in your work and help connect you to the larger community of ESOL educators in the state.
Statement of theme/topical area The movement of people across borders is a central political and ... more Statement of theme/topical area The movement of people across borders is a central political and cultural issue throughout the world. During fall term, students will learn about immigration, migration, and belonging (IMB) by examining their own specific IBM story.
Fernández, Óscar. “Report 1/3: ARE YOU IN ON THE CONVERSATION? University Studies Hosts Race and ... more Fernández, Óscar. “Report 1/3: ARE YOU IN ON THE CONVERSATION? University Studies Hosts Race and Social Justice Dialogue Series.” Bringing Theory to Practice Campus Dialogue Grants, Washington, D.C., WordPress, May 11, 2017.
Fernández, Óscar. “Report 2/3: ARE YOU IN ON THE CONVERSATION? University Studies Hosts Race and ... more Fernández, Óscar. “Report 2/3: ARE YOU IN ON THE CONVERSATION? University Studies Hosts Race and Social Justice Dialogue Series / Review of Spring 2017 Programming.” Bringing Theory to Practice Campus Dialogue Grants, Washington, D.C., WordPress,
September 28, 2017.