Biography

I hold a B.A. in Spanish from the University of Illinois at Chicago (an urban commuter institution like MSU Denver), and an M.A. and a Ph.D. from Northwestern University, also in Spanish. I am a Professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies and I hold a courtesy appointment as an Associate Professor of Women’s Studies. I also have partial reassigned time from teaching to work with one of the University's outreach programs. I am Director of the MSU Denver Family Literacy Program.

In terms of my working background, in addition to teaching at the university level, I have over thirty years' experience in community-based, non-traditional education. My responsibilities have included teaching (of course), program administration, curriculum development, grant writing, community outreach and public relations. I have also had the opportunity to present at workshops and conferences on the role of Chicana/o Studies in higher education, and on issues confronting adult learners, migrant farmworkers and other non-traditional students, as well as on the intersection of poverty, race and gender.

I suppose everyone has their own ideas about what will save the world. Personally, I believe that education will, and that literacy is the key to educational success. As you can see from my photo (by the way, I don’t usually pose for pictures like this; the photo was taken in the spring of 2019 for a brochure about MSU Denver faculty and staff engaged in grant work), I am very enthusiastic about books—which is why my primary areas of inquiry are literacy and Latina/o/e/x literature.