Patricia A. Kenworthy, PhD

After completing my undergraduate major in Spanish at Duke University, I received my M.A. and Ph.D. in Spanish from the University of Arizona. The topic of my dissertation was the Entremeses (eight one-act farces) by Miguel de Cervantes (Spain, 1547-1616).  At Vassar, I enjoyed teaching everything from Elementary Spanish Language to Don Quijote.  I also got some administrative experience as Chair of the Hispanic Studies department, Dean of Freshmen and Director of the Vassar-Wesleyan-Colgate Program in Spain.  My research interests in the last half of my career focused on recovering the staging conventions used in public playhouses in 17th-century Spain.  Like in Shakespeare's Globe Theater, performances were in the daytime, with no proscenium curtain covering the stage. How did the actors and limited props get on and off the stage, create the sense of time and place of the action without lighting or scenery, achieve special effects to create the illusion of flying or miracles?

In retirement, I volunteer as an interpreter at a free medical clinic and at a local non-profit social services agency on Hilton Head Island, SC.