Education

University of California, Berkeley

      Ph.D. in English. December 2015. 

Massachusetts Institute of Technology                             

      Postdoctoral Fellowship / Visiting Scholar in Literature Section. 2015-2016.

      Predoctoral Fellowship / Visiting Scholar in Literature Section. 2014-2015.

California State University, Chico  

       M.A. in English. May 2007.

       B.A. in English & B.A. in Multicultural and Gender Studies: Option in Women’s Studies. May 2004.

Bio

Rosa Martínez is Associate Professor of English at Sacramento State, where she specializes and teaches courses in American Literature, from Early America to 1900, in addition to Chicana/Latina/o Literature. She received her Ph.D. in English from UC Berkeley in Fall 2015 and, during her final year of the dissertation, joined the Literature Section at Massachusetts Institute of Technology on a predoctoral fellowship. The following year, she remained at MIT for a postdoctoral fellowship and was invited to teach courses as well.

Arriving at Sacramento State in fall 2016, she has been at the campus ever since. She teaches a range of courses including, English 180L Chicano/Chicana Literature, subtitled "The Souls of Brown Folk," English 185E Chicana/Latina Women Writers, subtitled "Sisters of the 80's," English 120A Advanced Composition, subtitled "Cervantes's Don Quixote," English 170 Literatures of Sexuality, subtitled "Brown Love: Chicana/Latina/o & Native American Short Stories," and English 198T Senior Seminar, subtitled "Melville's Moby-Dick." During the 2020-2021 academic year, she received the Outstanding Teaching Award for College of Arts & Letters. Alongside teaching, she is the Chapter Advisor for Sigma Tau Delta, the English International Society, at Sacramento State, as well as an Officer for and Member of the Chicanx/Latinx Faculty and Staff Association at the campus. 

She has an article published in the Journal of American Studies, through Cambridge University Press, entitled "Ellen Craft’s ‘Spanish’ Masquerade: Racially (Mis)Reading Hispanicism in Her Cross-Dressing, Feigning Disability, and Running to Sea" (December 2023). Also, a chapter published in A New Companion to Herman Melville, titled "Intertexts: Melville's Cervantes" (September 2022). She was named a finalist for the Boston Review Annual Poetry Prize for her poem, "Paradise Is Burning" (October 2019), and has also been a featured poet for their celebration of Latinx and Hispanic Heritage Month (September 2022).

Her current projects include another chapter on Herman Melville, a book manuscript that focuses on racial passing's histories and historias, tentatively titled Extravagant Passing: Disability, Race, and Spanish Masquerade in Early U.S. Literatures, and also, a creative manuscript of poetry and short stories, titled the bittersweet of it all.

Publications

Books

Extravagant Passing: Disability, Race, and Spanish Masquerade in Early U.S. Literatures (In progress, chapter published)

the bittersweet of it all (In progress, first poem published)

Chapters and Articles

"Ellen Craft’s ‘Spanish’ Masquerade: Racially (Mis)Reading Hispanicism in Her Cross-Dressing, Feigning Disability, and Running to Sea" published by Cambridge University Press, December 2023.

"Intertexts: Melville's Cervantes" In A New Companion to Herman Melville. Second Edition. Edited by Wyn Kelley and Christopher Ohge. Wiley-Blackwell. September 2022.

Creative Writing & Review

“Paradise Is Burning.” Boston Review. Judged by Ladan Osman. Finalist. Annual Poetry Contest. Oct 2019. 

"Poetry Collection: Uplifting Women's Voices" by Meghana Mysore, for National Poetry Month in the Boston Review, April 2021.

Online Courses

“Writing About Literature: Writing About Love.” MIT OpenCourseWare. May 2017. 

“Comedy: Gender, Comedy, and the Body.” MIT OpenCourseWare. March 2017. 

Reviews

Maya Ellen Coleman, "Dear Amerikkka" (Center on Race, Immigration & Social Justice, 2021). Un/Equal Freedoms: Expressions for Social Justice Art Project. 

Susan Schweik, The Ugly Laws: Disability in Public (New York University Press, 2009). UC Berkeley English Department Blog. <https://berkeleyenglishblog.wordpress.com/2009/09/>

Alison Bechdel, Review of Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic (Houghton Mifflin, 2006). Journal of Lesbian Studies. Vol. 12 (2-3), 2008, 315-320.

Catrióna Rueda Esquibel, With Her Machete in Her Hand: Reading Chicana Lesbians (U of Texas Press, 2006). Journal of Lesbian Studies. Vol. 10 (3-4), 2006.

Courses

ENGL 50A: Introduction to American Literature, Part I

ENGL 50B: Introduction to American Literature, Part II

ENGL 65: An Introduction to World Literatures in English (Wretched Love)

ENGL 120A: Advanced Composition (Cervantes's Don Quixote)

ENGL 130C: Special Topics in Poetry Writing (A History in Free Verse)

ENGL 170K: Masters of the Short Story (Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville & Writers of Color)

ENGL 170M: Literatures of Sexuality (19C to 20C Queer Bodies; Brown Love: Chicana/Latina/o & Native American Short Stories)

ENGL 180L: Chicano Literature (The Souls of Brown Folk in Autobiography)

ENGL 185B: American Women Writers (Regionalism)

ENGL 185E: Chicana/Latina Women Writers (Sisters of the 80's)

ENGL 198T: Senior Seminar (Melville's Moby-Dick; Racial Passing Narratives)

ENGL 198X: Senior Portfolio (From College to Career)

Graduate

ENGL 230B: Advanced Poetry Writing (Free Verse)

ENGL 230E: Writing and Theorizing Memoir (Moments of Being)

ENGL 250Z: Special Topics in American Literature (The Novelist on Love)

ENGL 250L: American Women Writers (Passing, Pioneering; Emphasis in Guest Speaking)

ENGL 240Z: Special Topics in British Literature (Virginia Woolf)

ENGL 275: Seminar in Literary History

Presentations (Selected)

“Melville’s Madame Leviathan.” 14th International Melville Studies Conference. “Oceanic Melville.” Connecticut, June 2025.  

“Ellen Craft’s Escape (1848): The Advertisement (1849), Her Portrait (1850), and Slave Narrative (1860).” American Literature Association (ALA). Panel on “Slave Narratives.” Boston, Massachusetts, May 2023.

“Toni Morrison’s Reimagining Desdemona and Disrupting Shakespeare.” 2021 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Annual Convention. Event Title “Equity, Justice, and Antiracist Teaching.” Panel Title, “Premodern Literature and Antiracist Teaching.” Louisville, Kentucky (Virtual, November 2021)

“Anti-Blackness and Anti-Indigenous Racism in Chicanx/Latinx Communities.” Fall 2020 Convocation: Advancing Our Commitment to Antiracism. Organized by the Chicanx/Latinx Faculty and Staff Association. Moderators: Elvia Ramirez and Gerardo Cabral. Sacramento State. September 2020.

“Old Maps, Racial Passing, and the Borderlands.” C19: The Society of Nineteenth-Century Americanists Conference. “Dissent.” Title: “Citizenship Beyond the State: Sovereignty, Personhood, Community.” (Seminar with Derrick R. Spires and Carrie Hyde). Coral Gables, Florida, April 2020. Rescheduled October 2020.

“Melville and His Mosses.” American Literature Association Conference. Panel Sponsored by the Melville Society, titled: "Green Melville." Moderator Tom Nurimi. San Diego, California, May 2020.

“Toni Morrison: Writing, Live, and Love.” A Tribute to Toni Morrison. Underground Books, Sacramento, California. February 2020. Audio Available Upon Request.

“Melville’s Spanish Masquerade into (Babo’s) American Gothic.” 12th International Melville Studies Conference. “Melville’s Origins.” Panel “Gothic Melville.” New York University, New York, June 2019.

“Ellen Craft’s Extravagant Passing & Transnational Masquerades.” MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States. “TransCulture.” Las Vegas, Nevada, May 2018.

Teaching Awards

Outstanding Faculty Award for Teaching in College of Arts & Letters (2020-2021)

College’s Selection Committee, with concurrence of Dean, exemplifying excellence in teaching and outstanding teaching effectiveness in the college.

Exceptional Levels of Service to Students Award (2026)

Title, "Graduate English Mentoring (or GEM)." For both BA and MA programs in the English Department. A mentorship opportunity between the professor and graduate students, but also, between graduate students and undergraduates. GEM, as our prior Department Chair called it, emphasizes teaching in paired undergraduate/graduate courses for the Literature and Creative Writing tracks in English. 

Pedagogical Enhancement Award (2024)

Title, “Teachers Teaching Teachers: Developing Graduate Student Leadership in English 410T Graduate English Mentoring and Teaching (4 Unit), or GEM, a Bridging Mentorship Program for Faculty, Graduate Students, and Undergraduate Students in the English Department.”

Graduate Studies Mini-Grant Program (2024)

Title, “Developing Graduate Student Leadership: Redesigning English 410T Graduate English Mentoring and Teaching (4 Unit) for Hybrid and Inclusive Modalities.”

All Peoples Recognition Ceremony (2017-2018; 2023-2024)

Student Nomination, Presented by CSU, Sacramento’s Multicultural Center, for making a difference at the campus and contributing to an inclusive environment by promoting goals of diversity and social justice.

Curriculum Redesign Award (2019; 2020)

    Title, "The New English MA: Standardized Syllabi, Portfolio Projects, Culminating Exam." 

    Title, "HIP – Portfolio English Major: PRISM."

Guest Speaker

Moderator. Conversation with Ana Castillo. Mrs. Dalloway’s Bookstore, Berkeley, CA, June 2023.

Panelist. “LGBTQIA+ & Chicanx/Latinx Joy Amidst Crisis.” Chicanx/Latinx Faculty and Staff Association (CHLFSA). Sacramento State, Sacramento, CA, April 2020.

Reader. Poetry Reading with Josh McKinney and Rosa Martinez. U-Nite. Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA, Nov. 2019.

Reader. Melville’s Benito Cereno. Notable Books. Sacramento Public Library, Sacramento, CA, Oct. and Nov. 2019

Panelist. A Twentieth-Century Global History of Drag in Art and Visual Culture. Panel: "History of Drag." Title: "A Drag History in Chicanx/Latinx Autobiographies." Sac State, CA, Oct. 2019.

Reader. Selected Readings from the bittersweet of it all. Calaveras Journal & Open Mic. University Library. Sacramento State, CA, April 2019.

Panelist. “IN-QUEER-Y: Conversation about Trans and Queer Identity and Lived Experiences.” One Book Day featuring Wayne Maines & Nicole Maines. University Union Ballroom. Sacramento State, CA, October 2018.

Panelist. Lessons on Rebellion: Queer Women Who Rebel. Faculty Panel. Sacramento State, CA, March 2017.

Reader. Poetry Reading with Marcello Hernandez Castillo and Rosa Martinez. Selected Readings from the bittersweet of it all. Sacramento Poetry Center. Sacramento, CA, January. 2017.

Introduction. She’s the Man: A Drag Queen Performance. DeFlorez Humor Fund. MIT, Cambridge, MA, May 2016.

Service

Co-Chair. Bazzanella Literary Awards. English Department. Sacramento State. Spring 2025-Present.

Co-Chair. "Ethnic Studies (P20), Educational Equity, & Global Education." Collaboration Between Sierra College & Sacramento State. Placer One Center. Spring 2024.