Dr. Arturo Nevárez is a scholar of race and racism in K-12 educational contexts, a teacher educator and a former K-12 teacher who taught middle-school and high-school English in South Central Los Angeles and Hawthorne, CA. He is currently an Assistant Professor in Liberal Studies at California State University Stanislaus. 

Dr. Nevarez' most recent ethnographic research explores the racial literacies of Latinx/e/Chicanx/e youth and the racial-justice praxis of their Ethnic Studies teachers. Dr. Nevárez has published articles in the AERA's Review of Research in Education,  Journal of Teacher Education, and in Race, Ethnicity & Education. He is the recipient of the Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship (2020), the Cultivating New Voices (CNV) National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Fellowship (2020), and was awarded AERA’s Division K Outstanding Dissertation Award (2022). 

Dr.  Nevárez earned a double B.A. in English and Psychology from the University of Southern California, an M.A. in English with an emphasis in American Literature from the University of Texas at Austin and a Ph.D. in Education, Society and Culture from the University of California Riverside's School of Education (SOE). Dr. Nevárez is a proud first generation college graduate who hails from South Gate, a working class, Latinx/e community in South East Los Angeles, CA. 

Refereed Journal Articles

Nevárez, A. (Submitted). “It’s more than teaching. We’re fighting to live more dignified lives”: Ethnic studies teachers of color teaching for racial justice in an urban school.

Nevárez, D. M., Nevárez, A. & Soodjinda, D. (2025). In it for the long run: Teacher educators of color creating kinetic counterspaces for wellness. International Journal of Teacher Leadership. 

Nevárez, A. & Nevárez, D. M. (2025). “But is their kindness rooted in our liberation?” Teacher educators of color reimagining critical pedagogy through a critical funds of caring approach. International Journal of Critical Pedagogy. 

Nevárez, A. (2023). Racial literacy development (RLD) via ethnic studies: Latinx youth speaking back to and resisting racism. Race, Ethnicity and Education.

*Kohli, R., Dover, A., Jayakumar, U., Lee, D., Henning, N., Comeaux, E., Nevárez, A., Hipolito, E., Carreno Cortez, A., Vizcarra, M. (2021). Centering the well-being of teacher candidates of color: Towards a healthy racial climate in teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education.

Kohli, R., Nevárez, A. & Arteaga, N. (2018). Public pedagogy for racial justice teaching: Supporting the racial literacy development of teachers of color. The Assembly Journal.

Kohli, R., Pizarro, M. & Nevárez, A. (2017). The ‘new racism’ of k-12 schools: Centering critical research on racism. Review of Research in Education, 2017 volume.    

*See Honors & Awards below

Book Chapters

Nevárez, A. (In Press, 2025). Racial literacies in and through ethnic studies. In M. Zavala (Ed.), High School Ethnic Studies: A Resource Book.

Nevárez, A. (In Press, 2025). Critical racial literacy for educators. In J. Bennett & R. Milner (Eds.), Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Social Justice in Education, Volume 6: Literacy, Youth, and Culture.

Nevárez, D. M. and Nevárez, A. (2025). Chicanx faculty and students navigating whitestream institutions through reciprocal authentic care. In L. Byfield & J. Kaya (Eds.), Immigration, Identity, and Inclusion in the Lives of Faculty of Color: Stories of Hope and Perseverance in Higher Education. Palgrave MacMillian.

Nevárez, A. (2022). Learning to name and disrupt racism: Supporting Latinx students’ racial literacies in ethnic studies classrooms. National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Special Issue Series, Volume 2: Sociopolitical and Sociocultural Contexts for Youth.

Kohli, R., & Nevárez, A. (In Press, 2021). Teachers of color/Diversity in the teaching force. In J. Bennett & R. Milner (Eds.), Bloomsbury Encyclopedia for Social Justice in Education. Volume 4: Teaching and Teacher Education.

Rodriguez, L.F. & Nevárez, A. (2021). Reclaiming our excellence. In J. Cammarota (Ed.), Postcolonial Studies in Education: Liberatory Practices for Learning, (pp.111-138). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. 

Public Scholarship

Kohli, R., Jayakumar, U., Nevárez, A., Carreno-Cortez, A., & Ott, C. (2021). CTERIN Practice Brief: Beyond Diversity Recruitment: Towards A Healthy Racial Climate in Teacher Education Programs. 

https://cterin.ucop.edu/resources/cterin-briefs/practice- briefs/practice-brief-vol1no1-beyond-diversity-recruitment-kohli.html

*2023- Journal of Teacher Education, Article of the Year Award for Centering the well-being of teacher candidates of color: Towards a healthy racial climate in teacher education.

2022-2023 AAHHE Faculty Fellow, American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education, Faculty Fellowship Program (FFP)

2022- AERA Division K, Outstanding Dissertation Award, American Educational Research Association (AERA)

2021- BranchEd Emerging Research Fellow, Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity 

2020- Ford Dissertation Fellowship, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, Medicine & Ford Fellowship Program  

2020- Cultivating New Voices Among Scholars of Color Fellowship, National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)

2019- Richard R. Kokes Endowed Fellowship Fund

2019- Educating Teacher Educators (ETE) Fellow, California Teacher Education Research and Improvement Network (CTERIN), University of California, Office of the President

2018- Graduate Research Mentorship Fellowship, University of California Riverside, Graduate Division                      

2017- Flora Ida Ortiz Endowed Scholarship                        

2016- AAHHE Graduate Student Fellow, American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education, Graduate Student Fellowship Program (GSFP)

2015- Chancellor’s Distinguished Fellowship, UCR Graduate Division            

2013- Substitute Teacher of the Year for the State of California, Kelly Services Inc.              

2011-University of Texas English Diversity Fellowship, University of Texas at Austin, English Department   

2005- Renaissance Honors Award, University of Southern California                                                                                     

2000- 2005 Gates Millennium Scholar (Inaugural class), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (fully funded)

Inside UCR: School of Education Dissertation Wins Prestigious Award 

Making a Difference by Teaching Future Teachers: CSU Stan University News Highlight 

School of Education authors recognized for work to improve racial climate in teacher education programs