Aarti Smith Madan is an Associate Professor of Spanish & International Studies in the Department of Humanities and Arts at WPI. Her research centers on the ways spatial practices inform the production and consumption of literature, film, and art in Latin America. In her recently published monograph, Lines of Geography in Latin American Narrative: National Territory, National Literature (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), Professor Madan unearths the literary roots of the discipline of geography in nineteenth-century Latin America. Her second book-length project explores literary and cultural encounters between Latin America and India, with a special focus on Brazil. Most recently she has spent time exploring the feminist works of Brazilian street artist Panmela Castro, whose art and activism inform Professor Madan's research into South-South collaboration between women artists of color. Professor Madan brings her scholarly interests into the classroom both in Worcester and in Buenos Aires, where she leads WPI’s biennial summer language & culture immersion. In 2013, she was awarded the Romeo Moruzzi Young Faculty Award for Innovation in Undergraduate Education. Professor Madan is active on- and off-campus as Faculty Advisor to Alpha Xi Delta and as Vice Chair of Worcester's Women’s Initiative Community Impact Committee.