Bio

I am currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Learning and Instruction at The University at Buffalo. I earned my PhD in Foundations of Education at the University of South Carolina in 2020 and consider my academic home to be in Foundations. As such, I (unsurprisingly) embrace an interdisciplinary approach to research and teaching. My research interests broadly include Latinx teacher identity and subjectivity, particularly in the U.S. South, Social Studies teaching with an emphasis on Latinx history, and teacher education. I am increasingly interesting in using (and developing) post-structural, post-humanist, and (relational) spatial theories to understand how knowledge about people, groups, and things develops (and it used).

My work has appeared in journals such as Theory and Research in Urban Education, Educational Studies, Latino Studies, Educational Policy, Urban Review, Journal of Latinos and Education, Current Issues in Comparative Education, and The Middle Grades Review. I am a research fellow with the Latinx Research Center at Santa Clara University. I was the recipient of the AERA's Latino/a/x Research Issues SIG Best Dissertation award, a Spencer Dissertation Fellowship, a Southern Regional Education Board Doctoral Fellowship, and the 2018 Doctoral Student of the Year in Educational Studies at the University of South Carolina. I am also excited to start as the Communication Director for the American Education Studies Association in Fall 2021.

I was previously a middle school teacher for 11 years (and am deeply interested in diffusing this ridiculous binary of theory and practice). I was proudly born and raised in the Central Valley, am the eldest of 9 brothers and sisters, and now dad to three girls. I enjoy spending my free time with my family. I am truly lucky to share life with an amazing partner. I also am the oldest of nine siblings (no twins!). I like to read, write, run, cook, watch baseball (go Giants), and collect 1960s Jamaican vinyl. I love the water, especially when I am in the ocean looking for another wave to fall down on. I have an interest in growing beards.

I credit a rasquache, working class, Chicanx, where-there-is-a-will-there-is-a-way, underdog scrappiness for whatever success I have achieved thus far and am forever thankful for the many people, places, mentors, and supports who make this journey possible. For this reason I take seriously my privilege and opportunity to provide support and guidance to other students, teachers, and community members.

You can contact me at tmonreal42@gmail.com