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World Languages & Cultures

Mara Theodoritsi

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Bio

Born and bred in Greece, Maria (Mara) Theodoritsi spent some of her teenage years in Italy, where she attended the International School of Naples. She completed her undergraduate studies in Italian and Spanish Philology in Greece. Before she went to graduate school, she was a staff translator at the Hellenic Army History Directorate and a freelance literary translator. In addition, she completed a traineeship at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Translation in Brussels, Belgium. She went on to earn two master's degrees in Italy and the United States and a PhD in Canada. In the interim, she spent two years working at the European Union Intellectual Property Office in Alicante, Spain. She taught Italian language and Spanish language and literature to undergraduates for 9 years before she joined CCRI. She also served as an instructor of Modern Greek in the International and Indigenous Languages Program of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.

Office Hours

In person: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11.30am to 1pm (KN3148)

Online: Fridays from 9 to 10am & from 11am to 1pm on Webex. The link for the meeting is: ccri.webex.com/meet/mtheodoritsi

Spanish Lounge: Wednesdays from 1 to 2pm (KN3140)

The Spanish Lounge is a fun way for native and non-native speakers alike to practice conversational Spanish in a friendly and casual environment, increase their awareness of Hispanic cultures, and be part of a community.

Students, faculty, and staff are welcome!

For more information, please contact: [email protected].

Education

BA in Italian (Minor in Spanish), National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 2005

MA in Teaching Italian as a Foreign Language, University of Rome Tor Vergata, 2013

MA in Spanish, University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) 
(formerly University of Texas-Brownsville [UTB]), 2014

PhD in Spanish, University of Ottawa, 2023

Classes

Spring 2025

SPAN 1030 - Elementary Spanish I
SPAN 1040 - Elementary Spanish II
SPAN 2010 - Intermediate Spanish I
ITAL 2010 - Intermediate Italian I

Fall 2024

SPAN 1030 - Elementary Spanish I
SPAN 1040 - Elementary Spanish II
ITAL 2010 - Intermediate Italian I

Summer 2024

SPAN 1030 - Elementary Spanish I

Spring 2024

SPAN 1030 - Elementary Spanish I

Learning Resources

Sample interactive quizzes in H5P format for a course on 20th-century Latin American culture

Carmen Miranda

Ernesto "Che" Guevara

Selected Publications

Peer-Reviewed Articles

Theodoritsi, Mara. "Literal and Metaphorical Puppets as Supernatural Figures: Echoes of Classical Greek Theatre in Cervantes's Fiction". Skenè. Journal of Theatre and Drama Studies, 8, 1, 2022, pp. 69-86.

Theodoritsi, Mara. "Luigi Pirandello as Master Pedro in his Theater of Puppets: A Pirandellian Reading of Miguel de Cervantes's Master Pedro Episode". The Journal of The Pirandello Society of America, 30, 2017, pp. 53-77.

Published translations

Theodoritsi, Mara (translator). "Pirandello", by Kostas Ouranis. The Journal of The Pirandello Society of America, 32, 2019, pp. 118-122. Translated from Modern Greek into English with a translator's introduction.

Theodoritsi, Mara (translator). "Hellas and Pirandello", by Kostas Ouranis. The Journal of The Pirandello Society of America, 31, 2018, pp. 83-87. Translated from Modern Greek into English with a translator's introduction.

Theodoritsi, Mara (co-translator). Λοιπόν, έχουμε πόλεμο! "Alors, c'est la guerre!". Vasilios Nikoltsios, 2010. Book of images and archival materials from the Greek-Italian War, 1940-1941. Translations from Italian into Modern Greek.

Theodoritsi, Mara (translator). Διηγήματα [Novellas], by Luigi Pirandello. Printa-Roes, 2008. Translated from Italian into Modern Greek with a translator's introduction.

Academic Focus

Translation studies, Translanguaging, Heritage Language Learning, Interculturality.

Research Focus

Spanish Golden Age Literature, Miguel de Cervantes, Italian Twentieth-Century Literature, Luigi Pirandello, Theatrical Aspects of the Novel, Metatheatre, Puppet Theatre

Awards & Honors

Diploma of Appreciation for contributing to the promotion of Greek language and culture in the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board's International and Indigenous Languages Program. Awarded by the Embassy of Greece in Canada.

Best PhD Student. Awarded by the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures of the University of Ottawa and the Embassy of Chile in Canada.

Recipient of a Stavros Niarchos Foundation Scholarship (2017-2020).

Additional Information (Links)