Jeremy Larochelle

Jeremy G. Larochelle, Associate Professor of Spanish, received his Ph.D. (2006) from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, in Spanish with a focus on contemporary Latin American and U.S. Latina/o literature and ecological issues. He received his B.A. in Spanish from the College of William and Mary, where he conducted undergraduate research in Mexico and Ecuador.

Dr. Larochelle’s academic interests lie in the intersection between Latin American and U.S. Latina/o literature and environmental issues. Over the last few years his research has revolved around cultural production in the Amazon region. Through the support of a Faculty Research Grant, he conducted research in the Peruvian Amazon, where he interviewed writers, visited libraries and spoke with people in villages along the Amazon River. In recent years his students received Undergraduate Research Grants to travel to the Amazon as well and conduct their original research. His work on the subject has been published in the journals The Dirty Goat and Review: Literature and Art of the Americas, along with ¡Más aplausos para la lluvia! Antología de poesía amazónica reciente/More Applause for the Rain: Anthology of Recent Amazonian Poetry, a critical anthology of recent poetry from the Amazon with a focus on the environment that was published in Spring 2014 by TierraNueva Press in Perú. In addition, an article titled “A City on the Brink of Apocalypse: Mexico City’s Urban Ecology in Works by Homero Aridjis and Vicente Leñero” was recently published in the widely read journal "Hispania."

Outside of the classroom he serves as the Faculty Sponsor for the UMW Outdoors Club and enjoys coming along on excursions as UMW students discover the natural beauty of the local area. He is also an active member of the President’s Council on Sustainability that strives to make UMW a more sustainable institution. This is his second year serving as faculty adviser for the Green House, living/learning community and teaching the fsem associated with it: Writing For a Wounded Planet: Literature and the Environment in the U.S. and Latin America.