Nicole Puccinelli

I graduated from the University of Calgary with a Bachelor of Arts Honours in Spanish in 2019 with an honours thesis, titled Masks and duality of identities in two Exemplary Novels of Cervantes: The Gypsy Girl and The English Spanish Girl. It was followed by a Master’s in Applied Linguistics at the University of Calgary in 2021, with a thesis titled Language affinity of heritage speakers in Western Canada: The link between language and emotions. This research experience helped me discover my passion for research and writing, which led me to further pursue a Ph.D. in Transcultural studies at the University of Calgary. My research interest is second language acquisition, language affinity (i.e., a feeling of closeness and understanding to a language) in heritage speakers, language attitudes, culture, medieval literature, comics and identities in Latin America.

My favourite books are Don Quixote and Exemplary Novels of Cervantes. In my spare time, I enjoy volunteering at Immigration Services, biking, hiking, skating, snowshoeing, dancing, and playing soccer.

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