Hometown: Fairfax, Virginia
Degrees earned: B.A. in English and Latin American Studies from Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa; M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley
Arrived at NIU: 2006
Classes taught: Educational research, mostly qualitative and applied
What’s your mission in academia?
As an academic, I hope to repay the great emotional and intellectual debt I owe to the many who helped me get here, not only my family but also the community members and mothers that inspired me to attend graduate school in the first place, and have been rooting for me the whole way. If they’re proud with what I’ve accomplished in academia, then my mission will be fulfilled.
What is in your job description?
Because I am in the College of Education, quality teaching is extremely important, as is conducting my own research. And of course service is required, which I fulfill with committee assignments as well as volunteer work in Chicago’s Puerto Rican community, where I live.
How did you become interested in your subject area?
In the early 1990s, I was the director of a family literacy program for Puerto Rican and Latina mothers, run by The Puerto Rican Cultural Center, a grassroots community-based organization located on Chicago’s Near Northwest Side. My experience with the women attending the program and the broader community generated my interest in pursuing a doctorate in literacy studies. After completing my coursework, I returned to the community to conduct my dissertation research.
What do students learn from you?
I would hope that my courses provide students with the methodological tools to explore topics of interest to them. I encourage them to be reflective, not only about the topics and settings they have chosen for their research projects, but also about their own lives and experiences.
What makes your class interesting? Exciting?
I try to enliven the teaching of qualitative research concepts and approaches by integrating elements of my own community-based research into the class. Students in my research classes design and conduct their own study, which is always an adventurous experience. And I love what I do. I hope that’s infectious.
What is the best question you’ve ever been asked? What was your answer?
When I was very young my mother asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. My immediate reply was “a cheerleader!” I changed my mind soon afterward, and decided I wanted to be a teacher.
What is your favorite aspect of your subject? Why?
What I love most about qualitative research is revealing a finding that was unexpected. I especially enjoy interviewing. It provides me with the opportunity to listen to and learn from other people’s experiences.
What most pleases you about society today? What most concerns you?
As an educator, I’m deeply troubled by the current state of our educational system and the great disparity between schools and districts in terms of funding and resources. Furthermore, we need to move beyond “one size fits all” policies in our attempts to address complex social and educational problems and issues. Other issues/areas of concern to me include immigration, gentrification, prisons and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
What’s your current research?
I am currently conducting research among Latino/a teachers in Pilsen, Chicago, a project I initiated during my postdoctoral fellowship in the Latino and Latin American Studies Program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. I also am continuing some of the work accomplished as part of my dissertation with young Puerto Rican and Latina mothers.
What’s a good book you recently read?
This past summer, I finally read “Devil in the White City,” which was so lovely, especially if you live in Chicago (like I do). It really brings late 19th century Chicago to life, for better or worse. I also enjoyed “Interpreter of Maladies,” by Jhumpa Lahiri. She’s a tremendous storyteller.
Where do you go in DeKalb for a good meal?
Thai Pavilion. I love their pad thai and green papaya salad.
Why did you choose your first college/university?
It was an accident really. I didn’t even know where Grinnell was when I applied (even though my mother is from Iowa). I did apply only to small liberal arts colleges, mostly in the Midwest. I wanted to get away from the East Coast and was not interested in attending a large university. It was a great experience, personally and intellectually.
Who was your favorite professor? Why?
At Grinnell, I fell in love with Victoria Brown, a historian who almost lured me over from the English department, but it was my senior year when I took her course. She valued strong writing and helped us develop our academic voices. At Berkeley, Anne Haas Dyson was a mentor in qualitative research methods. Her classes were intellectual journeys that you never wanted to end.
What’s your best advice to students who want to succeed?
Pursue your passions. I believe that it is extremely important to choose a vocation that you are interested in and that engages you. Otherwise you’re merely going through the motions to get a degree. Education should not just be a matter of completing a checklist. Do what you love and, in the process, make the world a better place.
If you weren’t teaching, what would you be doing?
I secretly dream of being a sportscaster.
What would your tombstone read?
I hope that people would remember me as being a lover of life and someone who made an important contribution to her community.
Photos by Don Butler, NIU Media Services