NCTEAR 2024 CONFERENCE:
Literacy Research that Matters
February 23-25, 2024
University of Texas at Austin
Featured Keynote Speakers
Literacy Research that Matters
February 23-25, 2024
University of Texas at Austin
Featured Keynote Speakers
Friday, February 23, 2024 - Conference Opening Celebration
Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, Ph.D., a graduate of NYU and Columbia University, is a Professor of English Education at Teachers College, Columbia University. Yolanda is a sought-after speaker on educational equity issues, author of numerous academic articles, co-editor of four books, and co-author of the multiple award-winning book Advancing Racial Literacies in Teacher Education: Activism for Equity in Digital Spaces where she examines her concept of Archeology of Self™ in education. At Teachers College, she is founder of the Racial Literacy Roundtables Series where for 15 years, national scholars, teachers, and students facilitate conversations around race and other issues involving diversity. Yolanda has appeared in several documentaries including Spike Lee’s “2 Fists Up: We Gon’ Be Alright” (2016), a documentary about the Black Lives Matter movement and the campus protests at Mizzou. Her first full-length collection of poetry, Love from the Vortex & Other Poems, was published in March 2020. Her sophomore book of poetry, The Peace Chronicles, was published in July, 2021. Showcasing the interdisciplinary nature of her work, Yolanda's poetry books have gained recognition and been embraced by jazz and avant-garde classical musicians. Beyond her artistic pursuits, Dr. Sealey-Ruiz's Archeology of Self™theory and practice concept has been presented to thousands of educators and educational leaders both within the United States and other countries.
Carmen Tafolla was born and raised in the West-Side barrios of San Antonio, where the stereotypes were so extreme and the educational expectations so low that her junior high school principal “complimented” her by telling her she had potential to make it all the way INTO high school. She DID make it into high school, graduated, then college, then completed a Masters and then a PhD degree.
Dr. Tafolla is the author of more than 40 books, ranging from collections of poetry and short stories to children’s books to historical non-fiction, essays, and a novel-in-verse. Her work has appeared in more than 400 anthologies, readers, magazines, and textbooks from pre-K to graduate level.
In 2012, Mayor Julian Castro named her as the first City Poet Laureate of San Antonio, and in 2015 she became the State Poet Laureate of Texas. In 2018, she was the first Latina elected President of the Texas Institute of Letters.
Tafolla has performed her one-woman show throughout the Americas, Europe, and New Zealand. She has received numerous recognitions including the Américas Award, two Tomás Rivera Awards, six International Latino Book Awards, a Charlotte Zolotow for best picture book writing, the Art of Peace Award, Top Ten Books for Babies by the Fred Rogers Corporation, and recognition by the National Association of Chicana and Chicano Studies for work which “gives voice to the peoples and cultures of this land.” A Professor Emeritus of Bicultural Bilingual Studies at UTSA, Tafolla credits the community around her with her inspiration and her training, and says her works are inspired by “ancestors whispering over my shoulder.” Tafolla is currently at work on the full adult biography of 1930s civil rights leader Emma Tenayuca.
Dr. Tafolla is the author of more than 40 books, ranging from collections of poetry and short stories to children’s books to historical non-fiction, essays, and a novel-in-verse. Her work has appeared in more than 400 anthologies, readers, magazines, and textbooks from pre-K to graduate level.
In 2012, Mayor Julian Castro named her as the first City Poet Laureate of San Antonio, and in 2015 she became the State Poet Laureate of Texas. In 2018, she was the first Latina elected President of the Texas Institute of Letters.
Tafolla has performed her one-woman show throughout the Americas, Europe, and New Zealand. She has received numerous recognitions including the Américas Award, two Tomás Rivera Awards, six International Latino Book Awards, a Charlotte Zolotow for best picture book writing, the Art of Peace Award, Top Ten Books for Babies by the Fred Rogers Corporation, and recognition by the National Association of Chicana and Chicano Studies for work which “gives voice to the peoples and cultures of this land.” A Professor Emeritus of Bicultural Bilingual Studies at UTSA, Tafolla credits the community around her with her inspiration and her training, and says her works are inspired by “ancestors whispering over my shoulder.” Tafolla is currently at work on the full adult biography of 1930s civil rights leader Emma Tenayuca.
Saturday, February 24, 2024
Cati de los Ríos, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Adolescent Literacy and Bi/Multilingual Education at UC Berkeley’s School of Education. She taught Spanish, English language development (ELD), and Ethnic Studies in Massachusetts and California public schools. Her scholarship draws from ethnographic and participatory methodologies to 1) explore the nexus of ethnic studies curricula and civic literacies; and 2) examine how Latinx bi/multilingual youth build off of intergenerational cultural legacies while innovating new forms of creative political expression and translingual practices. de los Rios’s research has been supported by The National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation, National Academies of Science/Ford Foundation, UC Berkeley’s Center for Democracy and Organizing, and National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Cultivating New Voices Fellowship. Some of her recent publications can be found in Applied Linguistics, Reading Research Quarterly, Harvard Educational Review, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, and Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies.
Sunday, February 25, 2024
Patricia Sánchez, Ph.D., is a Professor and Chair in the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies at UTSA. She is a 2017 recipient of the Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award (ROTA), which is given for excellence in undergraduate teaching; the award is the highest teaching honor in the University of Texas System. Dr. Sánchez—a first-generation college student—was born and raised along the El Paso-Juárez border in a bilingual Mexican immigrant home. She received her Ph.D. from UC Berkeley in 2004. Prior to becoming an academic, she was a second-grade bilingual teacher as well as an admissions officer at a private university, and a non-profit community worker. In her research, Dr. Sánchez examines issues related to immigrant education, Latinx transnationalism, and the preparation of bilingual teachers. She has over 50 research publications, including a co-edited, forthcoming book on Mexican migration, In Search of Hope and Home: Mexican Immigrants in the Trinational NAFTA Context.
Closing Keynote
Closing Keynote
Crystal Chen Lee is an associate professor of English Education at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC. Her research lies at the nexus of literacy, teacher education, community engagement, and underserved youth, especially youth from immigrant and refugee backgrounds. Crystal is the founder and director of The Literacy and Community Initiative, a university-community partnership that amplifies youth voices through student publication, advocacy, and leadership. She was a high school ELA teacher in New Jersey and received her Ed.D. from Teachers College, Columbia University. Crystal is a child of immigrant parents from Taiwan, and she is passionate about learning alongside youth and amplifying their stories.