Mayra Cortes

Mayra Cortes is a Ph.D. student in the Literature Department at UC San Diego. She received her MA in Literature from UC San Diego in 2018 and received her BA in English from UCLA in 2015. Mayra has research interests in Early Modern English and Spanish Literature with an emphasis on the following topics: transatlantic empire-building, colonialism, race, and racism. Her research is informed by premodern critical race studies, sound studies, animal studies, game studies, and much more. She has also dedicated time to serving and building community with her involvements as a graduate mentor, community assistant, volunteer speaker, and diversity advisor for UCSD’s Graduate Student Association & the Undocumented Student Services.

• Ph.D. in Literature, University of California, San Diego, CA (in process)
• M.A. in Literature, University of California, San Diego, CA (2018)
• B.A. in English, University of California, Los Angeles, CA (2015)

• Global Leadership Institute Student Peer Counselor UCSD Winter 2023
• Teaching Assistant Analytical Writing Program (AWP) UCSD 2022-2023
• Senior Graduate Teaching Consultant UCSD, Engaged Teaching Hub Teaching + Learning Commons, 2021-2022
• Teaching Assistant, Preparing Accomplished Transfers to the Humanities (PATH), The Politics of Food: Justice, Diversity, Community, UC San Diego, CA (Summer 2019 & 2020)
• Teaching Assistant, Introduction to the Literature of the British Isles: 1832-Present, UC San Diego, CA (Spring 2020)
• Teaching Assistant, Introduction to the Literature of the British Isles: 1660-1832, UC San Diego, CA (Winter 2020)
• Teaching Assistant, Introduction to the Literature of the British Isles: Pre-1660, UC San Diego, CA (Fall 2019)
• Instructor in English Literature: ‘New World’ Travel Writing, UC San Diego, CA (Summer 2019)
• Teaching Assistant, Transfer Year Experience (TYE), Muir College, UC San Diego, CA (Winter 2019
• Teaching Assistant, Humanities Writing Program, Revelle College, UC San Diego, CA (2016 – 2019)
• Instructor in Education Studies (EDS 50 & 150): Chancellor’s Associate Scholars Program, UC San Diego, CA (Fall 2018)
• Teaching Assistant, First Year Experience & Transfer Year Experience (FYE/TYE), Warren College, UC San Diego, CA (Fall 2017)
• Cerritos College Writing Success Center Tutor, Cerritos Community College, CA (2013 – 2014)

• “Acousmatic Noise: Racialization and Resistance in The Tempest’s ‘New World’ Soundscape” (under review)
• Game Players: Animal-Human Hybrid Racialization & Resistance in A Midsummer Night’s Dream Sound Sports
• “Sound Sports in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Shakespeare Association of America (SAA) Seminar: New Approaches to A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Part One. Minneapolis, Minnesota, March 29-April 1, 2023
• “The Singing ‘Monster’ in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.” Shakespeare Association of America (SAA) Seminar: Race: Comparative and Transnational Approaches. Washington, DC, April 2019
• “The Singing of ‘Insolent Noise-maker[s]’ in The Tempest’s Bermudas.” SAA: Articles-in-Progress Workshop. Washington, DC, April 2019
• “Flying to ‘New Worlds’ in Francis Godwin’s The Man in the Moone.” The Early Modern Center: World-Making 1500-1800. University of California, Santa Barbara, February 2019
• “Obscene Ballads: English Women Spirited to Virginia.” Early Cultures Graduate Student Conference. University of California, Irvine, October 2018
• “Miles Philips, an English Pirate Castaway in Mexico.” Pacific Northwest Renaissance Society. Portland State University, October 2017
• “Translating the Song Economy in Cabeza de Vaca’s La Relacion.” Early Cultures Graduate Student Conference. University of California, Irvine (October 2017)
• “‘Steel Grows Soft as the Parasite’s Silk’: The Metamorphosis of Performing the Roman Custom in Shakespeare’s Coriolanus.” Medieval & Renaissance Graduate Student Association. Ohio University (October 2015)