skip to main content
UTRGV

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Main Menu
Donate Now Directory myUTRGV

You are here:

People Affiliated Faculty
Español

B3 Institute Division of Academic Affairs

  • Home
  • About
    • Overview
    • Mission
    • Initiatives
    • Structure
    • Background
  • People
    • B3 Institute
    • Affiliated Faculty
  • Course Designations & Endorsements
    • Overview
    • Spanish Course Designation
    • Bilingual Course Designation
    • Flexible Bilingual Pedagogy Endorsement
    • Student Testimonials
  • Resources
    • Overview
    • Teaching
    • Library
    • Technology
    • Writing
    • Other Resources
  • Spanish for Faculty & Staff
    • Overview
    • Spring 2023 Registration
    • Testimonials
  • News

B3 Institute - Related Links

  • B3 Institute
  • Affiliated Faculty

Contact Us

B3 Institute
BLHSB 2.424 / EEDUC 2.220
Email: b3institute@utrgv.edu
Phone: (956) 882-7829
Phone Alt: (956) 665-2183
Facebook Instagram

Quick Links

Center for Bilingual Studies Center for Mexican American Studies Translation and Interpreting Office

Affiliated Faculty

Ana del Rosario Peña-Oliva, ABD

Lecturer III, Undergraduate Spanish Program Degree Specialist & Sigma Delta Pi Faculty Advisor
Phone: (956) 882-8884
Email: ana.pena@utrgv.edu
Read More

Ana del Rosario Peña-Oliva, ABD

A member of the Spanish Undergraduate Program, Ms. Ana Peña-Oliva, joined the University of Texas at Brownsville in 1999 as a part-time instructor, and is currently a Lecturer II of Hispanic Linguistics with the Department of Writing and Language Studies at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. She serves as a Degree Specialist for the Spanish Undergraduate Program (Writing and Language Studies and Literatures and Cultural Studies) and is a member of the BA Spanish Steering Committee. As a member of the BA Spanish Steering Committee, she assists both departments in multiple capacities: course scheduling, curriculum, advising, assessment (SACSCOC and CAEP), student recruiting, language placement, etc.

 

Areas of Expertise:

  • Spanish as a Heritage Language
  • Language Contact
  • The Teaching of Spanish as a Heritage Language
  • Language Acquisition

Education:

  • She is currently a PhD candidate (ABD status) with the University of Houston, majoring in Hispanic Linguistics with an expected graduation of May 2018. Dissertation: Grammatical differences between Hispanic Transborder and Heritage Language Learners: A longitudinal Study

Degrees:

  • MA, Spanish, The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, 1995
  • BBA, Marketing, The University of Texas - Pan American, 1987
  • AA, General Studies, Texas Southmost College, 1984
Lecturer III, Undergraduate Spanish Program Degree Specialist & Sigma Delta Pi Faculty Advisor
Department of Writing & Language Studies
Email: ana.pena@utrgv.edu
Brownsville
Phone: (956) 882-8884

José Dávila-Montes, PhD

Professor
Phone: (956) 882-8215
Email: jose.davila@utrgv.edu
Read More

José Dávila-Montes, PhD

Dr. José Dávila-Montes is a full Professor of Translation and Interpreting and was the founder of the legacy Translation and Interpreting Office in 2005.

He studied in Barcelona Autonomous University (Barcelona, Spain), where he obtained his BA + MA in Translation and Interpreting and a PhD in Translation and Cross-Cultural Studies. He also studied in Dublin City University (Dublin, Ireland), Toyo University (Tokyo, Japan), and the State University of New York at Binghamton (New York), where he obtained an MA in Spanish Literature.

In the past, he coordinated a fully online MA program in Audiovisual Translation by the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain. He also taught Translation, Interpreting, Spanish, and Japanese Language since 1999 in Barcelona Autonomous University (Spain), State University of New York at Binghamton (USA), Dublin City University (Ireland), and Hunter College of New York (USA).  

Before becoming a full-time professor, he worked for over a decade as a professional translator, interpreter, localization project manager, editor, and project director for a number of publishing houses, producing encyclopedias, dictionaries and other reference works, multimedia products and language courses, and being involved in the publishing of over 150 titles and tens of thousands of pages.

Degrees

  • PhD in Translation and Cross-Cultural Studies (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain)
  • MA in Spanish Literature (State University of New York at Binghamton, United States)
  • BA & MA in Spanish, English and Japanese Translation and Interpreting (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain)

CV/VITAE:  Dr. José  Dávila-Montes

Professor
Interdisciplinary Programs and Community Engagement
Email: jose.davila@utrgv.edu
Brownsville
Phone: (956) 882-8215

Gabriel González Núñez, PhD

Associate Professor
Phone: (956) 882-7658
Email: gabriel.gonzaleznunez@utrgv...
Read More

Gabriel González Núñez, PhD

Dr. González Núñez, Assistant Professor, is the Director of UTRGV’s Translation and Interpreting Programs. He is also the Executive Consultant of the Translation & Interpreting Office in the areas of Legal and Institutional Translation and Interpreting.

He holds a BA in Spanish Translation, a JD, an MA in Translation and Intercultural Studies, and a PhD in Translation Studies. At KU Leuven (Catholic University of Leuven), he was a Marie Curie Actions Fellow who carried out research into the role of translation policy in the integration of linguistic minorities.

Before obtaining his PhD, he was adjunct faculty at Brigham Young University, where he taught Spanish translation and Spanish grammar, and at Utah Valley University, where he taught Spanish grammar. At UTRGV he teaches different translation and interpreting courses. Additionally, he has published books and articles with highly reputable journals and publishers in the field.

During what little spare time he has, he engages in creative writing in Spanish. He has occasionally received some literary recognitions, including the 2012 Premio Platero for best short story.

He has also worked as a lawyer, translator, interpreter, language teacher, and sports broadcaster. Additionally, he has in the past volunteered for a number of non-profit organizations. He was born in Montevideo, Uruguay.¿

Degrees

  • PhD in Translation Studies (KU Leuven, Belgium)
  • MA in Translation and Intercultural Studies (Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Spain)
  • JD in law (Brigham Young University, United States)
  • BA in Spanish Translation (Brigham Young University, United States)

CV/VITAE: Dr. Gabriel González Núñez

Associate Professor
Interdisciplinary Programs and Community Engagement
Email: gabriel.gonzaleznunez@utrgv.edu
Brownsville
Phone: (956) 882-7658

Nazaret Fresno Cañada, PhD

Assistant Professor and Translation and Interpreting Program Director
Phone: (956) 882-7450
Email: nazaret.fresno@utrgv.edu
Read More

Nazaret Fresno Cañada, PhD

Dr. Fresno-Cañada, Assistant Professor, is the Executive Consultant of the Translation & Interpreting Office in the areas of Translation Technologies and Audiovisual Translation.

She holds a BA in Translation and Interpreting, an MA in Comparative Literature and Literary Translation, and a PhD which focuses in Audiovisual Translation.

Before joining UTRGV, she taught Audiovisual Translation and Accessibility to the Media at several universities in Spain, where she also worked as a freelance translator and audio describer. At UTRGV she teaches Translation Theory, Translation Technologies, Literary Translation, Medical Terminology, Interpreting, and Audiovisual Translation.

Her research interests include Audiovisual Translation and Accessibility to the Media, mainly Subtitling, Closed Captioning, and Audio Description (accessibility for the Blind and Visually Impaired). She has delivered communications at national and international conferences and her research has been published in some of the most relevant T&I journals and books.

Degrees

  • PhD in Translation and Cross-cultural Studies (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain)
  • MA in Comparative Literature and Literary Translation (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain)
  • MA in Audiovisual Translation (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain)
  • BA + MA in Translation and Interpreting (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain)


CV/VITAE:   Dr. Fresno Cañada

Assistant Professor and Translation and Interpreting Program Director
Interdisciplinary Programs and Community Engagement
Email: nazaret.fresno@utrgv.edu
Brownsville
Phone: (956) 882-7450

Dorian Gilberto Vázquez, MA

Lecturer I
Phone: (956) 665-8780
Email: dorian.vazquez@utrgv.edu
Read More

Dorian Gilberto Vázquez, MA

Dorian G. Vázquez, M.A. is a Full-Time Lecturer I for the Department of Writing and Language Studies and the Translation and Interpreting Programs at UTRGV.

He studied at the Instituto Tecnológico de Matamoros, México, where he obtained his BS in Civil Engineering. He also studied at The University of Texas at Brownsville, where he received a Master of Arts in Spanish Translation and Interpreting, as well as a Graduate Certificate in Spanish Translation.

Mr. Vázquez worked as a Part-Time Lecturer at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, where he taught undergraduate courses in Translation and Interpreting, and he also worked as a Part-Time Assistant Translator and Interpreter for the Translation and Interpreting Office. At UTRGV, he currently teaches medical Spanish, translation, and interpreting courses.

He is a Licensed Court Interpreter for the State of Texas, and he also works as a freelance Interpreter at the Social Security Administration’s Office of Hearings Operations in Harlingen, Texas, where he provides English < > Spanish interpreting services.

Degrees

  • MA in Spanish Translation and Interpreting (The University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College)
  • Graduate Certificate in Spanish Translation (The University of Texas at Brownsville/Texas Southmost College)
  • BS in Civil Engineering (Instituto Tecnológico de Matamoros, Mexico)
Lecturer I
Writing and Language Studies
Email: dorian.vazquez@utrgv.edu

Phone: (956) 665-8780

Julio Ciller, PhD.

Lecturer I
Email: julio.ciller@utrgv.edu
Read More

Julio Ciller, PhD.

Dr. Julio Ciller currently works as a full-time Lecturer in the Spanish department at UTRGV. He was born in Murcia (Spain) and he graduated with a B.A. in English Studies from the University of Murcia. He came to the U.S. in 2013 to pursue an M.A. in TESOL and Spanish at West Virginia University. Then, he pursued a Ph.D. in Hispanic Linguistics at the University of Arizona. His main research interests are Hispanic Linguistics, Second Language Acquisition and Teaching, Second Language Pedagogy, Heritage Language Teaching, Spanish for the Professions and Language Program Administration.

Lecturer I
Writing and Language Studies
Email: julio.ciller@utrgv.edu
ELABS 329

María Carmona-Alonso, M.A.

Director of Translation and Interpreting Office
Phone: (956) 882-7214
Email: maria.carmonaalonso@utrgv.edu
Read More

María Carmona-Alonso, M.A.

Director of Translation and Interpreting Office
Translation and Interpreting Office
Email: maria.carmonaalonso@utrgv.edu
BLHS 2.418
Phone: (956) 882-7214

J. Joy Esquierdo, PhD

Professor, Bilingual & Literacy Studies, College of Education & P16 Integration / Director, Center for Bilingual Studies
Phone: (956) 665-3605
Email: joy.esquierdo@utrgv.edu
Read More

J. Joy Esquierdo, PhD

Dr. J. Joy Esquierdo was born and raised in the delta area of the Rio Grande Valley in deep south Texas. She is a Professor in the Department of Bilingual and Literacy Studies at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley. She is also the Director for the Center for Bilingual Studies with the B3 Institute, and the Interim Director for the School of Art. She earned her doctorate degree of Texas A& M University in College Station in Educational Psychology with an emphasis in Bilingual Education. Dr. Esquierdo’s scholarship centers on bilingual-dual language students in various areas such as gifted education, content biliteracy development (English and Spanish), and overall best teaching practices for bilingual-dual language learners that focus on academic rigor. She has served the Texas Association for Bilingual Education Executive Board in various positions, including President, Vice-President, and Secretary. Most importantly, she is the proud mother of her two sons, Andrés Joaquín and Rolando Jesús.
Professor, Bilingual & Literacy Studies, College of Education & P16 Integration / Director, Center for Bilingual Studies
Director, Center for Bilingual Studies
Email: joy.esquierdo@utrgv.edu

Phone: (956) 665-3605

Alexander V. Stehn, PhD

Associate Professor of Philosophy & Associate Director of Center for Bilingual Studies
Phone: (956) 665-7487
Email: alex.stehn@utrgv.edu
Read More

Alexander V. Stehn, PhD

Dr. Alex Stehn is an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy, Associate Director of UTRGV’s Center for Bilingual Studies, and a Faculty Affiliate in Mexican American Studies. His areas of research specialization are U.S. American Philosophy and Latin American Philosophy, which he teaches bilingually. Dr. Stehn’s publications include “Latin American Philosophy” in The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Nation-Building through Education: Positivism and its Transformations in Mexico” in Latin American and Latinx Philosophy: A Collaborative Introduction, “Teaching Gloria Anzaldúa as an American Philosopher” in Teaching Gloria E. Anzaldúa: Pedagogy and Practice for Our Classrooms and Communities, and “Philosophizing in Tongues: Cultivating Bilingualism, Biculturalism, and Biliteracy in an Introduction to Latin American Philosophy Course” in the Journal of Bilingual Education Research & Instruction. Along with his wife and colleague, Dr. Mariana Alessandri, he is co-founder of RGV PUEDE (RGV Parents United for Excellent Dual  Education / RGV Padres Unidos para una Educación Dual de Excelencia), whose mission is to support, improve, and extend dual language programs that promote bilingualism, biliteracy, and biculturalism by providing instruction in both Spanish and English from Pre-K to 12th across the Rio Grande Valley.
Associate Professor of Philosophy & Associate Director of Center for Bilingual Studies
Email: alex.stehn@utrgv.edu

Phone: (956) 665-7487

Stephanie Álvarez, PhD.

Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Mexican American Studies
Phone: (956) 665-3212
Email: stephanie.alvarez@utrgv.edu
Read More

Stephanie Álvarez, PhD.

Stephanie Álvarez is an Associate Professor of Mexican American Studies and the Director of the Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. She has been recognized by the Carnegie Foundation for Teaching as the U.S. Professor of the Year, the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education with the Outstanding Latino/a Faculty in Higher Ed award, and the University of Texas System Board of Regents with the Outstanding Teaching Award. As a professor she has been instrumental in the implementation of testimonio as a signature pedagogy in the program, creating service-learning courses for students to engage with the community which has resulted in oral histories, murals in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institute in the City of San Juan, Texas and multiple collaborations with Pharr San Juan Alamo ISD including a Día de los Muertos Altar Competition now in its 4th year. She collaborates in the organization of Mexican American Studies workshops for teachers and administrators. She also is a volunteer coach where she has coached over 20 youth teams. She is the first-ever Director of Mexican American Studies and the Center for Mexican American Studies at UTRGV legacy institution, the University of Texas Pan-American, and has assisted over a dozen Latinx students in reaching their goal of gaining entrance to a PhD program. She is the author of multiple essays on the intersection of education, gender, language, identity, and culture. You can find her most recent co-authored essay in the Harvard Educational Review. Her work is motivated by her lived experiences as a Latina student, educator, and mother of three.

Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Mexican American Studies
School of Interdisciplinary Programs & Community Engagement
Email: stephanie.alvarez@utrgv.edu
EEDUC 2216B
Phone: (956) 665-3212

Alcione N. Ostorga, PhD

Professor
Phone: (956) 665-3410
Email: alcione.ostorga@utrgv.edu
Read More

Alcione N. Ostorga, PhD

Professor
Department of Bilingual and Literacy Studies
Email: alcione.ostorga@utrgv.edu

Phone: (956) 665-3410

Alyssa Cavazos, PhD.

Associate Professor of Rhetoric, Composition, and Literacy Studies
Phone: (956) 665-8779
Email: alyssa.cavazos@utrgv.edu
Read More

Alyssa Cavazos, PhD.

Alyssa G. Cavazos is an Associate Professor of Rhetoric, Composition, and Literacy Studies in the Department of Writing and Language Studies and Director for the Center for Teaching Excellence at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. She teaches undergraduate and graduate coursework in writing studies. Her pedagogical and scholarly interests include: language difference in the teaching of writing, translingual writing across communities, professional development in higher education, and border rhetorics. She was awarded the University of Texas System 2017 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award and the 2017 UTRGV Excellence Award in Teaching. She is committed to designing linguistically inclusive pedagogies, which can lead to students’ academic success across academic disciplines in higher education.
Associate Professor of Rhetoric, Composition, and Literacy Studies
Department of Writing and Language Studies
Email: alyssa.cavazos@utrgv.edu
EDUC 1.525
Phone: (956) 665-8779

Azucena Herrera, PhD.

Clinical Assistant Professor
Email: azucena.herrera@utrgv.edu
Read More

Azucena Herrera, PhD.

Dr. Azucena Herrera is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Management Department, Robert C. Vackar College of Business and Entrepreneurship (COBE).

She joins the Management Department in 2019 for pioneering the MBA blueprinting course design Spanish version (MBAmericas) at COBE, under the Quality Matters (QM) requirements for asynchronous online modality.

From first to current cohorts, she has been teaching the Management courses series for the MBAmericas curricula, on Spring, Summer and Fall semesters. She feels proud for contributing to the UTRGV Hispanic serving activities, by teaching graduated students along the RGV and the U.S., as well as students located in Latin-American countries.

Dr. Herrera was born, raised, and educated in Central Mexico. She earned a Master and PhD degrees in Business Management, at Universidad La Salle and Instituto de Estudios Universitarios Mexico, respectively. She is native of Spanish, beginner of Serbo-Croatian and proficient in English.

Her first steps as a UTRGV Faculty, were joining The Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI) as Diversity and Inclusion Educator and Dream Zone Advocate, and promptly registered to participate in the 2018 & 2019 Third and Fourth International Conference on Border Studies.

Dr. Herrera has published about the competencies in individuals working and living in multicultural and multilingual environments (Herrera & Gonzalez, 2019 - The Competencies in Labor Profile of Mexican Immigrants to the USA.) Her most recent research is focusing on multilingualism, diversity and inclusion competencies in college students participating in a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) program (COIL course recently taught to COBE-UTRGV and Serbian students from the Faculty of Economics, at University of Nis, Serbia.)

Clinical Assistant Professor
Management Department, Robert C. Vackar College of Business & Entrepreneurship
Email: azucena.herrera@utrgv.edu
ECOBE 2.225

Christian Zúñiga, PhD.

Assistant Professor
Phone: (956) 665-2023
Email: christian.zuniga@utrgv.edu
Read More

Christian Zúñiga, PhD.

Dr. Christian E. Zúñiga was born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bilingual & Literacy Studies. She earned her Ph.D. in Bilingual/Bicultural Education at The University of Texas-Austin. Dr. Zúñiga is a bilingual teacher, educator, and researcher who focuses on how bilingual communities of the borderlands understand bilingualism and how these views impact teaching and learning for emerging bilingual student populations.

Assistant Professor
Bilingual & Literacy Studies
Email: christian.zuniga@utrgv.edu
EEDUC 2.630
Phone: (956) 665-2023

David Martínez-Prieto, PhD.

Assistant Professor
Phone: (956) 882-7673
Email: david.martinezprieto@utrgv.edu
Read More

David Martínez-Prieto, PhD.

David Martínez-Prieto is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bilingual and Literacy Studies. He holds a Ph.D. in Culture, Literacy and Language from the University of Texas San Antonio. David teaches classes in Spanish and English to bilingual undergraduate and postgraduate students. As a Mexican (trans)national, David’s research concentrates on the intersection of curricular ideologies regarding neoliberalism, ethnocentrisms, and imperialism in the development of bilingual pre-service teachers.

Assistant Professor
Bilingual & Literacy Studies
Email: david.martinezprieto@utrgv.edu

Phone: (956) 882-7673

Jorge Vidal, ASCE/AEI/M. Arch

Assistant Professor
Phone: (956) 665-3055
Email: jorge.vidal1@utrgv.edu
Read More

Jorge Vidal, ASCE/AEI/M. Arch

Jorge Vidal is an Assistant Professor in Practice at the UTRGV Civil Engineering department, he is a bicultural professional with a passion for teaching and helping students. He has a strong background in Architecture, Engineering and Construction, including facilities design, smart buildings and sustainability. He has over 40 years of experience serving higher education, and corporate and private organizations, both in the US and Mexico.

Mr. Vidal likes to share his knowledge and engage his students through project-based teaching, giving them opportunities to better understand and connect what they learn with “real world” projects as well as helping them meet and network with professionals.

Assistant Professor
Civil Engineering
Email: jorge.vidal1@utrgv.edu
EACSB 1.208
Phone: (956) 665-3055

José Ponce, M.S.

Lecturer III
Phone: (956) 882-5099
Email: jose.ponce@utrgv.edu
Read More

José Ponce, M.S.

Mr. Ponce, a native of Brownsville, TX, was raised across the border, in Matamoros, México. At age 16 he returned to the US to learn English, get his GED diploma, and then attended UT Brownsville as a Computer Science major graduating in the Fall of 2005. In the Fall 2008 he graduated from UT Brownsville with a master’s degree in math. In the Fall 2012, he obtained a second master’s degree in applied math from Iowa State. Mr. Ponce returned to TX to work as an instructor at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi; he finally returned to his native Brownsville to work at UTRGV since its opening in 2015. Currently, Mr. Ponce is a Lecturer III in the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences; he created and started teaching math courses in Spanish and bilingually; he’s also working towards a doctoral degree in Educational Technology from Biose State.
Lecturer III
Mathematical & Statistical Science
Email: jose.ponce@utrgv.edu
BLHSB 1.830
Phone: (956) 882-5099

Mariana Alessandri, PhD.

Associate Professor & Director of the Religious Studies Program
Phone: (956) 665-3024
Email: mariana.alessandri@utrgv.edu
Read More

Mariana Alessandri, PhD.

Dr. Mariana Alessandri is an Associate Professor of Philosophy, Director of the Religious Studies Program, and an affiliate faculty in Mexican-American Studies and Gender and Women’s Studies. She is the co-founder of RGV PUEDE (Rio Grande Valley Parents United for Excellent Dual Education) which advocates for and supports Dual-Language Education in Rio Grande Valley public schools. Her commitment to raising bilingual children comes from being a first-generation Chilean-American born and raised in New York City, and from having spent two pre-kid years living abroad in Mexico City and Salamanca, Spain. Dr. Alessandri thinks best in Spanglish, and give public talks on the issue of language shame in the RGV based on the philosophy of Gloria Anzaldúa.

Associate Professor & Director of the Religious Studies Program
Department of Philosophy
Email: mariana.alessandri@utrgv.edu
ELABS 362
Phone: (956) 665-3024

Michael Whitacre, PhD.

Associate Professor & Program Director
Phone: (956) 665-8767
Email: michael.whitacre@utrgv.edu
Read More

Michael Whitacre, PhD.

Dr. Michael Whitacre holds a degree from The University of Texas A&M Kingsville.  He is the Program Director for the Department of Bilingual and Literacy Studies at the University of Texas  Rio Grande Valley College of P-16 Integration.  He aids in the development programs, bilingual coursework, teaching undergraduate preservice teachers and graduate programs coursework. Dr. Whitacre also taught in the Texas public school system and currently is an Associate Professor He has published several articles on bilingual education, literacy and writing.  Dr. Whitacre teaches pre-service teachers and graduate courses in bilingual education and literacy which include bi-literacy, ESL, bilingual curriculum in the content areas and reading with a combined experience of thirty years. He also has extensive experience in professional development for in-service teachers in the area of bilingual and dual language education.
Associate Professor & Program Director
Department of Bilingual and Literacy Studies
Email: michael.whitacre@utrgv.edu
EEDUC 2.614
Phone: (956) 665-8767

Mirayda Torres-Ávila, PhD.

Lecturer II
Phone: (956) 665-2498
Email: mirayda.torresavila@utrgv.edu
Read More

Mirayda Torres-Ávila, PhD.

Dr. Mirayda Torres-Ávila is a Lecturer II in the Department of Biology, teaching General Biology I and II, Plant Morphology, and Biological Communication. Her different teaching strategies include community engagement, sustainability components, and bilingual science education. She was awarded the 2018 Commitment to Excellence Award UTRGV-Mathematics and Science Academy, and 2019 COS Excellente in Community Engagement. She has contributed to several departmental and university committees as well as an advisor of three student organizations. Her current collaboration in research projects involves transcriptome analysis, bilingual-biology education at the college level, and collaborative online international learning.

Lecturer II
Department of Biology
Email: mirayda.torresavila@utrgv.edu
ESCNE 1.306
Phone: (956) 665-2498

Mònica Clua Losada, PhD.

Professor
Phone: (956) 665-8060
Email: monica.clualosada@utrgv.edu
Read More

Mònica Clua Losada, PhD.

Mònica Clua-Losada is Full Professor in Global Political Economy in the Department of Political Science at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. She is an affiliated faculty in the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. She is the co-editor in chief of the scholarly journal Global Political Economy at Bristol University Press and managing co-editor of the Progress in Political Economy at Manchester University Press. Her research focuses on the contestation, subversion and resistance of labour and other social movements to capitalist relations of domination. She uses a Critical Political Economy approach to study resistance and prefigurative practices in social and labour movements in (authoritarian) neoliberal contexts, in order to create emancipatory knowledge that can subvert and disrupt neoliberal power relations. She has published widely on these issues and her most recent work can be found in Critical Public Health, Comparative European Politics, Globalizations or New Political Economy. She takes pride in being a committed educator to students and a mentor to faculty. She has supervised dozens of MA dissertations/thesis, examined 5 PhD theses and chaired/directed 2 thesis in the Department of Political and Social Sciences at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona. Mònica has experience in multi-lingual higher education environments, and she is fully trilingual (Catalan, Spanish and English).

Professor
Political Science
Email: monica.clualosada@utrgv.edu
ELABN 221
Phone: (956) 665-8060

Nicolás Pereyra, PhD.

Associate Professor
Phone: (956) 665-7392
Email: nicolas.pereyra@utrgv.edu
Read More

Nicolás Pereyra, PhD.

Associate Professor
Physics and Astronomy
Email: nicolas.pereyra@utrgv.edu
ESCNE 3.152
Phone: (956) 665-7392

Remei Capdevila Werning, PhD.

Assistant Professor
Phone: (956) 665-7112
Email: remei.capdevila@utrgv.edu
Read More

Remei Capdevila Werning, PhD.

Remei Capdevila Werning is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy based in the Brownsville Campus. Her expertise is in aesthetics and the philosophy of art, with a particular focus on the philosophy of architecture. Her current research concerns philosophical issues concerning preservation of architecture and the environment, monuments and memorials and intergenerational aesthetics. Dr. Capdevila Werning is also a translator, mainly of philosophical texts in German, English, Catalan, and Spanish. 

At UTRGV, she teaches courses in Spanish or bilingually. She is currently offering the only philosophy course taught exclusively in Spanish. 

Assistant Professor
Department of Philosophy
Email: remei.capdevila@utrgv.edu
BMAIN 1.438
Phone: (956) 665-7112

Ryan M. Bessett, PhD.

Assistant Professor
Phone: (956) 665-3426
Email: ryan.bessett@utrgv.edu
Read More

Ryan M. Bessett, PhD.

Ryan M. Bessett is an Assistant Professor of Hispanic Linguistics and the program coordinator for the Spanish as a Heritage Program at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. His major research interests center around language variation and change, Spanish in contact, bilingualism, and Spanish as a heritage language. He is especially interested in the Spanish spoken along the US–Mexican border and through variationist methodology differentiating contact-induced change from language-internal variation. He has published on language contact and language variation at the US–Mexican border as well as language choice in the US Southwest. He is also the co-creator of the Corpus Bilingüe del Valle (utrgv.edu/cobiva), a sociolinguistic corpus documenting the Spanish and English spoken in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
Assistant Professor
Department of Writing and Language Studies
Email: ryan.bessett@utrgv.edu
ELABS 234
Phone: (956) 665-3426

Sandra I. Musanti, PhD.

Professor & Associate Chair
Phone: (956) 882-5738
Email: sandra.musanti@utrgv.edu
Read More

Sandra I. Musanti, PhD.

Dr. Sandra I. Musanti is a Professor and Associate Chair in the Bilingual and Literacy Studies Department at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. She received her Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico. She was a postdoctoral fellow for the Center for the Mathematics Education of Latinos/as, a project funded by the National Science Foundation. She has over 25 years of experience in teacher education in Argentina and in the United States.  In 2019, Dr. Musanti received the Faculty Excellence Award in Teaching awarded by the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley recognizing her efforts and innovative approaches in bilingual teacher preparation. As a bilingual teacher educator and scholar, her research and practice explore bilingual teacher preparation and development through the lenses of translanguaging, biliteracy, culturally and linguistically sustaining pedagogies, and practice-based approaches in Hispanic serving institutions.  Her latest work aims at conceptualizing a practice-based community engaged pedagogy in HSI teacher preparation documenting the voices and experiences of educators in the Rio Grande Valley, a bilingual, bicultural, and trasnational community. She has published her work in English, Spanish and translanguaging. Her recent publications in include an upcoming book chapter entitled “A veces encuentro más palabras en español”: Taking a Stance towards Translanguaging as a Socially Just Pedagogy for Bilingual Teacher Preparation (King & Tian, 2022). Other articles can be found in Language and Education, Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, NABE Journal of Research and Practice, Bilingual Research Journal, and Action in Teacher Education, among others. Her latest book published by Caslon Publishing Enseñando en el aula bilingüe: Content, Language and Biliteracy (Mercuri & Musanti with Rodriguez) written in Spanish and anchored in a translanguaging pedagogy, its meant is for teachers who dedicate their work to bilingualism, biliteracy, and equity for bilingual learners.

 

Professor & Associate Chair
Department of Bilingual and Literacy Studies
Email: sandra.musanti@utrgv.edu
BMAIN 2.130
Phone: (956) 882-5738
Jump to Top

UTRGV

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • CARES, CRRSAA and ARP Reporting
  • Site Policies
  • Contact UTRGV
  • Required Links
  • Fraud Reporting
  • Senate Bill 18 Reporting
  • UTRGV Careers
  • Clery Act Reports
  • Web Accessibility
  • Mental Health Resources
  • Sexual Misconduct Policy
  • Reporting Sexual Misconduct