Professor Kirk's main teaching and research interests include the literature and culture of colonial Latin America with a focus on gender studies and religion, as well as translation studies and contemporary Latin American feminisms.
Stephanie Kirk is the author of two books: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and the Gender Politics of Knowledge in Colonial Mexico (Routledge, 2016) and Convent Life in Colonial Mexico: A Tale of Two Communities (Florida UP, 2007). She has also published numerous articles and essays on gender and religious culture in colonial Mexico, and on the life and work of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz. She has edited two collected volumes: Religious Transformations in the Early Modern Americas (Penn Press, 2014) and Estudios coloniales en el siglo XXI: Nuevos itinerarios (IILI, 2011). She is currently preparing a translation and critical edition of Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora’s convent chronicle Paraíso occidental.
As Director of the Center for the Humanities, Professor Kirk leads a team that promotes research excellence among faculty and students through a range of initiatives, including working groups, fellowships, and workshops. In recent years, she has placed particular emphasis on expanding career pathways for humanities graduate students, managing a major Mellon Foundation grant and contributing to the field through writing and public presentations on the topic.
