Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching Department Chair
Biography
Ann Marie Ryan, Ph.D. is professor and chair for the Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching (ILT) at UTSA. She teaches courses in ILT and Curriculum and Instruction. Her areas of focus are teacher preparation, secondary education, the teaching of history and social studies, and the history of education and curriculum history. Her teaching and research concentrate on the connections between teaching and learning in P-12 schools, communities, and teacher preparation. Within the history of education, she specializes in examining intersections between Catholic schools and public education policy in the United States from the early to mid-twentieth century. Ann Marie has published in top-tier journals including Teachers College Record, The History of Education Quarterly, The Journal of Teacher Education, Review of Research in Education, and the American Journal of Education.
Ann Marie has served as a co-editor for the Review of Research in Education. She and the editorial team worked on a volume focusing on teaching practices in P-20 educational settings and a second volume examining the quality of research evidence in education. She served as the Program Chair for Division F (History and Historiography) of AERA in 2017 and the President of the Organization of Educational Historians in 2019. She currently is Co-PI on the IES UTSA Pathways grant project. UTSA Pathways supports undergraduate students preparing for doctoral studies in education research by providing opportunities to learn about research, engage in education research, and be mentored by experts in their fields.
Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching Faculty
Biography
Iliana Alanis, Ph.D.
Biography
Dr. María Guadalupe Arreguín earned her doctoral degree in Bilingual Education at the Texas A&M University-Kingsville. Her work illuminates the intricacies of cultural and linguistic factors that influence minority students’ access to education in early childhood and elementary bilingual settings. Her research on young children’s translanguaging practices, critical science pedagogy, and the intersections of language and social justice has been published in top venues in the field, such as the Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, the Journal of Latinos and Education, the Bilingual Research Journal, the Journal for the Education of the Gifted, the Journal of Environmental Education, and Action in Teacher Education.
The American Educational Research Association (AERA), Bilingual SIG selected Dr. María Guadalupe Arreguín, Professor of Early Childhood & Elementary Education in the Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching as the recipient of 2014 Bilingual Education Research SIG Early Career Award.
Professor
Biography
Emily Bonner, Ph.D.
Professor
Biography
Dr. Richard Boon is an Associate Professor of Special Education in the Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching in the College of Education and Human Development at The University of Texas at San Antonio. He received his Ph.D. in Special Education from George Mason University and earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Purdue University.
Biography
Dr. Carmona is a Professor in STEM Education at The University of Texas at San Antonio and also serves as Executive Director of ConTex, an initiative between the University of Texas System and Mexico’s National Council of Science and Technology (Conacyt) to foster binational academic collaborations between Mexico and Texas that are mutually beneficial for both countries. Dr. Carmona’s research has focused on the design, implementation, and evaluation of innovation and technology-supported educational reforms in STEM education in national and international settings. She also conducts research on formative assessment of student learning that takes place in the classroom, and how the use of these practices and indicators can be extended on a large scale. Dr. Carmona’s research agenda for the past 20 years has focused on broadening participation in STEM and addressing the need to prepare the next generation of students who can have democratic access to the fundamental and complex ideas in STEM from an early age. Dr. Carmona has secured more than $12M in external funding. Her work has been translated into different languages and has extended to countries including the U.S., Mexico, Chile, Costa Rica, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Greece. Dr. Carmona’s work has impacted more than 20,000 students, 150 teachers, and dozens of researchers.
Biography
Langston Clark is an Associate Professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio in the College of Education and Human Development. Langston completed his Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) at The University of Texas at Austin. Before obtaining his Ph.D., he received his M.A. in Adapted Physical Education from The Ohio State University and a B.S. in Physical Education from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University (A&T). Given his experience as an undergraduate at A&T, a Historically Black College/Universities (HBCUs), he has developed a passion for the continued development and elevation of minority-serving institutions. Dr. Clark's research focuses on the training of Black physical educators and kinesiologists at HBCUs. His other research interest includes the intersections of athletics, race, and education.
Dr. Clark has over 20 research publications featured in The Journal of Teaching in Physical Education, The Journal of Negro Education, Quest, Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, and The Journal of Black Psychology. He has also participated in 40 national and international research presentations. For his accomplishments as a researcher, Dr. Clark has been awarded the Mabel Lee Young Professional Award and the Leroy T. Walker Young Professional Award, which recognizes the commitments of young scholars dedicated to social justice by the Society of Health and Physical Educators of America.
As a public intellectual, Dr. Clark is the founder and host of Entrepreneurial Appetite, a series of events dedicated to building community, promoting intellectualism, and supporting Black businesses. Recordings of these discussions are available on the Entrepreneurial Appetite Black Book Discussions Podcast. Additionally, he has been a featured guest on several podcasts, including What's New in Adapted Physical Education, BAME PE, Black + in Grad School, and Playing with Research in Health and Physical Education.
Dr. Clark is committed to increasing the quality of the Black experience in higher education. Through service as an Alumni Fellow in The Heman Sweatt Center for Black Males at The University of Texas at Austin, he actively participates in mentoring Black males through higher education. As a dedicated alumnus of North Carolina A&T State University, Dr. Clark founded From A&T To Ph.D., a community of support for Aggies in the doctoral pipeline. At UTSA, he is the faculty leader of the Black Student Initiatives fundraiser, which is designed to support programming for Black student leaders. To date, this initiative has raised over 20,000 dollars.
Associate Professor
Biography
Biography
Biography
Kathy Ewoldt, Ph.D.
Biography
Zaid M. Haddad is an Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies & Curriculum and Instruction and a member of the Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching.
As a teacher educator and social justice advocate, my research interests in understanding the ways we negotiate our many intersecting identities as we encounter new and changing contexts. Prior to joining the faculty at UTSA, I was a visiting faculty member and doctoral student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Before pursuing my Ph.D., I taught high school social studies and was a student council advisor for five years.
At UTSA, I maintain an ambitious research agenda and provide service within my fields of study at the local and national levels. I teach courses at the undergraduate, master's, and doctoral levels.
Associate Professor of Instruction
Biography
Janis M. Harmon is a Professor of Literacy Education at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She received her Ph.D. from The Ohio State University in Educational Theory and Practice. Her publications reflect her research interests which include children’s and young adult literature and effective middle school and high school literacy programs with a special emphasis on vocabulary acquisition and instruction. She teaches both undergraduate and graduate literacy courses for educators interested in teaching at the middle school and high school levels.
Professor
Biography
Rosalind Horowitz is a professor of Discourse and Literacy Studies in the Reading and Literacy Program of the Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching of the College of Education and Human Development with a joint appointment in the Department of Educational Psychology. Dr. Horowitz earned her B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. at The University of Minnesota's Twin Cities Campus with graduate work at Harvard University and the Hebrew University - Jerusalem. She has been a Visiting Scholar at The University of Toronto, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) and in Russia and the Ukraine.
Dr. Horowitz is Chair of the American Educational Research Association, Special Interest Group (SIG) on Research in Reading and Literacy, has been a member of several Divisions of AERA, has served as a member of the Executive Council overseeing 140 SIG's of AERA.
Professor
Biography
Dr. Yi-Fan Li earned her Ph.D. at Texas A&M University with a major in Educational Psychology and emphasis in Special Education. Before she came to the U.S., she was a special education teacher for five years, mainly teaching students with intellectual disabilities, autism, and multiple disabilities in a high school. During her teaching career, she had the experience of being a transition coordinator. This valuable experience led her to keep exploring the transition education for individuals with disabilities. She is also interested in working with teacher candidates to explore inclusive teaching practices, such as universal design for learning, to support students from diverse cultural backgrounds.
The current projects she is working on: Creating an Accessible and Inclusive Classroom: Translating Research to Practices Step-by-Step.
Biography
Dr. Cynthia Lima is an Assistant Professor in STEM Education in the Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching. Her research, teaching, and service have focused on developing and examining equitable approaches to teaching and learning STEM anchored on current issues to foster participation in STEM practices. Dr. Lima's research also focuses on equity and innovations in STEM assessment. While at UTSA, Dr. Lima has secured funding from the National Science Foundation and other organizations to support her research and teaching. Her local, national, and international research and publications demonstrate her commitment to equity and increasing participation in STEM.
Biography
Vittorio Marone, Ph.D.
Biography
Miriam G. Martinez is a Professor Emeritus. She teaches reading and children’s literature courses at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She conducts content analyses of children’s books as well as research on children’s responses to literature and their understanding of various literary genres and formats. In addition to articles in various journals, her publications include Children's Books in Children's Hands, Thinking and Learning through Children's Literature, and Books Come Alive. She is actively involved in the Children’s Literature Assembly and serves on the board of the United States Board of Books for Young People. In addition, she is currently serving as chair of the primary sub-committee of the ILA Children’s & Young Adult Book Awards Committee, and is also a member of the regional committee of the Tomás Rivera Award Committee. She has served as co-editor of the Journal of Children’s Literature and the Journal of Literacy Research. She has served on various award committees including the Caldecott, the Geisel, and the Sibert Committees.
Miriam Martinez, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Biography
“Land is, therefore we are." Bang et al. (2014) In the Carrizo/Comecrudo language, the ancestral place name of San Antonio, Texas, is Yanawena, meaning "the place where I rest my head."
In Coahuilteca, a pidgin language shared many distinct Indigenous peoples across the greater region, the term Yanaguana means "spirit waters."
Either version is acceptable as a respectful form of acknowledgment of the land, water, and many generations of caretakers of the greater community, which includes the Estok'Gna, Coahuilteca, Tlaxcalteca, Apache, and Comanche, as well as assorted other band-based peoples Indigenous to the territories now called south Texas. These are my ancestral territories and familial genealogies. I am honored to live and work in San Antonio as a critically engaged educator/activist/scholar/relative/community member.
Assistant Professor
Biography
Dr. Bekisizwe S. Ndimande is a Professor of Curriculum and Instruction in the Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching and Faculty Associate in the Department of Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Sexuality Studies in the College of Education and Human Development. He earned his doctoral degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Curriculum and Instruction. Dr. Ndimande’s lines of research inquiry focuses on curriculum studies, education policy, multicultural education, and international comparative studies. His previously published volume entitled, Privatization and the Education of Marginalized Children: Policies, Impacts and Global Lessons, (co-edited with Dr. Christopher Lubienski) was published by Routledge in 2017. Other notable publications include: Pedagogy of the Township in Sonia Nieto’s Dear Paulo: Letters from Those Who Dare Teach (edited collection); Race and Resources (Race Ethnicity and Education journal); Unravelling the Neocolonial Epistemologies (Journal of Literacy Research); Lutas Docentes nas Escolas Públicas para negros na África do Sul pósapartheid (Cadernos de Educação,a Brazilian journal). Dr. Ndimande’s essay, From Bantu Education to the Fight for Socially Just Education published in Equity & Excellence in Education was among the 18 articles selected by Taylor & Francis as representative of the interdisciplinary nature of social justice studies. Recently, Dr. Ndimande was invited to be a member of the Professors of Curriculum Honorary Society, a national organization for scholars whose research has made outstanding contributions to the field of curriculum studies. Additionally, he was also invited to serve as a Fellow at the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy (CEEP) at Indiana University. Currently, Dr. Ndimande is the editor of the Critical Studies in Education journal.
Bekisizwe Ndimande, Ph.D.
Professor
Biography
Rica Ramírez, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Early Childhood and Elementary Education in the Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching Department at UTSA. As an Educational Psychologist, she conducts applied research within the context of early childhood specifically focusing on the Latino population residing in the United States. The purpose of her research agenda is four-fold: 1.) To determine how external factors (i.e., home and school) influence the school readiness development of young Latino children, 2.) To identify the way maternal responsiveness impacts young Latino children’s language development, 3.) To explore the intersectionality of culture and identity, and 4.) to examine bilingualism within children who have developmental language disorders. Dr. Ramírez teaches Quantitative Analysis and Research Design in ILT, Family Engagement Policy, and Advocacy, Reconceptualizing Sociocultural Contexts in ECE, as well as Child Growth and Development.
Biography
Biography
Timothy T. Yuen is an Associate Professor in the Department of Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching. Dr. Yuen’s research interests include broadening diversity and improving student success in computer science and engineering across the education pipeline. He currently has two grants funded by the National Science Foundation to support his research: CS4SA-HS: Developing a collaborative of secondary computer science teachers to increase Latinx participation in CS (NSF #1923269) and Collaborative Research: Uncovering the Effects of Stereotype Threats on Latina/o Students’ Success in Undergraduate Engineering (NSF #1925630). He is an active member of education special interest groups of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Dr. Yuen is the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies in the College of Sciences, Joint Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science in the College of Sciences, and Courtesy Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the College of Engineering. Dr. Yuen received his Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Instructional Technology from the University of Texas at Austin. He received his B.S. in Information and Computer Science from the University of California, Irvine, and his M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Southern California.
Emeritus
Biography
Dr. Roxanne Henkin, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Interdisciplinary Learning & Teaching at The University of Texas at San Antonio, earned her doctorate from Northern Illinois University and has 18 years of teaching experience in public schools. She then taught at National-Louis University in Chicago before joining the faculty at The University of Texas at San Antonio in 2003. Dr. Henkin’s research interests include confronting bullying through literacy, inclusive classrooms, supporting LGBTQ+ students, critical literacy for social justice, writing process and instruction, in-service staff development in literacy, and multiliteracies and multimodal digital literacies. She has published many articles and two books, Who’s Invited to Share: Using Literacy to Teach for Equity and Social Justice and Confronting Bullying: Literacy as a Tool for Character Education, both published by Heinemann.
College of Education and Human Development
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Phone: 210-458-4370 | education@utsa.edu