Rocío Quispe-Agnoli is a professor at Michigan State University who specializes in topics including Colonial Latin American Studies and Women's and Gender Studies. WKAR’s Karel Vega spoke with Quispe-Agnoli about the evolution of Hispanic identity in modern times.
National Hispanic Heritage Month recognizes Hispanic and Latino American heritage and culture. Originally created in the late 60’s as Hispanic Heritage Week under President Lyndon B. Johnson, it was expanded into a full month in 1988 by President Ronald Reagan. It runs from September 15 through October 15 in recognition of several Latin American countries whose independence was declared around mid-September.
Quispe-Agnoli is the Interim Co-Chair of Department of Romance and Classical Studies and the chair of the Executive Planning Committee of the School of Language Sciences & Literary and Cultural Studies.
She is also the recipient of awards for three of her short fictions: La Regenta 1998, Atenea 1999 and Ana María Matute 1999. In 2013 Quispe-Agnoli was acknowledged by the Embassy of Peru in the United States as Peruvian Woman of the Year for her academic and literary contributions.