Bicultural-Bilingual Studies Department Chair  

 

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Biography

Patricia Sánchez, Ph.D., is a Professor and Chair in the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies at UTSA. She is a 2017 recipient of the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award (ROTA), which is given for excellence in undergraduate teaching; the award is the highest teaching honor in the University of Texas System. Dr. Sánchez—a first-generation college student—was born and raised along the El Paso-Juárez border in a bilingual Mexican immigrant home. She received her Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in 2004. Prior to becoming an academic, she was a second-grade bilingual teacher as well as an admissions officer at a private university, and a non-profit community worker. In her research, Dr. Sánchez examines issues related to immigrant education, Latinx transnationalism, and the preparation of bilingual teachers. She has over 50 research publications, including a co-edited, forthcoming book on Mexican migration, In Search of Hope and Home: Mexican Immigrants in the Trinational NAFTA Context.



Patricia Sánchez, Ph.D.
Professor and Department Chair
Email | CV

Bicultural-Bilingual Studies Faculty

 

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Biography

Lynda Cavazos, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies at UTSA. She received her Ph.D. from the University of the Incarnate Word in 2016. Prior to working in higher education, she was an elementary teacher and an early childhood bilingual teacher. She has received the “Norma Ziegler Professional of the Year Award” from SAEYC (San Antonio Association for the Education of Young Children) and the “Teacher to Honor Award” from UTSA BESO (Bilingual Education Student Organization). Her research interests are bilingual education, early childhood, curriculum and instruction, and teacher mentoring. For the past 7 years, she has served on the Board of the non-profit, Inman Christian Center, on the westside of San Antonio. She provides teacher mentoring or instructional coaching to local schools who are in need of external teacher support.  Her publications have been in the Journal of Bilingual Education Research and Instruction, World Federation Association of Teacher Education, Early Years:  Journal of Texas Association for the Education of Young Children, Journal of Interdisciplinary Education, TABE Newsletter, TABE Journal and American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. Frequently, she presents and attends state, national, and international conferences. 

 

Lynda Cavazos, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Practice
Email | CV
 

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Biography

M. Sidury Christiansen, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of TESOL/Applied Linguistics in the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She is a former Fulbright Scholar and a Department of State English Language Specialist. Her research interests include sociolinguistics and digital literacies, especially on learners’ engagement with each other in online social network spaces. She explores the intersections between literacy and language ideologies, identities, and culture online. In the area of digital literacy, her current work focuses on the use of digital technologies for second language writing development (e.g., digital storytelling, use of apps, and video making to advance academic essay writing), and on the teaching of academic writing for research and publication. Her publications have appeared in journals such as Written Communication, Writing & Pedagogy, Journal of Sociolinguistics, International Journal of Bilingualism and Bilingual Research, and the Journal of Response to Writing. She regularly presents at and attends state, national, and international conferences.



Martha Sidury Christiansen, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Email | CV

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Biography

Lucila del Carmen Ek was born in Yucatan, Mexico, and immigrated to the U.S. at the age of four. She received her Ph.D. in Urban Schooling from the University of California Los Angeles. Her research focuses on the intersections of language, literacy, and identity in Chican@/Latin@ immigrant communities. Language and literacy are productive lenses and important sites of inquiry because they tap into essential processes not only of growth, learning, and development but also of becoming, of constructing identities. Dr. Ek examines these processes within and across educational settings, both formal and informal, including schools, homes, and churches with the intent of bridging these spaces. Dr. Ek’s research also explores the heterogeneity of the Latino/a community using a linguistic lens that examines the varieties of Spanish and English spoken by Chicano/Latino communities which differ by nationality, generation, and geographical location.

  


Lucila Ek, Ph.D.
Dr. Bertha Perez Distinguished Endowed Professor in Biliteracy
Email | CV
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Biography

Belinda Bustos Flores, Ph.D., is Associate Dean of Professional Preparation and Partnerships, and a Professor, Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Flores has published five books and numerous articles centering on Latino teacher recruitment and preparation, teacher development, and culturally efficacious pedagogies. Recognitions include 1st place award for Outstanding Dissertation from The National Association for Bilingual Education, 2000; and the 2004 UTSA President’s Distinguished Award for Research Excellence. Flores is the founder of UTSA’s Academy for Teacher Excellence Research Center, which was honored by the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics in 2015 as a "Bright Spot in Hispanic Education.” Flores was the recipient of the 2015 AERA Hispanic Research Issues SIG Elementary, Secondary, and Postsecondary Award. In 2019, Flores was the recipient of the AERA Bilingual Education Research SIG Lifetime Achievement Award.



Belinda Bustos Flores, Ph.D. 
Professor and Associate Dean of Professional Preparation and Partnerships
Email | CV
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Biography

Claudia Treviño Garcia, Ph. D. is an Associate Professor of Instruction. She received her Ph. D. in Culture, Literacy, and Language from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2016. Her career spans a combined 28 years in the field of bilingual education. Her experience includes 13 years as a dual language teacher, Title VII Grant Coordinator, and Administrator, PK-12 Bilingual Education/ESL Curriculum Specialist, and District Dual Language/ESL/LOTE Coordinator. She is the current lead for the Bilingual Education Teacher Residency Program where she supervises bilingual education clinical teachers. Her research focuses on educator cultural efficacy development, dual language education programs, teacher recruitment, and retention, coaching and mentoring, and teacher residency programming. Dr. Garcia currently teaches courses in language arts and biliteracy development, assessment of language proficiency, and language usage in bilingual classrooms, focusing on the different content areas for native language instruction. She has presented in local, state, and national conferences.


Claudia Treviño Garcia, Ph.D. 
Associate Professor of Instruction
Email | CV

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Biography

Kathryn I. Henderson is an associate professor in the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies, College of Education and Human Development at The University of Texas at San Antonio. She completed her Ph.D. (2015) at The University of Texas at Austin in the Bilingual/Bicultural Program in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction.  Her dissertation titled Dual Language Bilingual Education Program Implementation, Teacher Language Ideologies and Local Language Policy won the AERA Bilingual Sig outstanding dissertation award (2016). After completing her B.A. (2004) at Washington University in St. Louis, she taught elementary school for five years abroad in Guadalajara, Mexico, during which time she earned her M.A. (2009) in education. She has presented regularly in local, regional, and international conferences and is published in journals such as the Modern Language Journal, Language Policy, and International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism.





Kathryn Henderson, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Email | CV

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Biography

Olesya Kisselev is an assistant professor in the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies, College of Education and Human Development at The University of Texas at San Antonio. She completed her Ph.D. (2018) at The Pennsylvania State University in the Department of Applied Linguistics. Her dissertation titled Word order and information structure in the writing of heritage and second language learners of Russian won the prestigious Dissertation Award Grant from the National Federation of Modern Language Teachers Association (NFMLTA) and was supported by awards from the Center for Language Acquisition and the College of the Liberal Arts at Pennsylvania State University. Prior to engaging in her doctoral work, Dr. Kisselev taught Russian language courses and developed curricula and instructional materials for the innovative Russian Flagship program at Portland State University. While at Portland State, she also compiled a first of its kind longitudinal Russian learner corpus of Academic Writing (http://www.web-corpora.net/RLC/rulec). 



Olesya Kisselev, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Email | CV 

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Biography

Dr. Gilberto P. Lara is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bilingual and Bicultural Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He has over 16 years of emergent bilingual education experience in dual-language, sheltered contents and teacher education settings. A former bilingual and ESL classroom teacher, he holds a Ph.D. from The University of Texas at Austin in Bilingual/Bicultural Education. He earned Master and Bachelor degrees from Boise State University in Education with concentrations in Bilingual Education and ESL Methods. His research interests are to explore the pedagogical practices of teachers in dual language/EL classrooms and the incorporation of community cultural wealth through the use of multicultural children's literature. He spent his childhood in both the United States and Mexico, he considers himself, bilingual-bicultural-biliterate. In 2017 he was named a STAR Fellow in the Literacy Research Association. His work has been recognized by the National Association of Bilingual Association as the 2016 Second Place Oustanding Dissertation Award. He has published in the Bilingual Research Journal, Social Studies and the Young Learner and recently the book: The Reading Turn-Around with Emergent Bilinguals: A Five-Part Framework for Powerful Teaching and Learning.

Gilberto Lara, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Email | CV

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Biography

Kristen Lindahl is an Associate Professor in the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies and Assistant Dean of Professional Preparation in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Texas at San Antonio, USA. She has 20 years of experience working with and preparing educators to work with ELs. Dr. Lindahl’s research focuses on critical/teacher language awareness, content and language integrated learning, and identity approaches to teacher education. She is also an Associate Editor of TESOL Journal, an English Language Specialist for the U.S. Department of State, past Chair of the Teacher Educator Interest Section for TESOL International Association, and past President of TexTESOL II. Please refer to CV for scholarly publications.





Kristen Lindahl, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Email | CV | Website

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Biography

Dr. Joel Alejandro (Alex) Mejia is an Associate Professor with joint appointment in the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies and the Department of Biomedical and Chemical Engineering at The University of Texas at San Antonio. His current work seeks to analyze and describe the assets, tensions, contradictions, and cultural collisions many Latino/a/x students experience in engineering through testimonios. He is particularly interested in approaches that contribute to a more expansive understanding of engineering in sociocultural contexts, the impact of critical consciousness in engineering practice, and the development and implementation of culturally responsive pedagogies in engineering education. He holds a B.S. and M.S. in metallurgical engineering from The University of Texas at El Paso and The University of Utah, respectively, and a Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Utah State University.




Alex Mejia, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Email | CV

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Biography

Howard L. Smith is a Full Professor in the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies. He holds a Ph.D. in bilingual-multicultural education with a concentration in biliteracy from the University of Arizona. He has collaborated with dozens of school districts throughout the United States for over 25 years in the delivery of effective instruction for second language learners. For the same period, he has been a dual language consultant for school districts in Texas and the Midwest. Dr. Smith was the General Director of the Escuela Americana de Pachuca, a Pre-K-9 dual language school in Mexico. He publishes in the areas of bilingual and multicultural teacher preparation and biliteracy. Dr. Smith has published in the Bilingual Research Journal, Educational Studies, Language Arts, the International Journal of Bilingualism and Bilingual Education. He has three co-edited books. The forthcoming volume, (with Iyengar) is entitled Diversity in Society and Schools.




Howard Smith, Ph.D.
Professor
Email | CV

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Biography

Dr. Jorge L. Solis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He holds a Ph.D. in Language, Literacy, and Culture from the University of California, Berkeley, and an A.B. in Public Policy from Stanford University.

His research interests include the development of academic literacy practices with second-language learners, preparing novice bilingual teachers, tensions and adaptations of classroom learning activity, and understanding the academic transitions of older, school-age language minority students.






Jorge Solís, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Email | CV

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Biography

Zhongfeng Tian is an Assistant Professor of TESOL/Applied Linguistics at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Boston College. He was a former English and Mandarin teacher in China, Cambodia, and U.S. Theoretically grounded in translanguaging, his research centers on working with classroom teachers to provide bi/multilingual students with equitable and inclusive learning environments in ESL and dual language immersion contexts, and preparing culturally and linguistically competent teachers with social justice orientations. His dissertation titled “Translanguaging Design in a Mandarin/English Dual Language Bilingual Education Program: A Researcher-Teacher Collaboration” has received multiple recognitions, including 2022 AAAL Dissertation Award, 2022 AERA Second Language Research SIG Outstanding Dissertation Award, 2022 NABE Outstanding Dissertation Award (Third Place), and 2021 AERA Bilingual Education Research SIG Outstanding Dissertation Award (Second Place). Dr. Tian has published articles in TESOL Quarterly, System, Applied Linguistics Review, and Language and Education. He has also co-edited two books: “Envisioning TESOL through a Translanguaging Lens: Global Perspectives” (Springer, 2020) and “English-Medium Instruction and Translanguaging” (Multilingual Matters, 2021).

Zhongfeng Tian, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Email | CV | Website

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Biography

Helyde Torres, M.A. Bicultural/Bilingual Studies, is an Assistant Professor of Practice. Helyde attended UTSA where she earned her undergraduate EC-8th grade certification in Bilingual Studies as well as her master’s degree. She joins UTSA after 23 years of classroom experience, teaching grades K through 6th. She has taught in diverse instructional settings, including a bilingual classroom, a dual language 90/10 model, and a dual language 50/50 model. Her experiences also include serving as a Dual Language Coordinator in a kinder-5thgrade campus as well as at an Intermediate school for over 10 years combined. She has served as the LPAC campus representative and participated in curriculum writing as well as the district textbook adoption committee for the Spanish and English Language Arts Curriculum. In the summer of 2019, she taught an undergraduate Instructional Methods course at the Universidad Panamericana, Mexico City—one of the premier higher education institutions in Mexico. As part of her teaching experience, Helyde has had the opportunity to mentor pre-clinical as well as clinical teachers for more than 15 years.



Helyde Torres
Assistant Professor of Practice
Email | CV

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Biography

Armando L. Trujillo, Associate Professor of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies at UTSA, holds a B.S. in biological science and an M.A. in education from the University of Texas at El Paso. He also earned an M.A. in anthropology from the University of Northern Colorado, and a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin.

At UTSA, Dr. Trujillo has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in bicultural studies foundations, ethnographic and qualitative research methods, cultural adaptation, Mexican-American culture, and Latino biculturalism.







Armando L. Trujillo, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Email | CV

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Biography

My research is mainly focused on language teacher learning and professional identity development in preservice and in-service teacher education contexts. I have three recent co-edited collections on language teacher identities in the US and international contexts:   

  • Yazan, B., Canagarajah, S., & Jain, R. (Eds.). (2020). Autoethnographies in English language teaching: Transnational identities, pedagogies, and practices. Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781003001522  
  • Yazan, B. & Lindahl, K. (Eds.). (2020). Language teacher identity in TESOL: Teacher education and practice as identity work. Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780429342875  
  • Rudolph, N., Selvi, A.F., & Yazan, B. (Eds.). (2020). The complexity of identity and interaction in language education. Multilingual Matters. https://www.multilingual-matters.com/page/detail/?k=9781788927444   

 

Bedrettin Yazan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Email | CV

Emeritus

 

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Biography

Ellen Riojas Clark, Ph. D. is Professor Emerita in the Department of Bicultural Bilingual Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She received her BA in Elementary Education from Trinity University, MA in Bicultural Bilingual Studies from UTSA, and Ph. D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Texas at Austin. Her work as Research Coordinator with the Academy for Teacher Excellence has been in the development of teacher training programs and restructuring schools for language minority students. She served as Co-PI for the Rockefeller Foundation Project: Knowledge, Culture, and Construction of Identity in a Transnational Community: San Antonio, TX, and as Content Director of a $21 million Scholastic Entertainment PBS program Maya & Miguel, a bicultural bilingual animated series. She received three National Endowment for the Humanities grants focused on Mexican American and Latino literature and culture and developed a curriculum for an AT&T film project entitled Developing Multicultural Understanding through Education. 



Ellen Riojas Clark, Ph.D.
Professor Emerita
Email | CV 

 

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Biography

Dr. Carolyn L. Kessler, SP, is Professor Emeritus; she taught for nearly 50 years, primarily at the university level, and is an expert in the field of second language education. She also taught high school French and chemistry for 11 years. In her role as a professor in the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies, she utilized her experience in linguistics to teach students earning the M.A. degree in Teaching English as a Second Language.

Attributing her success to her strong educational foundation and strong support from teachers and her parents, Dr. Kessler became involved in her profession because she always loved teaching and felt it was a special calling in her life. In 1971, Dr. Kessler earned a Ph.D. in linguistics from Georgetown University where she was honored as a University Fellow. She is a member of the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, and has belonged to the congregation since 1954. She also retains membership in TESOL. Looking forward, Dr. Kessler will continue to enjoy her retirement and use her expertise wherever possible.

Carolyn Kessler, Ph.D.
Professor Emerita
Email | CV

 

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Biography

Josie Méndez Negrete, Professor Emerita in Mexican American Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio, received her Ph.D. at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Duke University Press published Las Hijas de Juan: Daughters Betrayed as a revised edition in 2006. She also published A Life on Hold: La Historia de Tito, a testimonio of schizophrenia in the context of lived experience, in 2015; the book documents her eldest son’s and her family's struggles with the illness. She has published in Frontiers: Journal of Women Studies and Journal of Latinos and Education. In addition, she has served as Lead Editor for Chicana/Latina Studies: The Journal of Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social. Méndez-Negrete continues to explore Afromexicanidad through a play about Maria del Carmen Peregrino Alvarez, Toña La Negra, which she developed as a two- or one-woman show. As a community activist, Méndez-Negrete has a history of activism in organizations that promote the welfare of women and children.




Josie Mendez-Negrete, Ph.D.
Professor Emerita
Email | CV

 

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Biography

Robert Milk, Professor and former Department Chair of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies at UTSA, holds Master of Arts degrees in linguistics and in foreign language education, and a Ph.D. in curriculum and teacher education with a concentration in bilingual/ cross-cultural education from Stanford University. As a faculty member at UTSA since 1980, he has taught teacher preparation courses in the areas of bilingual education foundations, research and testing, ESL methods, bilingualism, and second language acquisition.

A former Title VII doctoral fellow (1976-1979), he has directed eleven bilingual educational personnel projects and served on the Executive Board for the Texas Association for Bilingual Education as well as the President of the San Antonio Area Association for Bilingual Education.  He has also served on various state committees for the Texas Education Agency, including panels for bilingual education certification and Spanish proficiency exams.



Robert Milk, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Email | CV

 

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Biography

One of the most anthologized of Latina writers, Dr. Carmen Tafolla has published work for both children and adults in more than two hundred anthologies, magazines, journals, textbooks, and readers. Long considered one of the madrinas of Chicana Literature and a master of bilingual code-switching, Tafolla is the author of more than twenty books and the recipient of the Americas Award, two Tomas Rivera Book Awards, the Charlotte Zolotow Award for Best Children’s Picture Book of 2010, and the Art of Peace Award, for writing which furthers peace, justice, and human understanding.







Carmen Tafolla, Ph.D.
Professor Emerita
Email | CV

College of Education and Human Development
Main Building | One UTSA Circle | San Antonio, TX 78249
Phone: 210-458-4370 | education@utsa.edu