Robert Fritz is an assistant professor of Spanish at Murray State University. He received his bachelor of arts from Hanover College before pursuing a master’s in European Studies from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (The Catholic University of Leuven) in Leuven, Belgium. From there, Fritz moved back to the United States to receive an additional master’s in Hispanic literature from Indiana University, where he later completed his PhD.
Fritz has enjoyed a prolific year of scholarship. His book chapter on Guzmán de Alfarache, a 16th-century work by Spanish author Mateo Alemán, appeared in Beyond Sight: Engaging the Senses in Iberian Literatures and Cultures from the University of Toronto Press in 2017.
Fritz also presented a different paper on the same work at the Kentucky Foreign Language Conference in Lexington, Kentucky. In the essay, titled “Writing and Reading Curiosity in Guzmán de Alfarache,” Fritz discusses complex ideas surrounding early modern Spain’s perception of science and discovery.
“In that paper I examine how the novel incorporates epistemic modes of perception popularized by the 16th-century equivalent of popular science writing,” Fritz said. “Essays in that genre concerned all manner of topics, but one thing they had in common was that they encouraged readers’ curiosity into the natural world.”
Currently, Fritz is focused on the interplay between scientific and literary discussions in the Spanish medieval and early modern eras.
As an educator, Fritz enjoys teaching entry-level Spanish classes at Murray State because it allows him to observe new Spanish speakers as they grow in their language competency.
“It’s fun to watch students’ ability to communicate in another language grow daily as they learn new words and grammar structures,” Fritz said. “I’m really proud of them every day because it’s not easy, and I hope they are proud of themselves.”
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