Networks
Villenas, Sofia A
Cornell Faculty Member
Positions
- Associate Professor, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), Cornell University
- Academic Director, Latino Studies Program, College of Arts and Sciences
- Associate Professor, Anthropology (ANTHR), College of Arts and Sciences
My research interests encompass the areas of multicultural education, Latino education, ethnography, educational anthropology and cultural studies. I am a former Spanish bilingual elementary school teacher and adult educator. Currently as a teacher educator and researcher, I am engaged with the question of how culture, race, gender, socio-economic status and language intersect to shape youths` and parents` experiences in and out of school. I have been interested in documenting the knowledge, values, beliefs and resources of diverse families and communities in order to learn, among other things, how educators may create bridges between the many different sites of teaching and learning. My overall focus on issues of equity, social justice and diversity in education have informed three current research projects. They include a qualitative study of how diverse families and youths experience inclusion and exclusion in a college town school district, an ongoing study of how immigrant Latino parents navigate parenting, schooling and sites of adult learning in new Latino destinations, and a conceptual project involving the question of how to think through educational problems with the knowledge and theories emanating from communities of color. Specifically, I am engaged in perceiving issues of identity, pedagogy and research methodology in education through U.S. women of color and latina/o cultural studies perspectives. My objectives are two-fold: 1) to conduct research that is local and collaborative towards efforts for inclusive, culturally responsive and socially just education, and 2) to expand theoretical and conceptual lenses in multicultural and Latina/o education to include diverse sites of theory-making.
Research Areas
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Affiliations
other Cornell affiliations
Research
research overview
- My research interests encompass the areas of multicultural education, Latino education, ethnography, educational anthropology and cultural studies. I am a former Spanish bilingual elementary school teacher and adult educator. Currently as a teacher educator and researcher, I am engaged with the question of how culture, race, gender, socio-economic status and language intersect to shape youths` and parents` experiences in and out of school. I have been interested in documenting the knowledge, values, beliefs and resources of diverse families and communities in order to learn, among other things, how educators may create bridges between the many different sites of teaching and learning. My overall focus on issues of equity, social justice and diversity in education have informed three current research projects. They include a qualitative study of how diverse families and youths experience inclusion and exclusion in a college town school district, an ongoing study of how immigrant Latino parents navigate parenting, schooling and sites of adult learning in new Latino destinations, and a conceptual project involving the question of how to think through educational problems with the knowledge and theories emanating from communities of color. Specifically, I am engaged in perceiving issues of identity, pedagogy and research methodology in education through U.S. women of color and latina/o cultural studies perspectives. My objectives are two-fold: 1) to conduct research that is local and collaborative towards efforts for inclusive, culturally responsive and socially just education, and 2) to expand theoretical and conceptual lenses in multicultural and Latina/o education to include diverse sites of theory-making.
research activities
keywords
- Chicana/Latina feminist cultural studies and education
- Ethnography of race, class and schooling
- Latino family education
submitted impact statement
Publications
individual publications
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academic article
- Knowing and unknowing transnational Latinos lives in teacher education: At the intersection of Educational Research and the Latino humanities. Special Issue - Transnationalism, Latinos and Education. The High School Journal. 92:129-136. 2009
- Diaspora and the Anthropology of Latino Education: Challenges, Affinities, and Intersections. Anthropology and Education Quarterly. 38:419-425. 2007
- Latina Feminist Postcolonialities: Perspectives on Un/tracking Educational Actors’ Interventions. The International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. 19:659-672. 2006
- Latina literacies in convivencia: Communal spaces of teaching and learning. Anthropology and Education Quarterly. 36:273-277. 2005
- Indigenous education in the Americas: Diasporic identities, epistemologies, and postcolonial spaces. Educational Studies: A Journal of the American Educational Studies Association. 34:143-146. 2003
- Introduction – Chicana/Mexicana feminist pedagogies: Consejos, respeto, y educación in everyday life. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. 14:595-602. 2001
- Latina mothers and small-town racisms: Creating narratives of dignity and moral education in North Carolina. Anthropology and Education Quarterly. 32:3-28. 2001
- To valerse por si misma between race, capitalism, and patriarchy: Latina mother/daughter pedagogies in North Carolina. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. 14:671-687. 2001
- Noises in the attic: The legacy of academic expectations. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. 30:429-446. 2000
- Other encounters: Dances with whiteness in multicultural education. Educational Theory. 50:255-273. 2000
- Critical race theory and ethnographies challenging the stereotypes: Latino families, schooling, resilience and resistance. Curriculum Inquiry. 29:413-445. 1999
- The colonizer/colonized Chicana ethnographer: Identity, marginalization, and co-optation in the field. Harvard Educational Review. 66:711-731. 1996
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article
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chapter
- Chicano/Latino critical ethnography of education: Cultural studies of youths, families & communities. Chicano school failure and success: Past, present and future, 3rd edition. 2010
- History, theory and methodology: An introduction . Handbook of Latinos and Education: Research, Theory and Practice. 3-7. 2010
- The colonized/colonizer Chicana ethnographer: Identity, marginalization and cooptation in the field. Qualitative educational research: Readings in reflexive methodology and transformational practice. 345-362. 2010
- Thinking Latino education with and from Chicana/Latina feminist cultural studies: Emerging pathways, decolonial possibilities. . Handbook of Cultural Politics in Education. 451-476. 2010
- Chicanas/Latinas building bridges: Education and Chicana/Latina feminista perspectives. Chicana/Latina education in everyday life: Feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology. 1-9. 2006
- Latina mothers and mature women: Pedagogies of resilience. Chicana/Latina education in everyday life: Feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology. 143-145. 2006
- Pedagogical moments in the borderlands: Latina mothers and daughters teaching and learning. Chicana/Latina education in everyday life: Feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology. 147-159. 2006
- Between the telling and the told: Latina mothers negotiating education in new borderlands. Narrative and experience in multicultural education. 71-91. 2005
- Chicano/Latino critical ethnography of education: Cultural productions from la frontera. Chicano school failure and success: Past, present and future. 195-226. 2002
- Reinventing educación in new Latino communities: Pedagogies of change and continuity in North Carolina. Education in the new Latino Diaspora: Policy and the politics of identity. 17-35. 2002
- Merrit Elementary School. The kids got smarter: James Comer’s School Development program and school success. 2000
- Teachers’ attitudes towards ESL students - Teaching notes. Preparing teachers for inclusive education: Case pedagogies and curricula for teacher educators. 139-148. 2000
- The colonizer/colonized Chicana ethnographer: Identity, marginalization, and co-optation in the field. Acts of inquiry in qualitative research. 75-93. 2000
- This ethnography called my back: Writings of the exotic gaze, “othering” Latina, and recuperating Xicanisma. Working the ruins: Poststructural feminist theory and methods in education. 74-95. 2000
- Critical race theory and praxis: Chicana(o)/Latino(a) and Navajo struggles for dignity, educational equity and social justice. Race is ... race isn’t: Critical race theory and qualitative studies in education. 31-52. 1999
- The colonizer/colonized Chicana ethnographer: Identity, marginalization, and co-optation in the field. Minding women: Reshaping the educational realm. 389-410. 1998
- The colonizer/colonized Chicana ethnographer: Identity, marginalization, and co-optation in the field. Contemporary feminist theory: A text/reader. 1998
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report
- Handbook of Latinos and Education: Theory, Research and Practice 2010
- Chicana/Latina education in everyday life: Feminista perspectives on pedagogy and epistemology 2006
featured in archived article
Teaching
teaching overview
- Diversity in the Classroom, Multiculturalism and Education, Educational Anthropology
teaching activities
- ANTHR-4910: Independent Study: Undergrad I - Spring 2013
- ANTHR-4920: Independent Study: Undergrad II - Spring 2013
- ANTHR-7910: Independent Study: Grad I - Spring 2013
- ANTHR-7920: Independent Study: Grad II - Spring 2013
- ANTHR-7930: Independent Study: Grad III - Spring 2013
- EDUC-4200: Field Experience - Spring 2013
- EDUC-8900: Master's Level Thesis Research - Spring 2013
- EDUC-9900: Doctoral-Level Thesis Research - Spring 2013
- ANTHR-4910: Independent Study: Undergrad I - Fall 2012
- ANTHR-7910: Independent Study: Grad I - Fall 2012
- ANTHR-7920: Independent Study: Grad II - Fall 2012
- ANTHR-7930: Independent Study: Grad III - Fall 2012
- AMST-3405: Multicultural Issues in Education - Spring 2012
- ANTHR-3405: Multicultural Issues in Education - Spring 2012
- ANTHR-4910: Independent Study: Undergrad I - Spring 2012
- ANTHR-4920: Independent Study: Undergrad II - Spring 2012
- ANTHR-7910: Independent Study: Grad I - Spring 2012
- ANTHR-7920: Independent Study: Grad II - Spring 2012
- ANTHR-7930: Independent Study: Grad III - Spring 2012
- EDUC-3405: Multicultural Issues in Education - Spring 2012
- EDUC-4200: Field Experience - Spring 2012
- EDUC-6200: Internship In Education - Spring 2012
- EDUC-6970: Graduate Individual Study in Education - Spring 2012
- EDUC-6980: Graduate Supervised Teaching in Education - Spring 2012
- EDUC-7000: Directed Readings - Spring 2012
- EDUC-7010: Empirical Research - Spring 2012
- EDUC-7020: Practicum - Spring 2012
- EDUC-8900: Master's Level Thesis Research - Spring 2012
- EDUC-9900: Doctoral-Level Thesis Research - Spring 2012
- LSP-3405: Multicultural Issues in Education - Spring 2012
- LSP-4210: Undergraduate Independent Study - Spring 2012
- LSP-6210: Graduate Student Independent Study - Spring 2012
- ANTHR-4402: Anthropology of Education - Fall 2011
- ANTHR-4910: Independent Study: Undergrad I - Fall 2011
- ANTHR-7402: Anthropology of Education - Fall 2011
- ANTHR-7910: Independent Study: Grad I - Fall 2011
- ANTHR-7920: Independent Study: Grad II - Fall 2011
- ANTHR-7930: Independent Study: Grad III - Fall 2011
- EDUC-4200: Field Experience - Fall 2011
- EDUC-4402: Anthropology of Education - Fall 2011
- EDUC-6200: Internship In Education - Fall 2011
- EDUC-6980: Graduate Supervised Teaching Education - Fall 2011
- EDUC-7000: Directed Readings - Fall 2011
- EDUC-7010: Empirical Research - Fall 2011
- EDUC-7020: Practicum - Fall 2011
- EDUC-7402: Anthropology of Education - Fall 2011
- EDUC-8900: Master's-Level Thesis Research - Fall 2011
- EDUC-9900: Doctoral-Level Thesis Research - Fall 2011
- LSP-4210: Undergraduate Independent Study - Fall 2011
- LSP-4402: Anthropology of Education - Fall 2011
- LSP-6210: Graduate Student Independent Study - Fall 2011
- LSP-7402: Anthropology of Education - Fall 2011
Service
service to the profession
- American Educational Studies Association Member 1992 -
- American Educational Studies Association Officer, Vice President 2010
- Ad hoc Committee on bylaws for AEQ journal, Council on Anthropology and Education of the American Anthropological Association Committee Member - 2009
- Bowling Green University Candidate Reviewer for Promotion and Tenure - 2008
- Freeman Butts Lecture Selection Committee, American Educational Studies Association Committee Member - 2008
- Nominations Committee, Council on Anthropology and Education of the American Anthropological Association Committee Member - 2008
- Trinity College Candidate Reviewer for Promotion and Tenure - 2008
- UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA Candidate Reviewer for Promotion and Tenure - 2008
- UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA Candidate Reviewer for Promotion and Tenure - 2008
- UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN Candidate Reviewer for Promotion and Tenure - 2008
- University of El Paso, Texas Candidate Reviewer for Promotion and Tenure - 2008
- American Anthropological Association Committee Member 2008
- University of Texas, San Antonio Candidate Reviewer for Promotion and Tenure - 2007
- Graduate Studies Curriculum Committee, University of Texas at Austin Committee Member 2004 - 2005
- Executive Council, University of Texas at Austin Elected Member 2003 - 2005
- Foreign Language Graduate Studies Committee, University of Texas at Austin Committee Member 2003 - 2005
- Council on Anthropology and Education of the American Anthropological Association Elected Member at Large 2002 - 2005
- Journal of Latinos and Education/AERA Henry T. Trueba Award for Life Time Achievement in Education Committee Committee Member - 2005
- Nominations Committee, Council on Anthropology and Education of the American Anthropological Association Chairperson - 2005
- UNIVERSITY OF IOWA Candidate Reviewer for Promotion and Tenure - 2005
- UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN New Faculty Mentor - 2005
- University of New Orleans, Baton Rouge Candidate Reviewer for Promotion and Tenure - 2005
- Bilingual Education Search Committee, University of Texas at Austin Co-Chair - 2004
- Education Committee, League of United Latin American Citizens Volunteer/Participant - 2004
- Foreign Language Graduate Studies Committee, University of Texas at Austin Officer, Secretary - 2004
- Social Studies Search Committee, University of Texas at Austin Committee Member - 2004
- Multicultural Education Search Committee, University of Utah Co-Chair - 2001
- Outstanding Dissertation Award Committee, Council on Anthropology and Education of the American Anthropological Association Committee Member - 2001
- Executive Council. American Educational Studies Association (AESA) Elected Member 1997 - 2000
- ECS Central Committee, University of Utah Committee Member - 2000
- ECS Search Committee, University of Utah Chairperson - 2000
- ESL Endorsement Committee, University of Utah Committee Member - 2000
- University Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Committee, University of Utah Committee Member 1998 - 1999
- Distance Education ESL Endorsement Consortium, Salt Lake City Committee Member 1997 - 1999
- Committee on Spanish Speaking Concerns. Council on Anthropology and Education of the American Anthropological Association Co-Chair 1997 - 1998
- Utah Coalition de La Raza, Education Ad Hoc Committee Committee Member 1997 - 1998
- Chicano/a Studies/Ethnic Studies Vision & Curriculum Committee, University of Utah Committee Member 1996 - 1998
- R. Freeman Butts Lecture Committee, AESA Chairperson - 1998
- The English only debate, Chicano Awareness. The Ethnic Studies Program Moderator - 1998
- ESL Taskforce, University of Utah Committee Member 1996 - 1997
- American Indian Studies/Multicultural Education Search, University of Utah Committee Member - 1997
- Qualitative Methods Course Ad Hoc Committee, University of Utah Committee Member - 1997
- R. Freeman Butts Lecture Committee, Nominating Committee, AESA Committee Member - 1997
- Program Review Committee, AESA Committee Member - 1996
- Social Studies/Multicultural/Bilingual Search Committee, University of Utah Committee Member - 1996
reviewer or editor for
Background
education and training
- Ph.D. in, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 1996
- M.A. in Educational Foundations, California State University Los Angeles 1993
- B.A. in Latin American Studies, University of California Los Angeles 1990
awards and honors
- 2006 Critic’s Choice Award, 2006
- School of Education Distinguished Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2002
- Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2001-2002, 2001
- Junior Fellow, 2000-2002, 2000
- Ira J. Gordon Graduate Fellowship, $750, 1996
- Spencer Dissertation Fellowship for Research Related to Education, 1995-1996, 1995
- Honors in Doctoral Examinations, 1995
- Co-Recipient: Small Grants Competition Award For Innovative Research, 1994-1995, 1994
- Forgivable Loan/Doctoral Incentive Award, 1994-1996, 1994
- Recipient: J. Minor Gwynn Award, $2000, 1993-1994, 1993
- Critics Choice Award for Handbook of Latinos and Education: Theory, Research & Practice (co-editor)
Other
college
- CALS
research keyword
- Chicana/Latina feminist cultural studies and education
- Ethnography of race, class and schooling
- Latino family education
name prefix
- Dr.