Dr. Jony Montalvo Román

Jony teaches Upper School classes in Spanish language and in the arts and cultures of the Spanish-speaking world. He is a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion facilitator, and a member of the Upper School’s LGBTQ+ Affinity group.

Before coming to Park, Jony taught Spanish and was the Director of the Hispanic Studies program at Graceland University, a small Liberal Arts College in Iowa. He is a diversity practitioner.  

Jony holds a B.A. in Spanish International Studies from Purdue University-Northwest, an M.A. in Spanish from Western Michigan University, and a Ph.D. in Hispanic Cultural Studies with concentration in race, gender, and sexuality in the Hispanic Caribbean from Michigan State University.  

Jony is originally from Lares, Puerto Rico, a small town in the central-western region of the island. Among his interests and hobbies are traveling, photography, nature, volleyball, cooking, college sports, and movies. 

Among his many publications and presentations are: 

Publications

• “¿Dónde está el bugarrón?: exclusión e inclusión de un modelo de masculinidad y sexualidad alterno en la película Sanky Panky y la novela Sirena Selena vestida de pena,” NUESTRO CARIBE. Poder, Raza y Postnacionalismos desde los límites del mapa LGBT. San Juan: Isla Negra Editores, May 2016. 
• “Colonial phantoms: Belonging and refusal in the Dominican Americas from the 19th century to the present by Dixa Ramirez,” Latino Studies, Vol 17, No 4 (2019): 558-560. 
• “Trans-Caribbean Scenes or the Archive of the Queer Cultural Critique of Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes,” Journal of Latin American Communication Research, Vol 6, No 1-2 (2018): 262-265. 

Presentations

• “Sharing Stories of Social Justice: A storytelling practice session for educators,” invited guest story-teller at The Golden Door, Baltimore, MD, October 12, 2021. 
• “Personajes trans en la literatura puertorriqueña,” co-presented with Daniel Torres and Richard Rivera-Cardona, PEN de Puerto Rico Internacional, Virtual, August, 26, 2021.
• “The Politics of Race: What Puerto Rico Taught Me,” co-presented with Georgia Seagraves, Marshalltown Community College Latinx Leadership Initiative, Marshalltown, Iowa, October 26, 2019.