Promoted to full professor in May 2011, Baltasar Fra-Molinero is a professor of Spanish whose research interests include the Spanish Golden Age and Spanish-American colonial literature. He focuses on the representation of blacks and their diaspora and is the author of the book La imagen de los negros en el teatro del Siglo de Oro (“The image of the black in the theater of the Golden Age”; Siglo XXI, 1995).

Fra-Molinero chairs the Spanish program at Bates. In addition to all levels of Spanish language, he has taught Spanish theater, Cervantes’ Don Quixote, medieval Spain, Latin American and Spanish cinema, and the Afro-Hispanic diaspora.

Now in his 17th year at Bates, Fra-Molinero received his doctorate in Spanish and a master’s in linguistics from Indiana University. He holds a doctorate and bachelor’s degree in English philology from the University of Seville in Spain.

In collaboration with Bates professor Sue E. Houchins, he is producing a critical edition and translation of the 18th-century Compendio de la vida ejemplar de la Venerable Madre Sor Teresa Juliana de Santo Domingo (“Compendium of the Exemplary Life of the Venerable Mother, Sister Teresa Juliana of Santo Domingo”). He co-edited a monographic issue on Equatorial Guinea for Afro-Hispanic Review (2009) and was guest editor of a volume on Don Quixote and Race for Annals of Scholarship (2010).

Bates College students enrolled in the course “Afroambiente” (“Black Environment”), taught by Associate Professor of Spanish Baltasar Fra-Molinero, will give a multimedia presentation on the effects of Hurricane Katrina on both New Orleans and the United States at 7 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 29, in Room 204 of Carnegie Science Hall, Campus Avenue. The public is invited to attend free of charge.

Topics the students will discuss include a chronology of events surrounding Hurricane Katrina, the response to the emergency by authorities, a profile of the storm’s victims, media coverage of the situation and an analysis of the crisis in the context of environmental injustice.

State Sen. Peggy Rotundo will speak about the Katrina Relief Initiative, a combined effort by Bates students, staff and faculty to help victims of the hurricane and local residents affected by rising fuel costs. As of Sept. 27, the campuswide initiative has raised $12,686 –$5,097 from students and $7,589 from faculty and staff. The Bates College Harward Center for Community Partnerships is serving as the collection point for donations, which can be made by contacting community volunteer coordinator Marty Deschaines at this mdeschai@bates.edu.

A discussion will follow the presentations, and refreshments will be served. For more information, contact Dustin Drury at this ddrury@bates.edu.