Arlene Ovalle-Child

Arlene Ovalle-Child grew up in Washington Heights, New York City, a child of immigrants from Dominican Republic. She majored in both Physics and Spanish at Drew University and was an active member of Latine groups on campus. She was also one of the main organizers of a student-lead service trip to Honduras.

Arlene moved to Boston to pursue her graduate education and received a MA in Hispanic Studies from Boston College. She then came to Boston University for her doctoral work. During that time, she travelled to Buenos Aires, Argentina as part of BU’s Writing in the Americas International Program, first as a participant, and then twice as a Teaching Assistant. Those experiences helped her to complete her dissertation titled, Objetos de deseo en los cuentos de Silvina Ocampo.

Arlene began teaching Spanish as a Teaching Fellow at BC and continued doing so during her fellowship at BU. She was awarded teaching excellence awards at both Boston College and Boston University. Arlene is dedicated to using Social Justice pedagogy in her courses and has presented on the topic at several conferences.