亚历克斯Mejia

Latino/a/x engineering 学生’ Conocimiento: La facultad and seeing deeper realities 表面现象

摘要

As a response to the (in)actions to provide equitable engineering 教育 to Latinos/as/xs, researchers have drawn from research d一个 by and for Latinos/as/xs to dismantle deficit 意识形态. Borderlands theory, for example, asks us to question the ways in which the political, personal, and 教育al spheres are very much linked, how they impact 教育, and how these have institutionalized deficit 意识形态. 其中一个元素 of Borderlands Theory that can help engineering 教育 researchers problematize these historical elements and its impact on Latinos/as/xs is the concept of Nepantla. In this presentation, we will explore – through the lens of Nepantla – how Latino/a/x engineering 学生 negotiate social forces while living in two separate spaces in response to institutional prejudice. Nepantla suggests that individuals inhabit liminal spaces where clashes occur, new meanings are made, identities are born, and provides Latino/a/x engineering 学生 with la facultad, or the ability to see in surface phenomena the deeper meaning of their engineering realities. 这项研究提供了 a description of how “surface actions” create long-lasting impacts on engineering 学生. Implications of this study suggest that recognizing these actions and creating awareness may serve to help engineering educators identify the ways in which sociopolitical forces are (re)enacted, perpetuated, but also challenged in the classroom, in common 空间和研究. 

传记

Dr. Joel Alejandro (Alex) Mejia is an Associate Professor with joint appointment in the Department of Biomedical and Chemical 工程 and the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies at The University of Texas at San Antonio. 他的研究对 the integration of critical theoretical frameworks in engineering 教育 to investigate deficit 意识形态 and their impact on minoritized communities. 他的工作旨在 analyze and describe the assets, tensions, contradictions, and cultural collisions many Latino/a/x 学生 experience in engineering through testimonios. 他特别 interested in approaches that contribute to a more expansive understanding of engineering in sociocultural contexts, the impact of critical consciousness in engineering practice, and the development and implementation of culturally responsive pedagogies in engineering 教育. Dr. Mejia was awarded the NSF CAREER Award in 2020 to support his project titled “CAREER: Breaking the Tradition of Silence through Conocimiento and Consciousness 拉丁裔工程师的成长.”