Institute Community
Ignacio Martínez
I am an associate professor of history specializing in the history of Colonial Latin America. I received my B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of New Mexico and my Ph.D. from the University of Arizona. My research and scholarly interests include the Hispanic World, the intellectual history of Latin America, and the Spanish Borderlands. My first book, titled The Intimate Frontier: Friendship Civil Society in Northern New Spain, (Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2019) looks at the role of friendship in the social and intellectual construction of frontier society. In this book I argue that the ideals, rhetoric, logic, and emotions of friendship played an important role in the multilayered lives of frontier Indians, Spaniards, and mixed-raced people. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, I use friendship as a lens through which to more clearly view the nuanced struggle for power and influence along the northern reaches of imperial power. My second book project, currently in its research phase, is tentatively titled The Hispanic World: From Creole Patriotism to Chicano Nationalism.
As a scholar and intellectual, I am fundamentally devoted to thinking deeply and conscientiously about the world. I am also profoundly committed to helping and mentoring students. When I do find a few minutes to unwind, I enjoy hitting the gym, drinking with friends, playing Switch with my daughters (mostly Mortal Kombat, Legend of Zelda, and Mario Kart), and working on my yard. I live in El Paso, Texas.
R. Joseph Rodríguez is a faculty member at St. Edward’s University in the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Culture. He has taught English and Spanish language arts in public schools, community colleges, and universities. His areas of research include children’s and young adult literatures, language acquisition, and socially responsible biliteracies.
Joseph is the author of Teaching Culturally Sustaining and Inclusive Young Adult Literature: Critical Perspectives and Conversations (Routledge, 2019). Some authors included are Jeff Anderson, Matt de la Peña, Guadalupe García McCall, and Erika L. Sánchez. Also, he is the author of Enacting Adolescent Literacies across Communities: Latino/a Scribes and Their Rites (Lexington Books, 2016) and has published in various academic journals. His most recent book is titled This Is Our Summons Now: Poems (FlowerSong Press, 2022). He is completing a book project titled Youth Scribes: Teaching a Love of Writing NOW, which will be published by Heinemann in 2023.
A graduate of public schools in Houston, Texas, Joseph grew up in a bilingual and bicultural home and pursued studies in literary criticism and literacy education. He earned degrees from Kenyon College (B.A., Modern Languages and Literatures, 1997), University of Texas at Austin (M.A., English, 1999), and University of Connecticut (Ph.D., Curriculum and Instruction, 2001).
An active member of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), Joseph supports professional learning and exchanges across the country to advance student learning and the teaching profession. He serves as coeditor of English Journal, a peer-reviewed journal of NCTE that has been published since 1912. It features columns and articles on all aspects of the teaching of English language arts and literacy learning at middle schools and junior and senior high schools.
Joseph is motivated by the art of teaching, learning, and writing. He is a reader of diverse U.S., borderlands, and world literatures. When he is not reading, teaching, or writing, Joseph enjoys cooking, hiking, kayaking, storytelling, and traveling with the love of his life and Maxwell, their cantankerous canine. He and his family live in Austin and Fredericksburg, Texas.