Dr. Stasevicius holds a Ph.D. in Spanish and Cultural Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She obtained her BA in Literature and Education in Argentina, where she is from. Her fields of interest and expertise are focused on Intercultural Communication, Cultural Studies, and Curriculum Development in Higher Education. At Rice, she has designed and developed materials for the academic curriculum and hosted professional training about interculturality in the workplace for other universities, besides participating and hosting workshops at regional and international conferences. Recently, she developed and co-lead workshops about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Foreign Language Education.
She teaches Spanish with a focus on Intercultural Communication and Critical Thinking,as well as the Hispanic Writing Seminar for the Department of Modern and Classical Literatures and Cultures. In all her classes, no matter the level of proficiency, she likes to work with her students toward deconstructing what they know about Spanish language(s) and culture(s), while enhancing their overall critical thinking abilities. She strongly believes the ideal outcome for a student is to become intellectually humble, critically engaged, and academically independent. She is a trained LGTBQ+ Ally and Student Success Initiatives’ Rice Firsts Network Supporter.