Karol Valderrama-Burgos

Dr Valderrama-Burgos's relevant background spans across the areas of cultural, gender, and film studies, in relation to Latin America and Spanish-speaking contexts. Funded by different grants, she completed her PhD in 2020 and holds an MA in Film and Film Cultures, both from University of Leicester. She also holds a BA in Education with emphasis in Spanish and English languages from Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (Colombia). She is currently the Director of Teaching for the School of Modern Languages and the co-treasurer of the Executive Committee of SLAS (Society for Latin American Studies in the UK). 

With long-standing teaching experience, Karol has been a university tutor since 2014 at different university levels. She has taught language-focused modules (conversational, grammar, and translation/composition classes), and research-led modules on cinemas from Colombia and Latin America and feminist perspectives on Spanish-speaking cultures and contexts.

She has been language coordinator for first year advanced Spanish at the University of St Andrews (SP1001/SP1002), and she teaches on several modules in the Spanish, Comparative Literature and MLitt programmes. Prior to teaching in the UK, she worked as an English language teacher for 7 years in Colombia.

She has gained relevant experience in the roles of Employability Officer and UG Dissertations Convener in the School of Modern Languages (2023-2026), and she took part of the staff working group on creative assessments.

Dr Valderrama-Burgos's research interests comprise cinemas from Colombia and Latin America, women filmmakers and writers, decolonial thought, feminist perspectives, and representations of gender. Her work has been published in Latin American Perspectives, Journal of Gender Studies, Canaguaro. Revista de cine colombiano, among others.

Her first monograph, Mujer, diversidad y cine en Colombia: perspectivas de género e imágenes de la mujer en el siglo XXI (2023), is based on the doctoral research that was fully funded by Colciencias (now Minciencias, Colombia). 

In 2025-2026, she co-led Reenacting Women's Lives: Queer Acting, Art and Creation in St Andrews, an EDI initiative, research-led and community-based experience, that promoted diverse and inclusive encounters in St Andrews to interrogate dominant narratives on diverse women. This was made possible in close collaboration with Ciara Rooney (School President for ML 2025-2026) and Emily Hadfield (Spanish Convenor 2025-2026), and with the generous support of the University EDI Project Fund, The Embassy of Colombia to the UK, the University of St Andrews's Students Union, CAS, and the School of Modern Languages.

Prior to joining the University of St Andrews, she taught Spanish language and delivered research-led modules at different UK institutions, such as Queen's University Belfast, De Montort University and University of Leicester.

Part of her research activities included the role as PG/EC Coordinator for the IGSRC (Interdisciplinary Gender and Sexuality Research Cluster, formerly hosted by De Montfort University) and she co-founded Red Cu, an independent research-led network focused on queer/cuir studies applied to visual cultures of Colombia and Latin America, with Dr Javier Pérez-Osorio (University of Edinburgh). 

She also took part in the BAME project on 'Curriculum Consultancy' at University of Leicester (2019-2020), which strongly informed her teaching and research practices. As Project Lead Deputy, she facilitated the development of inclusive policies and practices from decolonial perspectives that would enhance students’ future learning experience.