Dr Alba Carmona PhD

• PhD in Spanish Studies, Autonomous University of Barcelona, 2018. Summa cum laude (PhD Award).
• MA in Comparative Literature, Autonomous University of Barcelona, 2013
• BA in Humanities, Autonomous University of Barcelona, 2012 (1st class Honours)

I am a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Modern Languages at the University of Birmingham. I hold a PhD in Spanish Studies from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and have held academic positions in Spain, Norway, and the United Kingdom. My research focuses on Spanish Golden Age theatre and its modern reception, with particular attention to performance, adaptation, exile, transnational circulation, and gender.

I am the author of three monographs, have edited volumes with leading international publishers, and have published widely in leading international journals. My work combines literary-historical analysis with quantitative and digital approaches, including social network analysis and large-scale data modelling, enabling me to address questions of cultural transmission, reception, and canon formation from an innovative methodological perspective.

I have undertaken research stays at institutions such as Princeton University, the University of Oxford, Stanford University, and the IT University of Copenhagen, which have contributed to the international and interdisciplinary scope of my work. More recently, I have been exploring the use of Natural Language Processing as a complementary methodological approach to the analysis of theatrical reception and cultural discourse.

I have been awarded major competitive grants, including a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship, as well as funding from British, European, and American institutions. My interdisciplinary contribution to Early Modern Hispanic Studies was recognised with the Best Published Scientific Article Award (2021) from Humanidades Digitales Hispánicas: Sociedad Internacional.

Alongside my academic work, I have been actively involved in outreach and knowledge-transfer activities. I have curated two exhibitions at the Casa Museo Lope de Vega (Madrid), which explored the impact of Golden Age theatre on cinema and audiovisual culture and attracted wide non-academic audiences. I have also collaborated with major cultural media outlets such as El País and RTVE. Through these initiatives, I seek to connect academic research with broader cultural debates and to promote public engagement with Hispanic cultural heritage in the modern age.