Teaching staff
Juan Manuel Camacho Ramos
My area of academic research is, generally speaking, that of the Graeco-Roman Classical roots in Middle English Literature. This comes as a somewhat natural extension of my earliest skirmishes into philological research carried out initially for my doctoral thesis which versed on the Graeco-Roman Classical influences in the British Arthurian Literature of the Middle Ages. Shortly after finishing my Ph.D., I published a critical edition of the Anglo-Saxon Elegies in Spanish meant to be a beginners guide to Old English studies for university students studying English Philology. Another academic outcome followed high on the heels of this last with the title ‘Sir Orfeo’. This too was meant as a tool for university students and was designed as a follow-up on the Anglo-Saxon Elegies. The last step in the ladder was a book on Homer’s Odyssey (La Odisea de Homero en Dante y Tennyson) and how this wonderful story made its way into such literary masterpieces as Dante’s Inferno and Tennyson classical poetry.
In what concerns my lectures at university, my undergraduate subjects are linked to literary studies and translation, the latter being another area of deep interest to me. Nevertheless, I also lecture on classroom management and motivation in the master’s degree I’m involved with. Teaching future high school teachers how to properly manage a classroom is a very challenging exercise yet not less rewarding, by any means. At a more practical level, I am also in charge of coordinating school placements for our teacher-trainees and find it a highly rewarding responsibility as it keeps me on the front line of interaction with year after year of very keen and motivated students while they traverse such an immensely exciting experience.