The Inquiry Oasis: A UArizona College of Education Podcast

Listen to part 2 of 2 as Dr. Cindy Cruz joins Dean Regina Deil-Amen to discuss how she connects classroom learning, teacher preparation, and community-based projects in Tucson.

Dr. Cruz describes her work with students at Sunnyside High School on a project examining water, land, and local environmental conditions, along with an after-school reading group. Students read The House on Mango Street and Parable of the Sower and connect the books to questions arising in their own community.

The conversation also explores how Dr. Cruz prepares future teachers to understand the students and communities they will serve and to encourage thoughtful classroom discussion. She closes by describing how Sunnyside students secured $25,000 through participatory budgeting for a public mural and community garden, as well as plans for a student-designed survey about access to food.

Books mentioned and recommended:

• The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
• Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
• This Bridge Called My Back, edited by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria E. Anzaldúa
• Pilgrimages/Peregrinajes by María Lugones
• Breaking Bread by bell hooks and Cornel West
• Beloved by Toni Morrison

Essay mentioned:

• “Playfulness, ‘World’-Travelling, and Loving Perception” by María Lugones

Listen to part 1 of 2 as Dr. Cindy Cruz joins Dean Regina Deil-Amen to discuss how her years as a high school English teacher and HIV counselor shaped her teaching and research. Dr. Cruz is an associate professor at the University of Arizona College of Education.

Dr. Cruz describes returning to teach in Fontana, California, after the closure of Kaiser Steel, and later working in continuation schools across Los Angeles. She explains how these experiences influenced her approach to teaching, writing, and helping young people describe their lives in their own words.

The conversation also examines her research with young people without stable housing in Los Angeles, including how they use smartphones, location-based applications, and public Wi-Fi to find food, shelter, information, and services.

In this episode of Inquiry Oasis, Dean Regina Deil-Amen speaks with Dr. Michael T. Hartley, professor in the Counseling Program in the Department of Disability and Psychoeducational Studies at the University of Arizona College of Education.

Dr. Hartley discusses how his research and teaching bring rehabilitation counseling and mental health counseling together, and how ableism and able privilege shape the institutions, service systems, and assumptions that surround people with disabilities. Dr. Hartley also explains why representation matters in counselor education, including a study in which students’ responses changed depending on whether a person with a visible disability led the training.

Dr. Hartley speaks about his own experiences with mental health, his early work as a therapist, and what he continues to learn from his students, describing recovery as a process of rebuilding identity, connection, and purpose even when symptoms remain.  The conversation reaches beyond the counseling room into the systems that often require people to reach a point of crisis before support becomes available, and considers what it would mean for counseling, education, and public policy to treat people as full participants in the lives they choose.

Dr. Hartley values connecting with scholars who share similar interests, and wishes to recognize Amy C. Davis, a doctoral student In Counselor Education and Supervision whose work on awe and psychedelic-assisted therapy has intersected with Dr. Hartley’s work on mental health and resilience. Amy is a licensed professional counselor and the clinical director of Tucson Counseling Associates, where she oversees a ketamine-assisted therapy clinic. Amy was recognized as a 2025 Erasmus Circle Scholar, the highest honor in the College Education.

In spring 2027, Amy and Dr. Hartley will offer SERP 579A: Advances in Psychiatric Rehabilitation, open to graduate students across the university. The course will explore psychedelic-assisted therapy as an emerging approach to promoting neuroplasticity and functional independence, along with foundational concepts related to mental illness and psychiatric rehabilitation.

Dr. Hartley is honored to be a 2026 Faculty Fellow with the University Psychedelic Education Program (U-PEP), alongside Amy Davis and colleagues Drs. Heather Carlisle, Janay Young, and Marisa Fernandez from the College of Nursing and the College of Medicine. This philanthropically funded initiative supports the integration of emerging, evidence-based psychedelic science into university curricula, emphasizing education rather than clinical practice.

Three Words that Describe Dr. Hartley’s Work:

• Resilience: How people adapt and reconstruct identity after hardship, with resilience understood as relational, contextual, and supported by others.
• Dignity: The recognition that people with disabilities are full participants in their own lives, care, and communities.
• Meaning: The ability to find and rebuild purpose within and beyond the limits of disability.

Dr. Hartley’s Recommended Reading:

Castification of People with Disabilities: Potential Disempowering Aspects of Classification in Disability Services by E. M. Szymanski and H. T. Trueba

Further Reading:

• Hartley, M. T., & Tarvydas, V. M. (Eds.). (2023). The professional practice of rehabilitation counseling (3rd ed.). Springer Publishing Company.
• Keltner, D. (2023). Awe: The new science of everyday wonder and how it can transform your life. Penguin Press.
• Kincaid, K., & Davis, A. C. (2026). The ketamine-assisted psychotherapy treatment companion: Optimize your treatment sessions, improve your mental health, and make lasting positive change. New Harbinger Publications.

In today's episode of Inquiry Oasis, Dean Regina Deil-Amen interviews Dr. Leslie Gonzales, Professor and Department Head of the College of Education's Department of Education Policy Studies and Practice in the Center for the Study of Higher Education.

Dr. Gonzales shares about her professional and personal background and the connections to higher education and her research. Dr. Gonzales discusses two studies she has worked on over the past couple years, sharing the findings from one focused on interview panels seeking innovation and how time impacts how those on interview panels see and honor innovation.

She shares with us about concepts of epistemic inclusion, epistemic injustice, and epistemic exclusion.

Three words that describe Dr. Gonzales's work:

• Inclusion -- specifically, increasing inclusion in higher education through her research and teaching service.
• Public good -- specifically, a belief that public institutions have an obligation, responsibility, and privilege to serve the public.
• Possibility -- specifically, higher education is oriented towards broadening possibility, whether it be the possibility of life, circumstances for students, or what knowledge can look like and what research can go.

Other Scholars Mentioned:

Miranda Fricker, DPhil -- Dr. Gonzales highlights Miranda Fricker's work focused on epistemic injustice. To learn more about Miranda Fricker's work, check out her website here.

Dr. Gonzales gives a shout out to a team of graduate students; Brooke Moreno, April Horne, and Karina Rodriguez--and hopes to share the findings from their collaborative work soon.

Reading Recommendation:

Ebony and Ivory by Dr. Craig Steven Wilder

Join us in learning about Dr. Tamara Lawson's research and work as an assistant professor in the Disability and Psychoeducational Studies Department here at the University of Arizona's College of Education.

In this episode, Dean Deil-Amen and Dr. Lawson discuss her research work with students in K-12 settings as well as her work as an assistant professor for students studying School Psychology. Dr. Lawson discusses how both inform the other, and how she prepares school psychology trainees for their practicum experiences and careers in K-12 school settings.

Dr. Lawson outlines a vision for education that moves beyond psychological testing and focuses on the individual student experience, the classroom, and school community.

Three Words that Describe Dr. Lawson's Work:

• Service
• Restoration
• Advocacy

Dr. Lawson's Recommended Reading:

Culturally Responsive School-based Practices: Supporting Mental Health and Learning for Diverse Students by Andy V. Pham and Anisa N. Goforth

Mentioned in this episode and defined here:

MTSS = Multi-Tiered Systems of Support

• MTSS is a framework containing four parts; screening, progress monitoring, multi-level prevention system, and data-based decision making. It is a framework that provides academic, behavioral, and social-emotional support to all students.

CRP = Culturally Responsive Practice

• CRP is a framework that boosts student engagement and success using students cultures as assets in the classroom. 

Listen to part 2 of the two part episode with Dr. Desiree Vega. Dr. Vega and Dean Deil-Amen continue to explore the intersection of identity, advocacy, and purpose in the field of school psychology. 

Dr. Vega discusses her research findings, recommended readings, and an upcoming book release with her colleague Jaclyn Wolf at San Francisco State University. The book is titled Culturally Responsive Assessment and Intervention Practices with Emergent Bilingual Students and should be available for purchase later this Fall.

Dr. Vega's recommended readings:

• Educating Emergent Bilinguals by Ofelia García
• National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) best practices, 7th Edition with 2022 revisions

Listen to part 1 of 2 in which Dr. Desiree Vega joins Dean Deil-Amen to explore the intersection of identity, advocacy, and purpose in the field of school psychology. Dr. Vega is a professor in the department of Disability and Psychoeducational Studies (DPS). Dr. Vega reflects on her journey as a first-generation college graduate, and how her family's educational experiences shaped her commitment to equity in schools. She shares how she discovered school psychology, after originally planning to major in accounting, and the transformative impact of mentors, and her experiences working in underserved communities.

Listeners will gain insight into the systemic challenges faced by minoritized students, the critical shortage of school psychologists—especially those of color and those that are bilingual—and the importance of advocacy in educational spaces. Dr. Vega also discusses her transition from practitioner to professor, emphasizing the need for curiosity, purpose-driven work, and advocacy.

Part 2 will release Wednesday, October 15th.

In this episode of the "Inquiry Oasis" podcast, Dean Regina Deil-Amen speaks with Dr. Patricia Moreira, an assistant professor in the University of Arizona's College of Education. Dr. Moreira, a former science teacher from Chile, discusses her research on how students' reasoning in science becomes visible and how this understanding can be applied to improve teaching. She explains her passion for teaching, understanding, and application, and how her work supports pre-service and in-service teachers, helping them make better pedagogical decisions through formative assessment. The conversation also touches on the value of international collaborations and the importance of investing in educational research to understand and support the learning process.

Mentioned in this episode as Dr. Moreira's recommended reading is Tina A. Grotzer's book Learning Causality in a Complex World: Understandings of Consequence.