Senior Anne Hunt recently made her entrance into the world of post-graduate academia -- months before even graduating from college.
Hunt's work in the field of Spanish literature won her a spot at a by-invitation, for-professors-only conference in late February at the University of Texas at San Antonio. The conference, which drew academics from all over the world, was entitled "Food Representation in Literature, Film, and the Other Arts."
Hunt, a Spanish major, learned about the conference while doing research for her senior thesis on the representation of food in the book "Lazarillo de Tormes," written in 1554 by an unknown author.
"I knew I wanted to do an independent study on Picaresque literature," said Hunt. "I decided to focus on 'Lazarillo de Tormes' and couldn't help but notice the importance of food in the book."
She studied the text in great detail and arrived at her thesis, which is essentially that in 'Lazarillo,' food is the main tool of manipulation of the reader.
"A lot of the book's criticism has to do with the presence of hunger in the book, since Picaresque is a genre of literature that usually has a young child as the protagonist who passes through a series of masters," Hunt said. "Every chapter is a different episode that centers on the themes of poverty and survival. But rather than focusing on hunger, I focused on the presence of food and its power of manipulation."
Hunt explained that when she heard about the conference, it seemed like a great opportunity for her to develop her thesis and to present her preliminary conclusions to other academics.
"I applied to participate by sending a one-page abstract in September. When I received my letter of acceptance it read 'Dear Professor Hunt.' I wrote the organizers and told them that I was a student, and they let me participate anyway," said Hunt.
Hunt would be the first undergraduate to present at this conference.
She noted how supportive the other participants were, and specifically acknowledged the impact of one of the organizers, Santiago Daydi Tolson, who approached her before she was to present and said to her, "Don't be nervous. Just remember that you are with your peers."
Hunt said that attending the conference was a great experience, and helped her get ideas for her thesis, which is still a work in progress.
"It was neat as an undergrad to be witness to that part of the academic world," she added.
Professor Alina Sokol, Hunt's thesis advisor and a specialist in golden age Spanish poetry, said she was very proud of Hunt's work and the contributions she has made to the field.
"I think that the project is fascinating," Sokol said. "Representation of food in literature has interested many contemporary scholars. To my knowledge, however, there is no specific study that examines the meaning of food references in 'Lazarillo.'"
"Given the centrality of these references to the novel, establishing their meaning could enhance our understanding of the book and of the Picaresque in general," said Sokol.