Lizette Arellano
Areas of Study: Department of Romance Languages and Literatures Contact: Email Interests:
Early Modern Spanish Literature, Golden Age Theater, Women Writers of Medieval and Early Modern Iberia, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Visual and Material Culture
Lizette Arellano (she/her/ella) earned a BA in Spanish and Latin American Studies in 2013, an MA in Hispanic Studies in 2018 from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and PhD in 2025 from the University of Chicago. Her research interests include Golden Age theatre, medieval and early modern Iberian women writers, gender and sexuality studies, and aspects of visuality. She is particularly interested in what constitutes the female gaze, how it is mediated in theatre, how the male subject is constructed as an object of desire, and the power dynamics and visual processes that come into play. Her dissertation project, “Un retrato me has pedido”: Gender, Beauty, and the Female Gaze in the Spanish Golden Age examines the ways in which the gaze is conceived in women-authored theatrical works, narrative, and poetry, particularly in the works of Ana Caro, María de Zayas, and Catalina Clara Ramírez de Guzmán. Lizette is currently a Teaching Fellow in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures and the College at the University of Chicago.
