image from Jordana Mendelson

Jordana Mendelson

Director

Jordana Mendelson is the new Director of NYU’s King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center as of September 2020. She is also Associate Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and affiliate faculty in the Department of Art History and the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University. Prior to coming to NYU, Professor Mendelson taught at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and served as a visiting professor at the Universidad de Navarra, the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, and in the independent study program of the Museu d’Arr Contemporani de Barcelona (MACBA).

more »
image from Marina Garde

Marina Garde

Assistant Director

Marina Garde assumes the role of Assistant Director at NYU’s KJCC as of August 2023.

She holds an MA in Political Science from Universidad Complutense in Spain, pursued post-graduate studies at the Diplomatic School in Madrid, and completed a Certificate in International Relations from New York University.

more »
image from Laura Turégano

Laura Turégano

Special Projects Officer

Ms. Turégano has taken the new role of Special Projects Officer as of August 2023. Ms. Turégano was KJCC Associate Director between 2004 and 2023 (with several stints as Acting Director -Fall 2007, Fall 2011, Academic Year 2018 and 2020).

more »
image from Luis Alfonso Pérez

Luis Alfonso Pérez

Administrative Assistant

Luis Alfonso Pérez has worked several years in the multimedia industry both as an administrator and freelance artist. His work has won various awards in several art shows on the east coast. A Bronx native of Colombian descent he is fluent in English and Spanish. Luis received a BA in Illustration from the Fashion Institute of Technology. Since January 2006 Luis has been Administrative Assistant at the King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center. luis.a.perez@nyu.edu

more »
image from Juan Manuel Ávila Conejo

Juan Manuel Ávila Conejo

Public Humanities Fellow 2023-2024

Avila is KJCC’s Public Humanities Fellow 2023-2024, assisting in the center’s mission to bring humanities scholarship on the Spanish-speaking world into the mainstream.

Ávila, from Costa Rica,is Ph.D candidate in Comparative Literature at New York University.

more »
image from Sara Padilla

Sara Padilla

Communications and Social Media

Padilla will be in charge of the communications and social media as a Graduate Assistant at KJCC. She is a writer from Montelíbano, Colombia and graduated as a historian and journalist and has worked in media such as El Espectador, Diners Magazine and independent Colombian publishing houses. She worked as an analyst and transcriber at the Colombian Truth Commission, an entity in charge of investigating the Colombian armed conflict. She is studying the MFA in Creative Writing in Spanish and is writing her first book.

more »
image from Maya Welber Matos

Maya Welber Matos

Undergraduate Assistant

Maya Welber Matos, a senior majoring in Social and Cultural Analysis with a focus in Caribbean studies, is joining us as our intern for the full school year to oversee and manage our “Fridays on the Patio” events, as well as developing some new projects of her own on behalf of the KJCC!

more »
image from Chloe Stone

Chloe Stone

Undergraduate Assistant

A first-year studying Politics with a double joint major in Spanish and Linguistics, joins us as our Office Assistant this semester. At NYU, she is part of the university's softball team, Student Government Assembly (SGA), serving as the Service Event lead for All-University Events, Inter-Residence Hall Council (IRHC), serving as the Lipton Dorm Hall President, the College of Arts & Sciences Student Council (CASSC), and involved in multiple community service driven clubs. She is excited to join the KJCC team and continue serving the community!

more »