He attained his Ph.D. in Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Literatures and Linguistics from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Dr. Desing’s research focuses on travel, gender, and authority in early Spanish texts, and most specifically those from mid-thirteenth century Castile. His book Mester de Romería: Travel and Ideology in the Medieval Spanish Imaginary is forthcoming. He is increasingly interested in issues of borders and liminality in both medieval and early modern contexts.