Mark DeStephano, Ph.D.

Chair & Professor of Modern and Classical Languages
Director of Asian Studies

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About Dr. DeStephano

Mark DeStephano, a native of Palisades Park, New Jersey, U.S.A., was awarded his bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and Spanish from Fordham University. He earned four degrees in Theology from Regis College of the University of Toronto: Bachelor of Sacred Theology, Master of Divinity, Master of Theology, and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology. Following these studies, he continued his education at Harvard University, where he was awarded his master’s and doctoral degrees in Romance Languages and Literatures, with specialization in Medieval and Golden-Age Spanish Literature. Since 1995, Dr. DeStephano has been Chairman and Professor of the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures, and Director and Professor of the Asian Studies Program at Saint Peter’s University in Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.A.

“Saint Peter’s is a very special place with a wonderful and supportive community as well as highly accomplished faculty, administrators, and staff. We are all fully dedicated to caring for our students individually and helping them to become not only highly competent professionals but also good family members, kind and compassionate human beings, men and women of faith, and agents who will effect positive change in our world.”

Research Interests

  • Medieval European literatures
  • Spanish literature of the Middle Ages and the Golden Age
  • Hispanic-American literature and politics
  • History & Culture of China, the Philippines, Puerto Rico
  • Issues of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and identity in Asian and Latino cultures

Student Organizations and Clubs

Career & Accomplishments

Degrees

  • Harvard University, Ph.D. & A.M.

  • Regis College of the University of Toronto, M.Div., S.T.B., Th.M., S.T.L.

  • Fordham University, B.A.

Accomplishments

  • Declared a "Scholar of the People's Republic of China" by the government of the People's Republic of China

  • Editor of various journals: "Journal of Body Studies," "Journal of the International Society for the Study of Human Ideas of Ultimate Reality and Meaning," and the "Journal of Intercultural Disciplines."

  • Former Member of the United Nations High Commission on International Remittances

  • Founder of the Latin American & Latino Studies Program and the Asian Studies Program at Saint Peter's University

  • Spanish instructor for the United States Federal Court District of New Jersey, Goldmans Sachs Corporation, Jersey City Medical Center, and translator for the City of Jersey City

  • Recipient of the George F. Johnson Faculty and Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching (Saint Peter's University, 2008)

Publications

Lei Feng, National Memory, and New China’s Rise from Backwater to Superpower
M. DeStephano – “ Reconstructing Historical Memory” National University of Malaysia Press, 2018

Fiction and Conversion: The Powers of the Word in Amadis de Gaula, Las sergas de Esplandian, and the Autobiografia of Saint Ignatius Loyola
M. DeStephano – Mediterranean review, 2017

Slaughter in China on Film: Nanjing and ‘Saving Asia’ Through Mutilation
M. DeStephano – The History of Genocide in Cinema: Atrocities on Film. Ed. Jonathan C. Friedman and William L. Hewitt. London and New York: I.B. Taurus, 2016

The Pedagogy of Ultimate Reality and Meaning Through Romance Languages and Literatures
M. DeStephano – Ultimate Reality and Meaning, 2012

Presentations

Three-time Keynote Speaker
M. Destephano, The National Undergraduate Conference on Body Image, Cabrini University 2018, 2016, 2014

Rap Monster, BTS, and Wale: The Pleasures and Perils of Intercultural Collaboration
M. DeStephano, The Fortieth Annual Conference of the Northeast Popular Culture Association, Worcester State University, Worcester, Massachusetts, 2018

Evita and the Steel Butterfly: From Starlets to First Ladies in Film
M. DeStephano, The Twenty-Ninth Annual Conference of the Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association, The Lord Baltimore Hotel, Baltimore, Maryland