Doing Iberian Studies in Times of COVID

The first episode of our new “Historias for BSPHS” collaboration with the Bulletin for Spanish and Portuguese Studies, in this roundtable three scholars studying Spain tell their stories of facing and overcoming the difficulties of doing research during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of the journal’s ongoing forum on Doing Iberian Studies in Times of Crisis. Sara J. Brenneis tells of finding new sources when the pandemic suddenly shut down Spain’s archives, James D. Fernández of confronting the cancellation of his exhibition and study abroad program and Charles Nicholas Saenz of finding new directions after not being able to travel to Spain. The guests also discuss what lessons the experience of navigating the shutdown gave them and suggest what scholars might learn about conducting research from the challenges of the current moment.