Talking Eds

Angela Valenzuela, a professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy in the College of Education, also serves as the director of Academia Cuauhtli, an academy that helps Mexican American elementary students connect with their indigenous roots and culture.

According to Valenzuela, Academia Cuauhtli, which means Eagle Academy in Nahuati, is a language and cultural revitalization program that elevates a culture that has been disparaged and maligned while heightening student’s consciousness to injustices in society. The goal is to help students feel pride about being descendants of peoples who are native to this continent.

The work of Academia Cuauhtli is even more urgent due to the effects of Covid-19 on Indigenous, Mexican American and Latino communities. These communities have similar rates of infection and death largely due to the same occupational and socio-economic circumstances, such as being essential workers, that when combined with underlying health conditions and a lack of insurance and access to health care, makes them especially vulnerable to Covid.

Listen as Valenzuela discusses the academy’s vision and purpose.

Previously, to celebrate Black History month, the College of Education produced a celebratory and informative photo essay titled, “Black Hair, Unbothered and Unedited.” Several Black faculty, staff, and students, who wear their hair in natural styles like Afros, twists, and locs, shared what wearing their hair naturally means to them. The photo essay gave many an opportunity to share their Black hair joy and their Black hair journey.

Black hair in America often has been policed and punished in educational spaces like K-12 schools and in the workplace. In today’s Talking Eds podcast, we’re revisiting the topic of Black hair with four of the faculty members who were featured in the photo essay. Listen as host M. Yvonne Taylor talks with professors Keffrelyn Brown, Terrance Green, Kevin Cokley, and Richard Reddick about their research and provide insights and context about the policing of Black hair in schools and workplaces.

Darlene Bhavnani of Dell Medical School and Bill Kohl of the College of Education join Talking Eds to discuss the importance of contact tracing for containing infectious disease, and how uneven policies and ongoing protests can complicate efforts to flatten the curve.

In this time of enormous global change, many people have referred to what we are experiencing as our “new normal.” Charles R. Martinez, Jr., dean of the College of Education at The University of Texas at Austin, explains why he challenges the use of that phrase, how the pandemic is shining a spotlight on education and health disparities, and how the college is positioned to disrupt those disparities and help people move toward a healthy, equitable society.

Special Education has re-energized its Concentration in Equity and Diversity. The program explores the intersections of disability, race, ethnicity, language, social class, nationality, gender, and sexuality in education and society.

Listen in as Associate Professor Audrey Sorrels and Assistant Professor North Cooc, who lead the initiative, discuss why the concentration is needed, who the concentration serves and hopes to attract, as well as their own personal and scholarly interest in the topic.

Ph.D. student Alden Jones and Clinical Assistant Professor Beth Bukoski join Talking Eds to discuss the socialization experiences of queer and trans graduate students. They also discuss the impact of Austin being perceived as an LGBTQ friendly city on graduate students’ school choice.

Deputy Director of the Center for STEM Education Carol Fletcher joins Talking Eds to talk about how they got WeTeach_CS off the ground by applying their methods of training math and science teachers to computer science.

Clinical Assistant Professor Beth Bukoski joins Talking Eds to discuss options for professors who do not take tenure-track positions at higher education institutions. They also talk about the differences between teaching and research professors, and how getting fired isn't necessarily the end of the world.

Clinical Assistant Professor Tolga Ozyurtcu joins Talking Eds to discuss topics related to paying student athletes, and what that could mean for collegiate athletics. They also share thoughts on the recent winter Olympics, and the benefits that bidding for the Olympics can bring to a city. Learn how Dr. Ozyurtcu found his interest in studying sports, and how he ended up at The University of Texas at Austin.

Host Jack Weisberger is joined this week by Educational Leadership and Policy Ph.D. student Z. W. Taylor. At The University of Texas at Austin's College of Education, Taylor examines accessibility in the college application process. In this episode, he talks about his own application process and the series of small events that ultimately brought him to where he his today. He also details an encounter helping a Hmong student navigate the application process and the barriers he faced.