Juan Carlos Mercado is the Dean of the Division of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Center for Worker Education. He is a senior dean with more than 10 years of experience in this leadership capacity. He is also the Director of the Study Abroad and International Programs at the College. Prior to his appointment as Dean, Mercado was Professor and Chair of The Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures at CCNY from 2000 to 2007, and Acting Provost of the College in 2011. He also teaches at the PhD Program in Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Literatures and Languages at the CUNY Graduate Center. 

Mercado has worked on 19^th Century Spanish American Literature, the History of Ideas, and on the Spanish exploration of what is today the United States.  He is the author of many books, reviews and articles. His most recent publication is España y Norteamérica en el corredor transatlántico/Spain and North America in the transatlantic corridor (with Carlos Aguasaco). Alcalá: Universidad de Alcala, 2023, 250 pp.

He is currently working on the annotated edition of Ruy Díaz de Guzmán’s La Argentina: Historia de las Provincias del Rio de la Plata, published in Lisbon in 1602.

As Dean of the Division of Interdisciplinary Studies, he launched the M.A. program in the Study of the Americas in Spring 2010. He organized the First Distinguished Professors Lecture Series (2008) and the Book Talk Lecture Series (2009 and 2010) as well as other Lecture Series from 2010 to 2015.  Further, he organized The Halls at Bowling Green (CWE/CCNY). The Halls is a curatorial incubator serving the student body and downtown community with contemporary art exhibitions.

He also led the Strategic Planning Initiative at the Center; in addition, Mercado is a member of the CCNY Steering Committee of the Middle State Commission on Higher Education. He is the Founder and Chair of The Americas Film Festival of New York (TAFFNY), in collaboration with the Smithsonian Indian Museum and the Cervantes Institute. Mercado is also one of the founders, along with the Division of Humanities and the Arts and the Colin Powell School of Civic and Global Leadership, of Human Rights: A Yearlong Forum at the City College of New York.  

He is also the founder and organizer with the Franklin Institute of University of Alcala (Spain) of the International Conference on the Historical Links between Spain and the United States. His latest initiative is an agreement with the Executive Director of DC37 to provide training to union members in computer programs as part of a program that will include other technical and academic support.  

As Director of the Study Abroad and International Programs, Mercado has increased the number of international programs in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe.  He was instrumental in bringing the Global E3 to the College (Global Engineering Education Exchange Program). Recognizing a growing demand for internationally-experienced engineering graduates, a group of leading universities around the world established the Global E3 in 1995. Global E3 allows engineering students at member universities to enjoy a fulfilling study abroad experience.  He has also been working closely with the NOAA-CREST Center to increase its presence internationally.  

Mercado chaired the Search Committee for Provost and the Dean of Humanities and the Arts, for the second time in the last few years. He was a member of the President’s Council for Inclusive Excellence, a member of the Advisory Board of the CUNY Dominican Institute, and a faculty member of the PhD Program in Latin American, Iberian and Latino Cultures at the CUNY Graduate Center. 

The Graduate School and University Center, CUNY            
Ph.D., Nineteenth Century Latin American Literature
M.A., Philosophy

Queens College, CUNY
M.A., Latin American Studies

National University of Comahue, Argentina
B.A. 

Grants and Fellowships
A. Outside Agencies
Recipient of a 2007 The Reed Foundation Grant in Support of the translation of the Pedro
Menéndez de Avilés’ Chronicles.

Recipient of a 2003 Program for Cultural Cooperation Between Spain’s Ministry of
Education, Culture, and Sports and United States Universities Grant, Summer 2003

Recipient of a 2002-2003 PSC-CUNY Research Award. Project title: Menéndez de
Avilés and Florida: Chronicles of his Expeditions.

Recipient of the Eisner Award, Spring 2002. Project title: Menéndez de Avilés and Florida: Chronicles of his Expeditions.

Recipient of the CUNY Alumni Achievement Award for the year 2001

Appointed to the doctoral faculty of The Graduate School and University Center’s Ph.D. Program in Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Literatures, Fall 2001

Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Research Fellowship for Foreign Hispanists. Dirección General de las Relaciones Culturales y Científicas. Project title: Menéndez de Avilés and Florida – Letters and Documents, Annotated Edition. 1999

Recovering the United States Hispanic Literary Heritage. University of Houston. Project title: Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and Florida - Select Letters to Phillip II, Annotated Edition. 1998

Program for Cultural Cooperation Between Spanish Ministry of Culture and
United States Universities. University of Minnesota. Project title: Pedro Menéndez de Avilés y la Florida. 1997

National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship
Participation in N.E.H's Columbian Quincentenary program offered jointly by the University of Texas at Austin and the University of the Américas at Puebla-Cholula. Program entitled "In the Land of Cortés and Malinche - Spanish Puebla and Indian
Tlaxcala: Encounter of Two Worlds" Summer 1992

Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education
Faculty Professional Development/East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania Grant in aid to continue research on Pedro Menéndez de Avilés’ exploration of Florida. 1998-99

Minority Faculty, Professional Development Grants to invite visiting scholars to East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania. 1994-95; 1996-97; 1998-99

East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania, Foundation for Research and Teaching Grants to fund Foreign Language Department video tape library. 1994-1995; 1996-1997

Minority Faculty, Professional Development, East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania. Grant for book publication, 1995 (Building a Nation: The Case of Echeverría).

Minority Faculty, Professional Development, East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania. Grant to conduct research at the Panhandle Plains Historical Society in Canyon, Texas and The Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Project dealt with the
explorations of Fray Marcos de Niza and Francisco Vázquez Coronado. Summer-Fall 1994

Visiting Scholar, University of Texas at Austin. Summer 1992

• España y Norteamérica en el corredor transatlántico/Spain and North America in the transatlantic corridor (with Carlos Aguasaco). Alcalá: Universidad de Alcala, 2023, 250 pp.

• Historical Links Between Spain and North America. Editor. Alcalá: Universidad de Alcalá, 2016, 184 pp.

• Cartas sobre la Florida.  Introducción y edición anotada de sus cartas (Menéndez de Avilés’s letters. Introduction and annotated edition of his letters). Madrid Iberoamericana/Vervuert, 2002, 300 pp.

• Silva. Stvdia Philologica in Honorem Isaías Lerner.  Co-editor (with Isabel Lozano Renieblas, Dartmouth College).  Madrid: Castalia, 2001, 740 pp.

• Building a Nation: The Case of Echeverría.  Lanham: University Press of America, 1996, 244 pp.

• Juan María Gutiérrez’s Escritores coloniales (Colonial Writers). Introduction and annotated edition. Co-Editor (with Isaías Lerner). Buenos Aires: Universidad de Lanus, 2012, 363 pp.

• Menéndez de Avilés and Florida. Introduction and annotated edition of his Chronicles. Translated into English by Laura Callahan. Lewiston: Mellen Press, 2010, 407 pp.

• A Living Legacy (Proceedings of the CCNY Alumni Conference). Co-editor (with Bettina  Lerner). Delaware: Juan de la Cuesta, 2007, 267 pp.

• Menéndez de Avilés y Florida. Introducción y edición anotada de las crónicas de sus  expediciones. Lewiston: Mellen Press, 2006, 404 pp.

 La noble igualdad, una lectura de Alberdi para repensar la Nación Argentina, de Juan Pablo Lichtmajer. Prólogo. 2022.

“Latin America and the National Question: José Carlos Mariátegui’s Case, in Homage to Eugenio Chang-Rodríguez. Lima: Universidad Ricardo Palma, 2017.

“Historical Links Between Spain and North America”, Introduction in Historical Links Between Spain and North America, Alcalá: Universidad de Alcalá, 2016, 11-18.

“Pedro de Angelis y la Historia Intelectual Argentina de la primera Mitad del Siglo XIX”, in Hesperia, Anuario de Filología Hispánica , Año 2013-XVI-II, Universidad de Vigo, 59-72.

In Memoriam-Isaías Lerner, 1932-2013, in Colonial Latin American Review, Routledge, Volumen 22, Number 2, August 2013, 305-308.           

 “Espacios y encuentros fronterizos en la Florida de Menéndez de Avilés,” in Proceedings of the 14^th Congress of the Asociación Internacional de Hispanistas, Vol. IV. Newark: Juan de la Cuesta-Hispanic Monographs, 2004, 431-440.

 “Francisco Vásquez de Coronado” and “Fray Marcos de Niza,” in The Literature of Travel and Exploration: An Encyclopedia. 3 Vols. London: Fitzroy Dearborn, Fall 2003, Vol. 1, 282-283; Vol. II, 861-863.

 “Articulación del discurso histórico y ficcional en El matadero.” In Bulletin of Hispanic Studies, University of Liverpool, LXXVIII (Fall 2001), 531-537.

 “En torno a Fray Marcos de Niza y la configuración del discurso histórico”, in Silva. Stvdia Philologica in Honorem Isaías Lerner. Madrid: Castalia, 2001, 457-470.

“San Agustín de la Florida (1565): Primera Ciudad Hispana de los Estados Unidos,”  in Ventana Abierta: Revista Latina de Literatura, Arte y Cultura. Santa Barbara: University of California, Spring 2000. 94-98.  Reprinted in Cruzando Puentes: Antología de Literatura Latina, ed. Luis Leal and Víctor Fuentes. Santa Barbara: University of California, 2001-2002, 203-205.

"La propuesta estética en las Rimas de Esteban Echeverría," in Language and Literature Today: Proceedings of the XIXth Triennal Congress of the International Federation for Modern Languages and Literatures, III, Universidade de Brasilia, 1996, 1368-1372.

"La cuestión nacional en Esteban Echeverría," in Rocky Mountain Council for Latin American Studies, Proceedings from the 41st and 42nd Annual Meetings.  Latin American Institute, The University of New Mexico-Albuquerque, Fall 1995, 67-83.

"Para una relectura de Primero Sueño," in Revista Interamericana de Bibliografía/Inter American Review of Bibliography.  Washington, D.C., Volume XLIV, Number 4, 1994, 594-605.

In the Land of Cortés and Malinche: Spanish Puebla and Indian Tlaxcala - Encounter of Two Worlds.  A summary of experiences and observations from summer study program sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities.  The work was published by the Institute of Latin American Studies, University of Texas at Austin, Spring 1993, 204-215.

"Haroldo Conti" and "Rodolfo Walsh" (biographical and critical contribution) in Spanish American Authors The Twentieth Century, Editor Angel Flores. New York, The H.W. Wilson Company, 1992, 205-208; 901-904.

“Pedro de Angelis, entre Victor Hugo y Esteban Echeverría”, at the XXXVI Congreso del Instituto Internacional de Literatura Iberoamericana, at the Universidad de Génova, Italy, June 26-July 1, 2006.

“Juan María Gutiérrez: estudios coloniales y proyecto nacional”, at the XXXV Congreso del Instituto Internacional de Literatura Iberoamericana, at the Universidad de Poitiers, Francia, June 28-July 1, 2004.

Organized and chaired a session entitled “Espacios fronterizos en las colonias españolas de Africa y América”. The paper presented was “Encuentros y disputas territoriales: el caso de Menéndez de Avilés y la Florida”, at the 84th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATTSP) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. July 20-August 2, 2003.

“Espacios y encuentros fronterizos en la Florida de Menéndez de Avilés”, at the 14^th Congress of the Asociación Internacional de Hispanistas, Graduate Center, CUNY, July 16-21, 2001.

 “Articulación del discurso histórico y ficcional en El matadero", at the XXXIII Congreso del Instituto Internacional de Literatura Iberoamericana, at the University of Salamanca, Spain. June 26-30, 2000.

"Procesos históricos y cambios sociales en contextos multiculturales: Menéndez de Avilés y los nativos de la Florida", at the 50 Congreso Internacional de Americanistas, at the University of Warsaw, Poland. July 10-14, 2000.

“Religión y estrategia militar en la Florida de Menéndez de Avilés”, at the XII Congreso Internacional de Hispanistas held in Madrid, Spain.  July 6-11, 1998.

"Explorando América: Estebanico en busca de Cíbola" at the 77^th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) held in San Diego, California. August 7-11, 1995.

Organized and chaired a session entitled "El discurso del fracaso en textos de la Conquista  de América". The paper presented was "La exploración del suroeste norteamericano: Fray Marcos y Estebanico". 1995 Annual Meeting of the Mid Atlantic Council on Latin American Studies (MACLA) held at Albright College, Reading, Pennsylvania.  March 31-April 1, 1995.

"El discurso del fracaso en la Conquista de América: en torno a Fray Marcos de Niza y Francisco Vázquez Coronado", at the 1995 Annual Meeting of the Society for Latin American Studies of England held at the University of Wales at Swansea.  March 24-26, 1995.

"Echeverría, De Angelis y Alcalá Galiano" at the 76^th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP) held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. August 7-11, 1994.

"Originalidad, ideología y proyecto nacional en Esteban Echeverría" at the Annual Conference of the Society for Latin American Studies of England held at University of Liverpool.  March 25-27, 1994.

"Primero Sueño y la cosmovisión azteca" at the Pennsylvania Foreign Languages Conference held at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  September 24-26, 1993.

"The National Question in the Dogma Socialista", at the Annual Meeting of the Rocky Mountain Council for Latin American Studies in Vancouver, Canada.  April 1993.

"Fuentes en El matadero de Esteban Echeverría", at the 74^th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish and Portuguese (AATSP), Cancún, México.  August 1992.

Organized and chaired a session entitled "Región, nación y literatura".  Paper presented: "Literatura y proyecto nacional en Esteban Echeverría".   Eleventh Cincinnati Conference on Romance Languages and Literatures, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio.   May 1991.

International Congress on Education, Keynote Speaker: Sarmiento and Alberdi, Tucuman, Argentina, September, 2018.

“Gettting Ahead: Barriers to Education”, BMCC, April 19, 2010.

“XVI Century Spanish Explorations of the Southwest – Estevanico: The Explorer”, Morgan  State University, Baltimore, April 9, 2010.

“Literatura y proyecto nacional”, II Congreso Superior de Filología para Jóvenes Hispanistas,  held at Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo, Santander, Spain, August 16-September 3, 2004.

"Presencia hispánica en los Estados Unidos: Pedro Menéndez de Avilés y San Agustín de la Florida (1565), held at the City College of New York, October, 1999.

“Estebanico y los nativos en Nuevo México” at the National Conference of the “Hispanosen los Estados Unidos” held at the University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont.  October 1997.

"La crítica literaria en los Estados Unidos", Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Neuquén, Argentina.  June 1989.

Member, Colin Powell School, Spitzer Chair of Political Science, 2021.
Member, CCNY Steering Committee of the Middle State Commission on Higher Education, 2015-present
Member, CUNY Dominican Studies Institute Advisory Board, 2005-present
Chair, Dean of Humanities and the Arts, Search Committee, Spring-Fall 2016
Chair, Senior Vice-President for Academic Affairs and Provost Search Committee, Fall 2012-Spring 2013
Chair, Dean of Humanities and the Arts, Search Committee, Fall 2011
Member, President’s Council on Inclusion and Excellence, Spring 2011-2016
Chair, Continuing and Professional Studies Program Director Search Committee, Spring 2010-Fall 2010
Member, Governance Task Force Committee, Spring 2007-2011
Member, Executive Committee, Ph.D. Program in Luso-Brazilian and Hispanic Literatures, Graduate Center (CUNY), 2004-2012
Member, CUNY Dominican Studies Institute Advisory Board, 2005-present
Co-Chair, Middle States Sub-Committee on Integrity, 2006-2008
Chair, Chinese language and literature Search Committee, Spring 2006
Member, Humanities Division, Search Committee for Advisors, Spring 2006
Member, Division of Social Sciences, Sociology Promotion Committee, Fall 2005
Member, Search Committee for the Assistant to the Provost, Fall 2005
Member, Presidential Advisory Committee on Affirmative Action, 2005-2008
Member, Faculty-Student Disciplinary Committee, 2005-2007
Chair, French XIX Century Literature Search Committee, Fall 2004
Chair, Distinguished Lecturer Search Committee, Spring 2004
Chair, Spanish XX Latin American Literature Search Committee, Fall 2002
Chair, French XX Century Literature Search Committee, Fall 2002
Chair, Distinguished Professor Latin American Literature Search Committee, Summer 2002
Chair, P&B Committee, Humanities Division, 2002-2007
Chair, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, CCNY, 2000-2007
Executive Committee, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, CCNY, 2000-2007
Graduate Committee, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, CCNY, 2000-2007
Curriculum Committee, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, CCNY, 2000-2007
P&B Committee, Humanities Division, 2000-2007
P&B Faculty Council Committee, Humanities Division, 2000-2007           
Member, Steering Committee of the Policy Advisory Council (SCOPAC), CCNY, 2000-2007
Member, Faculty-Student Disciplinary Committee, CCNY, 2001-2004
Member, CUNY Council of Foreign Language Study, 2000-2007
Chair, Spanish American Contemporary Literature Search Committee, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Spring 2001
Chair, Spanish XIX and XX Centuries Literature Search Committee, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Spring 2001
Chair, Assistant for Personnel and Management to the Dean of Humanities and the Arts Search Committee, Spring 2001
Member, East Asian Language and Literature Search Committee, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Spring 2001
Member, Spanish Bilingual Education Search Committee, Spring 2001Member, Foreign Language Technology Consortium (Lehman, City, Hostos and Bronx) Search Committee, Spring 2001

Rosalía Reyes Simón, “Revisión crítica de las relaciones de poder en el ámbito cultural del siglo XXI en la industria editorial independiente en español: El caso ciudad de New York”. Reader
William Martin Osorio,  "La utopía social o el discurso sobre América en Pedro Henríque Ureña”. Director
Aleksin Ortega “Historia Índica” (1572) de Sarmiento de Gamboa. Reader
Sonia Tejada, “Marginalidad y subversión en las novelas de Juan Filloy de la década de 1930”. Reader
Juan Tineo, “La negritud y el haitiano en la literatura de la diáspora dominicana”. Reader
Susana Maiztegui, “Europa, Africa y Norteamerica: Sarmiento y su viaje intelectual”. Director
Wilson Anaya, “Simón Bolívar y el modernismo hispanoamericano”. Lector
Andrea Fernandez, “Arauco Domado”. Reader