Dr. Rodríguez specializes in the literary interactions between the United States and Mexico, the literature and culture of South Texas, and the relationships of narrative, regionalism, and history. His first book, The Literatures of the U.S. Mexican War: Narrative, Time, and Identity (University of Texas Press, 2010), examines the continuing literary and cultural legacies of the war and its literature in the United States, in Mexico, and along the U.S.-Mexican border. Dr. Rodríguez has published articles in MELUS and in Arizona Quarterly and is the author of "Hell in Mexican Texas: Stephen Crane at the American Abyss," in The Turn Back to Religion in American Literature and Culture, edited by Nan Goodman and Michael Kramer. His new research concentrates on the interplay of literature, migration, and globalization in South Texas during the early decades of the nineteenth century. His other interests include the literatures of the U.S. West, contemporary Mexican-American literature, and international science fiction. Dr. Rodríguez has previously taught at Boston University and the University of Notre Dame. He is a native of the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas.