Prof. Varela received his PhD in Spanish and Portuguese with a graduate certificate in American studies from Vanderbilt University, where he was awarded the Louise A. Taylor Scholarship for most promising dissertation in the humanities (2021). His main areas of teaching and research are ecocriticism, environmental humanities, and cultural studies in Latin America. His articles have been published or are forthcoming in ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, Environmental Humanities, MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States, Hispania, Romance Notes, Hispanófila, and the Journal of Lusophone Studies. He has also presented papers or organized panels at the Modern Language Association (MLA) convention, the American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA) conference, and the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE) conference, among others. He currently serves as the Diversity Officer (2023-2025) for ASLE.
Prof. Varela is currently working on a book manuscript, an expansion of his dissertation that is tentatively titled Literature, Extinction, and Fossils in the Americas. Previous versions of his project have been jointly supported by the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Prof. Varela welcomes discussions with all students at TLU, particularly those who are first generation, first-generation immigrants, nonnative English speakers, Latinx, and LGBTQ+. At TLU, he teaches Spanish language courses at all levels, as well as courses in English on topics such as pop culture in Latin America, Afro-Latin American cultures, and LGBTQ+ studies in Latin America.
EDUCATION
M.A., Ph.D. Spanish and Portuguese, Vanderbilt University
B.A., Liberal Arts and Sciences (Spanish concentration), Florida Atlantic University
A.A., Palm Beach State College
Professional Development Grant, Texas Lutheran University, 2021, 2022, 2023
Louise A. Taylor Scholarship for most promising dissertation research in the humanities at Vanderbilt University, 2021
Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowship, 2020-2021
Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities Graduate Student Fellowship, 2020-2021 (declined)
Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, Honorable Mention, 2020-2021
Vanderbilt Center for Second Language Studies Fellowship, 2020-2021
Vanderbilt American Studies Fellow for Futures of American Studies at Dartmouth College, Summer 2018
Rackham Merit Fellowship at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2015-2020 (declined)
Vanderbilt University Graduate Student Fellowship and Teaching Assistantship (2015-2020)
University Scholar for the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, Florida Atlantic University, 2015
Wilkes Humanities and Social Science Scholar, covering full-tuition, room, and board at the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, Florida Atlantic University, 2013-2025
Presidential Scholar, covering full tuition at Palm Beach State College, 2012-2013
Holder of the Verner Gembler Fellowship (2024-2027
Article Publications (Peer-Reviewed):
Varela, Fernando. “Biophilia and Ecophobia in Santiago Nazarian’s Biofobia.” Special issue on environmental humanities, Hispanófila, edited by Alicia Rivero [forthcoming Fall 2024].
Varela, Fernando. “Taxidermy and the Environment in Cristina García’s The Agüero Sisters.” MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States. Published in Advance Articles, 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/melus/mlae048
Varela, Fernando. “Myxomatosis and Radioactivity in Carlos Saura’s La caza (The Hunt, 1966): On Biopolitics and Extinction.” Environmental Humanities, vol. 14, no. 1, 2022, pp. 129-144. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1215/22011919-9481473
Varela, Fernando. “Vegetal Life and the Baroque in Alejo Carpentier’s The Lost Steps.” ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, vol. 28, no. 3, 2021, pp. 917-31. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/isle/isz116
Varela, Fernando. “Machado de Assis, Houses, and the Gaze: Between the Universal and the Local.” Hispania, vol. 103, no. 1, 2020, pp. 87-95. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/hpn.2020.0003
Varela, Fernando. “Thomas Jefferson, Domingo Sarmiento, and the Baroque Wild Man.” Romance Notes, vol. 59, no. 2, 2019, pp. 383-93. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/rmc.2019.0034
Varela, Fernando. “Anthropocentrism and Taxidermy in Santiago Nazarian’s Neve negra.” Journal of Lusophone Studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2019, pp. 298-315. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21471/jls.v4i1.204
Conference Presentations:
“Extraterrestrial Intimacy and Social Injustice in Amat Escalante’s La región salvaje (2016).” Association for the Study of Literature and Environment. July 26-August 6, 2021. Virtual.
“Eugenics and Environmental Loss: On Jack Arnold’s Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954).” American Comparative Literature Association. April 8-11, 2021. Virtual.
“Vegetal Ontologies and the Baroque in Alejo Carpentier’s Los pasos perdidos.” Environmental Humanities in Spanish and Portuguese 2.0., sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP). Modern Language Association (MLA) Annual Convention. January 7-10, 2021. Toronto, Canada.
“Machado de Assis, Houses, and the Gaze: Between the Universal and the Local.” American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) Conference. July 9-12, 2020. San Juan, Puerto Rico. Postponed due to COVID-19.
“Hunting in the Anthropocene, or Myxomatosis and Radioactivity in Carlos Saura’s La caza (The Hunt, 1966).” Carolina Conference for Romance Studies. March 26-28, 2020. Chapel Hill, NC. Postponed due to COVID-19.
“Queer Ecology in XXY and As boas maneiras.” Pacific Ancient and Modern Languages Association. November 14-17, 2019. San Diego, CA.
“Ecophobia in Santiago Nazarian’s Biofobia.” Da Abertura à Crise: Contemporary Brazilian Literature and Socio-Political Change Symposium. October 27-29, 2019. Nashville, TN.
“Brazil as Ice: Louis Agassiz’s Glacial Theory and Miscegenation in A Journey in Brazil (1868).” Futures of American Studies Institute at Dartmouth College. June 19-24, 2018. Hanover, NH.
“Slave Hunters, Diaries, and Dogs in Nineteenth-Century Colonial Cuba.” Southeastern Council of Latin American Studies (SECOLAS). March 8-11, 2018. Nashville, TN.