Assistant Professor for World Languages & Literature Mariana-Cecilia Velázquez has published "Cultural Representations of Piracy in England, Spain, and the Caribbean: Travelers, Traders, and Traitors, 1570 to 1604."

This book examines the concept of piracy as an instrument for the advancement of legal, economic and political agendas associated with early modern imperial conflicts in the Caribbean.

Drawing on historical accounts, literary texts, legal treatises and maps, the book traces the visual and narrative representations of Sir Francis Drake, who serves as a case study to understand the various usages of the terms "pirate" and "corsair."

Through a comparative analysis, the book considers the connotations of the categories related to maritime predation—pirate, corsair, buccaneer and filibuster—and nationalistic and religious denominations—Lutheran, Catholic, heretic, Spaniard, English and Creole—to argue that the flexible usage of these terms corresponds to unequal colonial and imperial relations and ideological struggles.

The book chronologically records the process by which piracy changed from an unregulated phenomenon to becoming legally defined after the Treaty of London (1604) and the Treaty of Westphalia (1648).