I was born in Rosario, Argentina. I received my MA in TESOL and PhD in Spanish (Linguistics track) from Penn State University. At present, I am Associate Professor in Education in the School of Education at the University of Nottingham in the United Kingdom. I also serve as the editor of the book series Multiliteracies and Second Language Education (Routledge) and co-editor-in-chief of the journal Diversity & Inclusion Research (Wiley). 

My current research areas include Generative AI in higher education and assessment; AI literacy; multiliteracies-based instruction (Learning by Design); teacher education; multimodal social semiotics and cultural artefacts (Mexican lotería and taco trucks in the United States). I am also involved in the development and implementation of inclusive open educational resources. While at Texas A&M University, I worked as an ADVANCE Administrative Fellow in the Office for Diversity. I have also directed/coordinated six Spanish and Portuguese basic language programs in public and private universities in the United States and Canada.

Throughout my career, I have published articles on bilingualism, L2 and HL pedagogy, Learning by Design, Generative AI in higher education, multimodal social semiotics, and teacher cognition and practice in a variety of peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes. I am the main author of the first Canadian edition of Puntos de partida, and of the OER L2 Spanish textbooks Trayectos (published by COERLL) and Introducción a la escritura (Pressbooks). 

Here are my other books: 

PUBLISHED

1. Zapata, G. C. (Ed.) (2025). Generative AI technologies, multiliteracies, and language education. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003531685

2. Zapata, G. C., Kalantzis, M., & Cope, B. (Eds.) (2023). Towards education justice: Literacy, multiliteracies, and the design of social futures. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003349662  

3. Zapata, G. C. (2022). Learning by Design and second language teaching: Theory, research, and practice. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003106258  

Open access chapters:

a. Zapata, G. C. (2022). Chapter 1: Introduction to Learning by Design. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Available at https://bit.ly/Zapata2022Chap1. 

b. Zapata, G. C. (2022). Chapter 2: Learning by Design and second language education. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Available at https://bit.ly/Zapata2022Chap2. 

c. Zapata, G. C. (2022). Chapter 3: Learning by Design and second language teaching practices. Licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Available at https://bit.ly/Zapata2022Chap3. 

4. Kalantzis, M., Cope, B., & Zapata, G. C. (2019). Las alfabetizaciones múltiples: Teoría y práctica [Multiliteracies: Theory and practice]. Octaedro. Google book preview: http://bit.ly/alfabetizaciones. 

5. Zapata, G. C., & Lacorte, M. (Eds.) (2018). Multiliteracies pedagogy and language learning: Teaching Spanish to heritage speakers. Palgrave Macmillan. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-3-319-63103-5.pdf 

IN PRESS

Zapata, G. C., Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (in press). Literacies in the age of AI: Teaching and learning in the digital era. Wiley. Expected publication date: January 2026. 

I received my certification as ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview Tester in Spanish in 2014. I have also served as an ACTFL mentor and the Vice-Chair, Chair, and Past-Chair of ACTFL’s Spanish for Heritage Learners Special Interest Group. In 2019, I was awarded the SGA Open Education Champion Award by the Student Government Association at Texas A&M University. I am also a CIMER Entering Mentoring Trained Facilitator, and completed the certification program in Diversity and Inclusion at Cornell University in 2021. 

At present, I am working on a special issue on Generative AI technologies in education for Ubiquitous Learning: An International Journal  (co-edited with John Jones). 

All the photos you see are mine, and they reflect my love for nature and my passion for photography.  All photos are licensed CC-BY SA 4.0.