In an exclusive interview with the Chronicle, Professor Emerita RoseAnna Mueller, discussed her newest book release, “The Mystic Nuns of Colonial Colombia,” a collection of translated works of several nuns from the South American country along with scholarly criticism.
The book discusses the history and role of the convents before presenting the translated biographies of the nuns mentioned in the book.
Mueller was a former faculty member in the former History, Humanities and Social Sciences department, which is now a part of the School of Communication and Culture.
Mueller said that her inspiration behind creating the book is a result of her fellowship in the Fulbright Scholar Program. The program offers grants for purposes such as teaching, studying and researching in other countries. The fellowship gave her the Fulbright Teaching and Research grant.
She was asked to be coordinator of foreign languages, which later on became coordinator of humanities.
During her experience teaching abroad in Colombia, Mueller taught Latin American women’s writing, a graduate class, and would mention how there were many unknown female writers, particularly nuns.
“We don’t know a lot about these women, but they were extraordinary women that I thought needed to be brought to the fore,” said Mueller.
For creating the book, she said that she proposed doing further research on a nun by the name of Madre Castillo, which led to her discovering three more nuns who wrote about their own lives as well.
Typically confessors would write the nun’s stories, but these nuns wrote them themselves.
“I discovered that there were other nuns who had written their life stories because their confessors wanted to hear how they were cut, you know, constructing their identity with Jesus, with the divine,” Mueller said.
She researched various libraries during her time abroad in Colombia.
She, along with several faculty, presented their works at the annual “Publication Celebration” in late April.
Jeanne Petrolle, associate dean of Faculty Affairs, said that the event was now in its fifth year with the purpose being to highlight work done by faculty.
“Professors not only teach and help to administer the college, but they also publish books, make films, design games, and we wanted a time when we celebrate all of that,” Petrolle said.
Jennifer Sauzer, head of Access Services and Assessment for the library, said that she has known Mueller due to frequenting the library often.
“It’s a pleasure to see the contributions that Columbia faculty make to the arts in their scholarship and in their production,” said Sauzer.
Petrolle has known Mueller for many years and said that she has enjoyed reading the multiple books that Mueller had published.
She has also published translated works by Venezuelan authors Teresa de la Parra and Antonia Palacios.
“I mean, there are a lot of writers that would be lost to history if it weren’t for RoseAnna out there discovering them and then translating,” Petrolle said. “I mean, the translating is a really important piece so that English-speaking American readers can also know about these women’s works.”
Copy edited by Matt Brady
