In-Person Meetings for Classes on Monday, January 26, 2026 are Cancelled; Online/remote classes to be held as determined by Faculty.

Public Safety is tracking a significant snowfall that will be arriving in our area late Sunday morning (Jan. 25). It will snow heavily throughout the day and evening eventually tapering off Monday (Jan. 26) with 10-14 inches expected statewide. A sleet and freezing rain mix is also possible along the shore. Temperatures will be in the teens and twenties.

Due to this significant winter storm and the extensive campus clean-up operations that will need to take place, all in-person day and evening classes scheduled for Monday, January 26, 2026 have been cancelled. All scheduled in-person classes will transition to being held online or remotely. Additional information on the virtual format for each class will be provided by your instructor.

Faculty have been asked to prepare for Online or Remote sessions in the event of in-person meeting cancellations. These options will be determined by the Faculty member and all questions should be directed to the Faculty teaching each course section. Faculty also have been asked to be very understanding and accommodating of the individual situations of their students who may have difficulty managing these alternative online or remote class meetings on short notice.

Please note that only essential employees, as previously determined by their respective department leaders, should report to campus. All other employees should fulfill the requirements of their role remotely.

Campus operations for residential students, unless otherwise noted, will operate as scheduled, though hours may be modified or changed based on the conditions. Separate messages will be sent from the Peterson Library, the Beckerman Recreation Center, and Dining Services regarding any changes to their normal hours of operation. The Bergami Center for Science, Technology, and Innovation will remain open for residential students to use for study space and to participate in online classes.

Off-campus students that live in the City of West Haven should abide by the city’s parking ban during inclement weather to avoid having their vehicle tagged and towed. Please check the City of West Haven’s website for further information on their snow parking ban.

Roberto Irizarry, Ph.D.

Education

Ph.D. Spanish American Literature, University of Kansas

M.A. Spanish, University of Kansas

B.A. English Literature, Universidad de Puerto Rico

Statement

How are race, ethnicity, and national identity performed? Are these identities final or can they evolve and facilitate production collaborations as they evolve in different iterations? Whether I am analyzing theater and performance art by New York Puerto Ricans or Dominicans or interpreting Hip-Hop produced by Dominicans in Puerto Rico, I explore these basic questions as they emerge within literature or popular culture. Furthermore, my teaching aims at creating spaces where diverse cultures interact and open themselves up to new views of themselves through lenses provided by new languages or critical contexts.

Research Interests

Latin American and US Latino/a Literature

Latin American and US Latino/a Theater and Performance Art

Latin American and US Latino/a Hip-Hop

Caribbean Literature and Culture

Publications

"Vanguardia, raza y nación: una lectura de la negritud de la novela mexicana Panchito Chapopote y del estridentismo a la luz del modernismo brasileño" (Accepted for publication by TRANSMODERNITY: Journal of Peripheral Cultural Production of the Luso-Hispanic World.)

"Licking the Wounds: Communal Self-Care in Migdalia Cruz’s Miriam’s Flowers." In Ollantay. 13. 35-36 (2010): 53-59.

"The Ever-Unfinished Business: Translating Migdalia Cruz." In Ollantay. 13. 35 36 (2010): 109-112.

"Las flores de Miriam." Teatro puertorriqueño en Estados Unidos. Ed. Rosalina Perales. San Juan: Instituto de Cultura, 2010. 90-132.

Para que sepas: Anhelos e Historias de Mujeres de Chiapas/So you know: Dreams and Stories by Women of Chiapas. San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas: Melel Xojobal, 2008. Co-translated with Alberto Hernández Lemus.

"Traveling Light: Performance, Autobiography and Immigration in Josefina Báez’s Dominicanish."Gestos 42 (Nov 2006): 81-96.

"Desenterrando y mareando la memoria: el arte del recuerdo de Agua, Sol y Sereno." Sargasso Special Issue (2004-2005): 37-55.

"The House of Pretension: Space and Performance in Miguel Piñero’s Theater." Latin American Theater Review 37.2 (Spring 2004): 77-94.

Selected Conference Presentations and Research Activity

"Visiones del yo: La producción de la identidad propia en el hip-hop de Velcro." Connecticut chapter of the Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese, Quinnipiac University, Hamden, CT, October 29, 2011.

"Performing to Live in the Neoliberal Age: Individualism and Collectivism in El Clown." Latin American Studies Association Congress, Toronto, October 6-9, 2010.

"Remixing the Motherland: Representations of the Homeland in Immigrant Hip Hop by Sietenueve and 113." Voices from the In-Between Conference. U of Massachusetts-Amherst. April 16-18, 2010.

"The Yola’s Revenge: Dominican-Rican Voices in the Puerto Rican Underground." Latin American Studies Association Conference. Rio de Janeiro. June 11-15, 2009.

"From the Weary Blues to Motivos de Son and Back: The Early Ballad of Langston Hughes and Nicolás Guillén." American Comparative Literature Association Conference. University of Harvard. March 26-29, 2009.

"Licking the Wounds: Trauma and Self-Treatment in Migdalia Cruz’s Miriam’s Flowers and Salt," Latin American Theatre Today Conference. VirginiaTech, March 26-29, 2008.

"Hemispheric Cultures, Knowledge, and Identity: Trans-Border Imaginings" (workshop and panel). Re-Thinking the Latin@ Intellectual Ecology Conference. University on Connecticut. October 12, 2007.

Performance Art Workshop with Guillermo Gómez Peña and La Pocha Nostra. University of Connecticut. October 7-9, 2007

Attendance and filming of performances. "Tercer Simposio Nacional de Hip Hop" Havana, Cuba. July 25-29, 2007

"Violence and Subjectivity in Brazilian Hip-Hop: Apropos of Rappin’ Hood and MV Bill." Society for the Study of Social Imagery and C.S.U Pueblo Conference on Violence. Colorado Springs, March 9, 2007.

"Mayra Santos en Cualquier miércoles soy tuya:¿ Qué es una autora en la era de la representación globalizada?" Northeastern Modern Language Association. March 6, 2006.

In the Media

Yale Daily News: Alders appoint 17 New Haveners to city boards and commissions

Roberto Irizarry, associate professor and coordinator of modern languages, was appointed by the New Haven Board of Alders to the city’s Peace Commission.