More Than Our Positionality: The Arduous Work of Truly Being “Hispanic Serving” in the Borderlands and Beyond

1:45pm-3:15pm EST

Presenter: Judith Flores Carmona

Session Type: Panel Discussion

Topic: Identities and intersectionality

Description

Does reporting retention, persistence, and/or graduation rates by disaggregated identities such as Hispanic/Latinx origin alone advance equity in education? This work explores how structural and institutional racism, settler colonialism, patriarchy, heteronormativity, and class are experienced differently by students according to their lived experience within intersecting systems of power, privilege, oppression, and resistance. The results of this study have major policy implications for the future of equity-based policy making and student success at Hispanic-Serving Institutions in the U.S./Mexico borderlands.
A shift towards intersectional identification of students/faculty is urgently needed. This will help administrators better understand the lived experiences of students which may contribute to retention, persistence and graduation rates. Systemically, all units and offices need to recognize and support the whole student and to incorporate curricula that supports and enacts intersectionality.

Moderator

Judith Flores Carmona, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Education
Interim Director of Chicano Programs
New Mexico State University

Panelists

Cynthia Wise, ABD.

Cynthia Wise is a PhD candidate at New Mexico State University in the College of Health, Education and Social Transformation. Prior to returning to school for her doctorate, she was an Emmy Award winning television news journalist. She is passionate about educational equity and serves on the New Mexico Statewide Ethnic Studies Council, the Southern New Mexico Equity Forum, and Transform Education New Mexico.

Susana Ibarra Johnson, Ph.D.

Susana Ibarra Johnson is an Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the School of Teacher Preparation, Leadership and Administration at New Mexico State University. She specializes in developing bi/multilingual and biliteracy curriculum, instruction, and assessment with bilingual educators through participatory action research. Her research focuses on translanguaging pedagogy in bilingual education and English language development contexts to promote effective bilingual education instructional programs and materials for emergent bilingual student populations.

Cecilia Contreras, Ed.D

Cecilia Contreras is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher with the Department of Educational Leadership and Administration in the College of Education at New Mexico State University (NMSU). Her research focuses on minoritized students' experiences in college, in particular, Latinas in STEM.

analopez .png

Ana C. López, Ph.D.

Dr. Ana C. López is originally from Ciudad Juarez, México. She is an assistant professor in the TESOL and Special Education departments at the Graduate School of Education (GSOE) in Lesley University. Dr. López earned her doctorate in Special Education focusing on Multicultural and Bilingual Education and a minor in Family Studies at New Mexico State University. Her pedagogies draw from DisCrit frameworks and Chicana/Latina epistemologies that encourage critical thinking, inquiry, curiosity, and collective analysis that challenges interlocking systems of oppression. Dr. López employs qualitative methodologies, Chicana/Latina epistemologies, and Critical Race Feminista framework.