Laura Muñoz's approach to teaching focuses on developing core skills of critical thinking and analysis that students can apply beyond the classroom, while also preparing students to actively engage interdisciplinary skills in order to connect with the Spanish-speaking world. Her experiences as a first-generation university student has informed her commitment to increasing student access and engagement in their college experience. Her goal is to foster an environment in the classroom where students feel safe and encouraged to take risks with their learning.
She values the ability to work closely with students as a mentor as well as an instructor and welcomes the opportunity to continue integrating mentorship and teaching in innovative ways.
Her research focuses on early modern Spanish theater, translation, adaptation and modern performance. She is always looking for ways to explore culture through the arts, and in addition to translating classical Spanish theater into English, she also works with playwrights and directors producing for the modern stage. She has nearly a decade of experience with literary translation, and has also worked as a freelance translator in the commercial sector under different capacities. As part of the Language, Literature and Mass Communication Department, she's using this expertise to prepare students for careers in non-academic fields, especially language services like translation and interpretation services.
Muñoz is a founding member of the Diversifying the Classics, access to previously translated works diversifyingtheclassics.humanities.ucla.edu/.
Laura Muñoz's Curriculum Vitae
Selected Published Works
“from Alonso Gregorio de Escobedo, La Florida.” The Broadview Anthology of American Literature, Volume A: Beginnings to 1820. Edited volume. Translated by Laura Muñoz, Jenny Marie Forsythe, Scott Cave, Alejandra Dubcovsky, Clayton McCarl. Broadview Press. 2022.
The Courage to Right a Woman’s Wrongs. Translation and edition of Ana Caro de Mallén, Valor, agravio y mujer, with the UCLA Working Group on Comedia in Performance and Translation. Juan de la Cuesta, 2021.
To Love Beyond Death. Translation and edition of Pedro Calderón de la Barca, Amar después de la muerte, with the UCLA Working Group on Comedia in Performance and Translation. Juan de la Cuesta, 2021. 140 pp.
The Widow of Valencia. Translation and edition of Lope de Vega, La viuda valenciano, with the UCLA Working Group on Comedia in Performance and Translation. Juan de la Cuesta, 2019. 152 pp.
Unhappily Married in Valencia. Translation and edition of Guillén de Castro, Los mal casados de Valencia, Co-translated with Veronica Wilson. Juan de la Cuesta, 2019. 165 pp.
What We Owe Our Lies. Translation and edition of Juan Ruiz de Alarcón, Los empeñ-os de un engaño, with the UCLA Working Group on Comedia in Performance and Translation. Juan de la Cuesta, 2019. 126 pp.
The Force of Habit. Translation and edition of Guillén de Castro, La fuerza de la costumbre, with the UCLA Working Group on Comedia in Performance and Translation. Juan de la Cuesta, 2019. 132 pp.
A Wild Night in Toledo. Translation and edition of Lope de Vega, La noche toledana, with the UCLA Working Group on Comedia in Performance and Translation. Juan de la Cuesta, 2018. 155 pp.
90 Monologues from Classical Spanish Theater. Edited volume. Co-edited with Barbara Fuchs and Jennifer L. Monti. Juan de la Cuesta, 2018. 342 pp.