Professional Experience

2020-2023Assistant Professor, Muhlenberg College, Department of Media & Communication.

“In the Department of Media & Communication at Muhlenberg College, students and faculty research, critique, and create media of all forms—visual, digital, print, oral, and hybrid forms—and investigate the social, political, economic, and cultural contexts that both shape and are shaped by these converging media. Here, critical thinking meets hands-on experience through engaging coursework, internships in professional environments, experiential and service-learning in local communities and global contexts. Our aim is to foster graduates who are information literate and become information leaders in helping to realize the democratizing potential of media. The department is dedicated to the integration of media analysis and media production for social justice in a liberal arts setting” (from the Departmental mission). I teach these courses at Muhlenberg:

      • COM 231: Documentary Research.
      • COM 372: Race & Representation.
      • COM 381: Latin American Media & Political Communication.
      • COM 387: Bilingual Media in the United States.
2019-2020Lecturer & Alternate Program Director, University of California San Diego, Latin American Studies. Designed and taught LATI 180: “La Tierra Mia” – The 50th Anniversary of San Diego’s Chicano Park, Spring Quarter of 2020. Fulfilled the role of alternate Program Director of the UCSD Latin American Studies Program during the Winter and Spring Quarters of 2020.

For the 2019-2020 academic year, I co-designed and taught a new Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) course, LATI 10: Reading North by South – Latin American Studies and the US Liberation Movements. UCSD undergraduates choose from a list of approved DEI courses offered by departments across campus, and the Latin American Studies Program asked me to develop informational material about LATI 10.

2019Lecturer, University of California San Diego, Department of Education Studies. EDS 118: Adolescent Development and Education. Spring Quarter of 2019.
2016-2018Lecturer, University of California San Diego, Department of Communication. COMM 102DMethods of Media Production Practicum (MMPP) in Child Development: Language and Culture La Clase Mágica.

La Clase Mágica (LCM) emerged from the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition (LCHC) to become a leading site of innovative cross-cultural research focusing on education, bilingualism, second language acquisition, and technology. My responsibilities in teaching the 6-unit LCM practicum course included introducing UCSD undergraduates to the most pertinent features of sociocultural theory while also training them to conduct cross-cultural research with children from two ethnically and linguistically diverse San Diego communities; the first was with St. Leo’s Mission located in the working-class community of La Colonia de Eden Gardens, where an after school program serves a population of bilingual elementary school-age children who are primarily of Mexican heritage. The second LCM community partnership was with the San Pascual Band of Mission Indians (Kumeyaay), where my UCSD undergraduate students supported a Kumeyaay-led program that promoted the recovery of the native Ipai language among elementary-age school children that live on the Reservation. At both sites, UCSD undergraduate researchers interacted with children while learning how to develop and conduct research that was culturally sensitive and theoretically rigorous.

LCM was one of the original models for the UC Links program. UC links “is a network of university and community partners, working together to develop innovative after-school programs. UC Links sites bring underserved P-12 youth together with university students in guided activities that engage their minds and connect them, their communities, and the world around them.” Principal Investigator, Dr. Olga Vásquez.

2016Lecturer, University of California San Diego, Department of Communication. COMM 102C: Practicum in New Media & Community Life – “UCSD Democracy Lab. Principal Investigator, Dr. Angela Booker. Fall Quarter of 2016.
2015Instructor, Associate-In, University of California San Diego, Department of Education Studies. EDS 50: Chancellor’s Associates Scholars Program (CASP) Introductory Course. Fall Quarter of 2015.
2014-2015Instructor, Associate-In, University of California San Diego, Department of Communication. COMM 102D/HDP 135: Practicum in Child Development: Language & Culture – “La Clase Mágica. Principal Investigator, Dr. Olga Vásquez. Fall & Spring Quarter of 2014-15.
2014Videographer, eBook The Dragon in the Cliff: A Novel by Sheila Cole, New York: FlickerLab, 2014. <http://FlickerLab.com>.
2008-2014Teaching Assistant, University of California San Diego. Duties included leading discussion sections, lesson planning, keeping office hours, attending staff meetings, and grading.

– COMM 10: Introduction to Communication, Fall Quarters of 2010 & 2013, Summer 2014.

COMM 100C: Social Formations, Spring Quarter of 2014.

– Lab Instructor/ Project Director for COMT 175 (COMM 121): Practicum in Community Based Communication, Fall & Winter Quarter of 2011.

– Lab Instructor for COMM 101 (COGN 22): Methods of Media Production Lab, Spring Quarter of 2011.

COMM 168 (COHI 114): Bilingual Communication, Winter Quarter of 2011.

Dimensions of Culture (DOC), the three-quarter undergraduate writing program at Thurgood Marshall College, 2008-09 academic year.

2013Project Director, University of California San Diego, Department of Communication. Directed a yearlong effort to mark the 30th anniversary of the UCSD Department of Communication, ending with a 3-day celebration entitled The Future of Communication: Questions of Power, Publics, & the New Media Environment.
2011-2012Instructor & Project Director, University of California San Diego, UCSD Extension, the Department of Communication, and the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition. I worked with Professor Michael Cole to design and implement the UCSD Community Stations Initiative in 2011 and 2012. This was an experimental collaboration between the  Departments of Communication, UCSD Extension, Visual Arts, and the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2), focused on exploring the use of digital media technologies to support geographically distributed urban education. I directed the community-centered course on digital media production, cross-listed on the main campus with Advanced Topics in Communication, Media Methods – COMT 175: Practicum in Community Based Communication.
2011-2012Cinematographer, UC San Diego Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition. Beyond the Fifth Dimension: University-Community Partnerships in Learning. <http://youtu.be/NOaD9llv7fM>. Run time: 54:50.
2010Assistant Coordinator, University of California San Diego, Department of Communication. COMT 175A: Advanced Topics in Community Media Production, The History of Chicano Park. Assisted Professors Zeinabu Davis and Olga Vásquez in this media production course documenting the 40th anniversary of Chicano Park in San Diego.
1996-2007Teacher, Memorial Academy of Learning and Technology. Taught 9th grade World History, Language Arts, and English as a Second Language (ESL). During this 11-year period, I served as teacher’s union representative, Secretary of the PTA and the Parent Inclusion and Advocacy Committee, Yearbook Teacher/Advisor, Deputy Chair of the school Management Team, MEChA Club Advisor, school representative to the California Charter School Consortium, a leading member of the Technology Team, Department Chair for Social Studies, Supervising (Master) Teacher for six Student Teachers from SDSU PLC Department, and presenter at numerous education and Ed-Tech conferences.
1995-1996Teacher, Sweetwater Union High School. Taught 9th grade World History, 11th-grade Economics, and Peer Counseling.
1994Mentor, UCSD Partners in Learning (PAL) program connects TEP students at UCSD with elementary schools in Southeast San Diego.
1992–1994Teaching Assistant, Sherman Elementary & Memorial Academy.
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