Dr. Esteban Devis-Amaya is a lecturer at the University of Southampton and Academic Events Coordinator at MexSu.
Esteban moved from Colombia to the United Kingdom to attend university. He first came to the University of Southampton to complete a BSc (Hons) in Politics and International Relations. He then moved to London to complete an MSc in Global Politics from the London School of Economics and Political Science, before moving back to the University of Southampton to do a PhD in Transnational Studies, where he held a Spanish studentship from the Department of Modern Languages.
He has held several teaching posts at the University of Southampton and has taught Spanish language as well as history and politics of Spain, Latin America and the Arab world. He is an Academic Events Co-ordinator and web developer for MexSu (Centre for Mexico-Southampton Collaboration), as well as an Independent Learning Coordinator for the Southampton Pre-sessional Programmes.
His research interests focus on migration, identity and diasporas: the way communities perform, produce and reproduce belonging, and the spaces they create and recreate. He is also interested in the politics, history and society of Latin America and the Middle East, and the human and institutional links between the two regions.
His PhD thesis focused on the active Colombian-Lebanese community in Bogota, focusing on their identity and the importance of social class and religion for their belonging. It followed an ethnographic approach researching the community’s organisations and the divisions that social class and religion caused within it. The research was conducted through the Centre for Transnational Studies, in the Department of Modern Languages at the University of Southampton.
He teaches a variety of stages of Spanish language, from complete beginners (stage 1) to near-native speakers (stage 7). He contributes to the Curriculum Innovation Module 'The Arab World (in and) Beyond the Headlines'. In the past he has also contributed to modules on the history and politics of Spain and Latin America, as well as on research and academic skills for undergraduate and postgraduate students.
Additionally, he is a Coordinator for the Independent Learning component of the Pre-sessional Programme at the University of Southampton.
Contact : e.devis@soton.ac.uk