Teacher-Scholar Legacies: Jane Albrecht
By Kathy Mayers, Associate Professor of Spanish and Department Chair
Dr. Jane Albrecht, Professor of Spanish, joined the Wake Forest Department of Romance Languages — now the Department of Spanish — in 1987, after earning her Ph.D. in Hispanic Literature from the University of Indiana, Bloomington. Dr. Albrecht enjoyed a long and distinguished career at Wake Forest University, for more than 33 years, showing excellence as a teacher-scholar and as an esteemed colleague committed to the department, the College, and the University.
Dr. Albrecht’s record of teaching and research was bound up with the literary production of some of the greatest writers of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Spain: Miguel de Cervantes, Tirso de Molina, and Lope de Vega. A renowned Tirso de Molina scholar, she was the author of Irony and Theatricality in Tirso de Molina (Dovehouse, 1994), The Playgoing Public of Madrid in the Time of Tirso de Molina (UP of the South, 2001), Stoicism, Seneca and Seventeenth-Century Spanish Tragedy (Scripta Humanistica, 2012), and most recently, The Life of Tirso de Molina, Fray Gabriel Jusepe Téllez (Edition Reichenberger, 2024). In her research on Tirso de la Molina and the comedia, Dr. Albrecht’s focus ranged from the highly abstract and technical — stylometry, mimetic transference, satiric irony all — to the extremely practical — how corpses were staged in Golden Age drama. In her more than 30 articles, book chapters, and conference proceedings, she also approached pedagogical questions such as how to teach intercultural competency and how to teach literature through film. Dr. Albrecht’s nearly 20 years as the bibliographer of Tirso de Molina and Don Juan Studies for Revista Estudios were a testament to her eminence in the field.
Dr. Albrecht was an excellent teacher throughout her career at Wake Forest. Her classes introduced several generations of Wake Forest students to the most significant literature of the Spanish Golden Age. She taught more than 20 courses in the department’s curriculum, 17 of them of her own design. Her signature courses were on Miguel de Cervantes and Spanish Golden Age theater. She served many times as an Honors thesis director over the years, and her students went on to earn doctorates in Spanish at prestigious universities. She also served five times as a Resident Professor in the Salamanca Study Abroad Program.
Dr. Albrecht’s service was as notable as her research and teaching. She was a much-sought-after and active reviewer of other scholars’ work, and she served for years on the editorial boards of two major journals in her field. She was elected to the University Senate and to numerous College and University committees; and she served for many years as a Health Professions advisor. Standing at the center of her service to the College were her nine years as secretary, treasurer, vice president, and then president of the AAUP. Within the department, she made valuable contributions by chairing numerous search committees and coordinating Spanish 212 and 213 for many years. Meanwhile, in the larger community, she dedicated countless hours to Kids Café, a feeding and tutoring program through Second Harvest Food Bank. These were just a few of Dr. Albrecht’s many contributions to the Wake Forest community.
In sum, Professor Albrecht made extraordinary contributions to Wake Forest University in scholarship and the humanistic education of students. In the department and across the College and University, our intellectual debts to Professor Albrecht are great.
She taught more than 20 courses in the department’s curriculum, 17 of them of her own design. Her signature courses were on Miguel de Cervantes and Spanish Golden Age theater. She served many times as an Honors thesis director over the years, and her students went on to earn doctorates in Spanish at prestigious universities.