On behalf of Project MALES we would like to welcome our newest faculty and research affiliates, Dr. Gilberto P. Lara, Dr. Spencer Platt, Dr. Cristóbal Rodríguez, and Dr. Nydia C. Sánchez. Our affiliates will be joining us for our inaugural Project MALES Symposium for Faculty/Research Affiliates. The event is scheduled for Monday, January 8th thru Wednesday January 10th, 2018.
Dr. Lara, is an assistant professor in the College of Education and P-16 Integration at The University Texas Rio Grande Valley. His research interests include: LatCrit, identity and gender studies. He focuses on the pedagogical practices and contributions of Latina/o bilingual elementary teachers, the use children’s literature in the elementary classroom with social justice and gender equity themes. In addition, Dr. Lara’s research focuses on the underrepresentation of Latino males in the elementary grades. Dr. Lara has had over 14 years of experience with emergent bilinguals in both elementary, middle school and post-secondary education. He holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Bilingual/ESL Education from Boise State University and a Ph.D. in Bilingual/Bicultural Education from The University of Texas at Austin. Lara CV.
Dr. Platt, is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education Administration at the University of South Carolina. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. His M.S. degree is from the University of Dayton and he holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina. Dr. Platt has over fifteen years of experience in student affairs, community engagement and academic affairs. His research interests include: Black males in higher education, access to higher education, critical race theory, mentoring relationships between faculty and students of color, and the socialization of doctoral students of color at predominantly White universities. Platt’s research has been published in the Journal of College Student Development, the Journal of Advanced Academics and he has co-edited a book titled Boyhood to Manhood: Deconstructing Masculinity through a life Span Continuum. He has presented his academic work at the American Educational Research Association, the Association for the Study of Higher Education, the International Conference on Doctoral Education and other national conferences. He is also married and the father of two sons. Platt CV.
Dr. Rodríguez, is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, and is the Director of Graduate Studies in the School of Education at Howard University in Washington DC, where “the goal is the elimination of inequities related to race, color, social, economic and political circumstances”. Dr. Rodríguez received his Ph.D. in Educational Policy & Planning at The University of Texas at Austin, with an emphasis on education research, evaluation, and policy analysis with a social and cultural historical focus. Being born and raised in the Texas Borderlands of El Paso under hard-working immigrant parents from Mexico, and studying in Germany as a U.S. Congress-German Bundestag scholar has shaped the world views and research of Dr. Rodríguez. Dr. Rodríguez‘ research focus centers on diverse demographics and explores how policy and leadership influence equity and access for diverse populations throughout the educational pipeline. To elaborate, as more education policy is being developed with consideration to the P-20 pipeline, the work in preparing educational leaders and scholars around policy becomes critical in improving equity and access for diverse populations throughout the pipeline, while moving away from deficit thinking practices, policy, and research. In the end, the connection from research, leadership, and policy must positively influence the education of diverse children.
Given these connections, Dr. Rodríguez’s recent work and collaborations have been published in the Journal of Latinos and Education, Harvard Journal of African American Policy, Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, and most recently in Equity & Excellence in Education with the following articles: 1) George I. Sanchez Legacy of Chicana/o Student and Policy Advocacy: Utilizing Data for Social Change; 2) Top 10% Admissions in the Borderlands: Access and Success of Borderland Top Students at Texas Public Universities; 3) Latino Educational Leadership Across the Pipeline: For Latino Communities and Latina/o Leaders; and 4) Mapping Educational Equity and Reform Policy in the Borderlands: LatCRIT Spatial Analysis of Grade Retention. Dr. Rodríguez also has various book chapters, including in Linguistic Minority Immigrants Go to College: Preparation, Access, and Persistence (Kanno, Y & Harklau, L., Eds., 2012), and a forthcoming book in Information Age Publishing with co-editors Melissa A. Martinez and Fernando Valle on Latino Educational Leadership: Serving Latino Communities and Preparing Latina/o Leaders Across the P-20 Pipeline. Further guiding Dr. Rodríguez’ work in the preparation of diverse scholars stems from 2010-2013, where Dr. Rodríguez received the honor of being nationally appointed as the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) Associate Director of Graduate Student Development and overseeing the Barbara L. Jackson Scholars program, dedicated to racially diversifying the professoriate for the field of Educational Leadership. Rodriguez CV.
Dr. Sánchez, is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at The University of Texas at Austin. She was born and raised along the Texas-Mexico border in a bilingual immigrant home and was the first in her family to go to college. For over a decade, Dr. Sánchez has worked with non-profits, schools, and community groups in Texas to improve the educational and economic success of traditionally-underserved students in the U.S., particularly Latina/o students. Her work uses qualitative methodologies and critical frameworks to interrogate the contexts and relationships that shape postsecondary access and success for Latinas/os, first-generation college students, and community college students. Her research has been funded by the NAEd/Spencer Foundation and the Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education (TACHE). During her academic career, she has been recognized as a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation / Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) Gates Millennium Scholar, an American Educational Research Association (AERA) Carlos J. Vallejo Research Fellow, and an American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education (AAHHE) / Ford Foundation Fellow. Dr. Sánchez received a Ph.D. and M.S. in Higher Education from the University of North Texas and a B.S. in Economics from Texas A&M University. Sanchez CV.
To learn more about our inaugural Project MALES Symposium for Faculty/Research Affiliates click here.
To learn more about our PM Faculty and Research Affiliates click here
To view our PM Faculty and Research Affiliates Research Briefs click here
