Asteria is an academic association established in 2010 with the aim of promoting the study of myth in literature and contemporary society through a broad and dynamic range of activities. These include international conferences on myth criticism, support for academic journals, artistic and mythological creation contests, specialised workshops, research grants, and awards recognising outstanding contributions in the field of myth criticism.
Objectives
Organizing colloquia, conferences, seminars, and scholarly meetings related with myth criticism.
Editing informative and scholarly publications, as well as other printed, digital, photographic, sound, or audiovisual media, related to the goals of Asteria.
Establishing agreements or contracts with other entities that may facilitate or promote the goals of Asteria.
Endorsing regional, national, and international research projects dedicated to the study of myth criticism.
Supporting individual or collaborative research projects whose ends coincide with those of the association.
Programming outreach activities designed to show the presence and influence of myths in contemporary society.
Who are the members of Asteria?
José Manuel Losada Goya
President
Doctor in Literature from the University of the Sorbonne and professor at Complutense University of Madrid, José Manuel Losada Goya has been Visiting Scholar at the Universities of Harvard, Oxford (St John’s College) and Montreal, as well as Senior Fellow at Universities of Durham (University College) and Cambridge (Clare Hall). He has published several books and given talks and seminars in fifty universities across America and Europe. He has also organised nine international myth criticism congresses and conducted five major myth criticism projects. He runs Amaltea. Journal of Myth Criticism.
Rosario López Gregoris
Vicepresident
Professor of Latin Philology at the Autonomous University of Madrid, with 30 years of teaching experience. Research interests: latin semantics, latin theatre, classic reception and gender studies. She currently runs the MUsas collection at the University ‘s Institute of Women’ s Studies MUsas collection (IUEM). She is the editorial secretary of the comparative literature journal *Anuario 1616*, vice president of the Spanish Society of General and Comparative Literature (SELGYC) and co-director (COIP) of Marginalia Classica IV Project: Classical Marginalities and Their Reception in Mass Culture: Escapism and Resistance, Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities (Ref. PID2023-150513NB-I00). She is also the coordinator of UAM’s investigation group Litterae.
Mercedes Pérez Agustín
Secretary
Ph.D. in English Philology from the Complutense University of Madrid and a bachelor’s degree in English Philology. She is an adjunct professor with a Ph.D. in the Department of Education at the Complutense University of Madrid, specializing in English. She has participated in more than 20 international congresses in several European universities. Her research focuses on the use of oral storytelling and digital stories for teaching and learning English as a foreign language.
Enrique Santos Marinas
Treasurer
PhD in Slavic Philology from the UCM, specialising in medieval East Slavic literature. He is Professor of Slavic Philology in the Dept. of German and Slavic Philology (UCM). He is also IP of the Complutense Russian Studies research group (UCM)
Jaime Segura San Miguel
Member for young researchers
Ph.D. in Literary Studies. He holds an undergraduate degree in English Philology by Complutense University of Madrid, a PGCE by Antonio de Nebrija University, and a master’s degree of Gothic Studies by the Manchester Centre of Gothic Studies (Manchester Met University. He is currently a senior lecturer at the University Centre for Defence Studies (CUD-AGM). In his research, he continues to explore the influence of psychiatry on the arts from the perspective of the philosophy of science, the impact of secularisation on contemporary thought, and the reception of mythical narratives.
Adrián García Vidal
https://adriangarciavidal.com
Adrián García Vidal holds a Master’s degree in Literary Theory and Comparative Literature from the University of Salamanca. He has taught Spanish at the Università degli studi di Pavia and worked as a technical research manager for the Acis&Galatea (2016-2019) and Aglaya (2020-2023) myth criticism projects at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid from 2016 to 2023. He has organized several international conferences and seminars on myth, science fiction, and audiovisual media in collaboration with other universities such as the Universidad de Alcalá, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, and Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. His academic interests revolve around the subversion of classical narrative structures in Postmodernism and the impact of audiovisual fiction on society. He also works as a website developer, designer and video editor specialized in academic solutions.
Brikena Smajli
Vocal
Poet, researcher and Comparative and Albanian Literature Professor at Luigj Gurakuqi University of Shkodër, where she carries out her academic activity in the Centre of Albanological Studies. Ph.D. in Literary Studies from the Albanian Studies Academy. Her research focuses on Myth Criticism and Comparative Poetics with emphasis on the symbolic structures of the creation myth and the search in contemporary Albanian and European poetry. She is the author of the volume Simbolikë mitike e Krijimit dhe e Kërkimit: poezi shqipe – poezi europiane (The mythical symbolism of the creation and the search: albanian poetry – European poetry, 2019). She is currently participating in the R&D Latin American Writers on Socialist Countries During the Cold War project (ELASOC II).
Ana Isabel Jiménez San Cristobal
Vocal
Professor of Greek Philology at the Complutense University of Madrid and Director of the Sciences and Religions Institute. She carries out her research in Religion and Greek Literature with emphasis on Mystical, Orphic and Dionysian cults and the recovery of epigraphic and papyrological texts.
Francisco Molina Moreno
Vocal
Ph.D. in Classical Philology and a bachelor’s degree in Slavic Philology from the Complutense University of Madrid. He is a professor of classical languages at Saint Louis University in Madrid. He has undertaken research stays in Italy, France, Switzerland, Austria, the United States, Russia and Poland. His investigation has resulted in two monographs and several articles and presentations about the comparative study of myths about music and fictional countries in different cultures.
María Flores Fernández
Vocal
Ph.D. in French Literature and professor at the French Philology Department at Granada’s University. Master’s degree in socio-anthropology from the University of Grenoble Alpes and a special doctoral award for a thesis focusing on the study of landscape from a gender perspective. She is a member of a wide-ranging network of international scientific associations and has been a visiting researcher at various universities in Europe, including Lyon, Tübingen and Geneva. Her current research focuses on the relationship between nature and culture, geography and literature, identifying socio-cultural, heritage, historical and identity-related values in French-language landscape narratives from the 19th century to the present day.
Interns
Lucía Reija Real
Audiovisual Translation and Localization Master, UAM and UCM, 2026
Polina Naloeva Khusainova
Classic Studies Master, UCM, UAM and UAH, 2026
Daniela José Borrego López
Digital Letters Master, UCM, 2026
Amir García El Mach
Translation and Interpretation Degree, UCM, 2026
Lydia Zhan
Audiovisual Translation and Localization Master, UAM and UCM, 2026
Maria Fabisiak
Audiovisual Translation and Localization Master, UAM and UCM, 2026
Paula Cabello
Translation and Interpretation Degree, UCM, 2026
Nicolás Pizzarelli Echevarría
Translation and Interpretation Degree, UCM, 2025
Eduardo Robledo Camacho
Religion Studies Degree, UCM, 2025
Claudia Carpio
Digital Letters Master, UCM, 2025
Claudia Amalia Simion
Modern Languages and Literatures Degree, UCM, 2025
Paula Sánchez Romero
Audiovisual Translation and Localization Master, UAM and UCM, 2025
Julia Úbeda Suárez
Translation and Interpretation Degree, UCM, 2025
Paula Paredero del Bosque Fajardo
Translation and Interpretation Degree, UCM, 2024
Paula Sánchez Carreño
Audiovisual Translation and Localization Master, UAM and UCM, 2023
Paula Prieto Benito
Translation and Interpretation Degree, UCM, 2023
Asteria works with prestigious institutions in the international academic field.
Asteria hosts the International Myth Criticism Conference, a biennial event that gathers researchers globally to discuss and analyse the latest developments in the field.
Conference participation offers a discount to Asteria members, but registration is open to all upon approval of their proposal by the Scientific Committee.
In its commitment to inclusivity, the Conference offers scholarships to Master’s and PhD students and unemployed individuals, while also ensuring that all activities are generally free and open to any interested member of the public (with a few specific exceptions).
Visit the current Conference page at the following link:
VIII International Conference of Myth Criticism
