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College of Arts and Sciences

Ryan A Davis

Professor
Lang Literatures & Cultures
Office
STV Stevenson Hall 215
Office Phone
(309) 438-7759office
phone
Email
rdavis2@ilstu.eduemail
Website
ilstu.academia.edu/RyanDaviswebsite
  • About
  • Education
  • Awards & Honors
  • Research

Current Courses

112.014Beginning Spanish

233.002Introduction To Hispanic Literature

214.001Oral Communication In Spanish

214.002Oral Communication In Spanish

213.005Written Communication In Spanish

Research Interests & Areas

19th-21st-Century Spanish Literature and Culture, Narrative, Religion, Medicine and Literature, Spanish Influenza, "Fringe" discourses

Ph D

Emory University
Atlanta, Georgia

MA

Brigham Young University
Provo, Utah

BA

Brigham Young University
Provo, Utah

Best Article on International Mormonism

Mormon History Association
2022

Book Review

Davis, R. Review of Understanding Juan Benet, by Benjamin Fraser. Columbia, S.C.: U of South Carolina P, 2013. Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies 19 (2015): 285–86. (2015)

Book, Authored

The Spanish Flu: Narrative and Cultural Identity in Spain, 1918. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013

Book, Chapter

Davis, R. Mormon Missionaries and the Emergence of Modern Argentine Sport, 1938–1943. Sport and Christianity (2020)

"Hypnotism and the Epistemological Limits of Modernity: Alberto de Das and Leopoldo Alas." In Ryan A. Davis and Alicia Cerezo Paredes (Eds.), Modernity and Epistemology in Nineteenth-Century Spain: Fringe Discourses. Lexington Books

Book, Edited

Modernity and Epistemology in Nineteenth-Century Spain: Fringe Discourses. Eds. Ryan A. Davis and Alicia Cerezo Paredes. New York: Lexington Books, 2017.

The Spanish Influenza Pandemic of 1918–1919: Perspectives from the Iberian Peninsula and the Americas. Eds. María-Isabel Porras-Gallo and Ryan A. Davis. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, 2014

Journal Article

“The Spirituality of Sport: Los Mormones in Argentina, 1938–1943.” Journal of Mormon History 47.4 (2021): 22–51.

, R. Modern Spain, a Myth: Regeneration through Reeducation in Santiago Ramón y Cajal’s Cuentos de vacaciones (1905). European Journal of Anatomy 23.S1 (2019): 73-83.

“Mormon Missionaries and the Emergence of Modern Argentine Sport, 1938–1943.” The International Journal of the History of Sport 35.1 (2018).

“Modern Spain, a Myth: Regeneration through Reeducation in Santiago Ramón y Cajal’s Cuentos de vacaciones (1905).” Revista de Estudios Hispánicos 47.2 (2013): 313–35.

“Suggestive Characters: Hypnotism and Subjectivity in Blanca de los Ríos's Las hijas de Don Juan (1907).” Decimonónica 9.1 (2012). 

Magazine/Trade Publication

Davis, R. BYU, Racism, and the Road to Social Ruin. Public Square Magazine (2022)
Davis, R. Truth, Justice, and the BYU Way. Public Square Magazine (2022)

Presentations

Kiosk Cowboys, or the Curious Case of Spanish Mormon Westerns. BYU Dept. of Spanish and Portuguese. (2023)
Kiosk Cowboys, or the Curious Case of Spanish Mormon Westerns. Charles Redd Center Faculty Luncheon. Charles Redd Center for Western Studies. (2023)
Making Sense of Mormons in 20th-century Spanish Pulp Westerns.. Global Mormon Studies 2023 Online Conference. Global Mormon Studies. (2023)
Mormons and Mormonism in 19th-Century Spanish Newspapers. Mormon History Association. (2022)
The Spanish Flu: A Microbe, Music, and Making Sense. Baldwin Wallace University. Baldwin Wallace University. (2021)
Zorro Among the Saints: Mormons and the American West in Spanish Popular Literature. 56th Annual Conference - Mormon History Association. (2021)
Spanish Flu Then and Now, a View from Spain. Cultural Histories of the Great Flu Pandemic of 1918–1919: Representation and Memories. (2019)
The Quixotic Vision of Santiago Ramón y Cajal: Art, Science, and Society. 16th Annual J. Willis Hurst History of Medicine Symposium. Emory University. (2019)
Muscular Mormonism in Modern Argentina: Missionaries and Sports, 1938-42. Mormon Scholars in the Humanities. (2018)

America’s Pastime in Modern Argentina: The Forgotten Role of Mormon Missionaries, 1938–42.” Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. December 8, 2017.

Grants & Contracts

College of Arts and Sciences Interdisciplinary Initiative Grant -- World Religions. ISU College of Arts and Sciences. Illinois State University. (2019)
Los Mormones in Spain: Popular Literature and Public Opinion. CAS (URG-SFF). Illinois State University. (2019)
Los Mormones in Spain: Popular Literature and Public Opinion. Global Mormon Studies Research Grant at Claremont Graduate University. Other. (2019)
International Travel Grant. CAS. Illinois State University. (2015)
New Faculty Initiative Grant. College of Arts and Sciences. Illinois State University.