Faculty
CORE FACULTY
Gretchen E. Lopez, Ph.D., Cultural Foundations of Education
Mario Rios Perez, Ph.D., Cultural Foundations of Education
Dalia Rodriguez, Ph.D., Cultural Foundations of Education
CORE FACULTY
Gretchen E. Lopez, Ph.D.
Gretchen Lopez is Director of the Intergroup Dialogue Program at Syracuse University, a faculty member in Cultural Foundations of Education (CFE) and affiliated faculty in Women’s and Gender Studies. She completed her Ph.D. in Social Psychology at the University of Michigan, and B.A. at Cornell University. Her scholarship reflects an extended commitment to interdisciplinary inquiry focused on critical issues of race, gender, class, and education.
Professor Lopez has published research in Educational Record, Journal of Social Issues, New Directions for Higher Education, Political Psychology, and Race, Ethnicity, and Education. She recently co-edited a special issue of Equity & Excellence in Education (2012) on “Intergroup Dialogue: Engaging Difference, Social Identities, and Social Justice” subsequently released as book (Zúñiga, Lopez, & Ford, 2014). These and other publications center how critical pedagogy may facilitate student understanding of societal inequality and how this further connects to preparation and motivation to act.
Professor Lopez’s current projects focus on co-learning across university and community contexts including the need for intergroup dialogue educational initiatives for high school students, and the broader implications of dialogic learning for diverse college students including for overall well-being. She has received the Excellence in Graduate Education Faculty Recognition Award from Syracuse University’s Graduate School and the Racial Justice Award from Central NY’s Interfaith Works and Community Wide Dialogue.
Mario Rios Perez, Ph.D.
Mario Rios Perez is an Assistant Professor in Cultural Foundations of Education and affiliated faculty member in Women’s and Gender Studies at Syracuse University. Professor Perez specializes in the social, political, and cultural history of educational institutions. His research and teaching interests include the history of education, the history of race, Latina/o history, immigration, and the development of urban schools. He completed his PhD in Educational Policy Studies at the University of Illinois with a specialization in the History of Education, an MA degree in Higher Education from the University of Redlands, and a BA degree (double major) in Chicana/o Studies and History from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Dr. Rios Perez is currently completing his first book manuscript titled Menacing Migrations: Race and Education in the Making of Mexican Nationalism in Chicago, 1915-1940. This book looks at the role education played in the migration, settlement, and identity formation of Mexicans in Chicago. Part of this book attempts to redefine how education, literacy, and learning were critical in the development of a national Mexican migratory network.
Dalia Rodriguez, Ph.D.
Dal
ia Rodriguez is an Associate Professor of Cultural Foundations of Education and affiliated faculty member in Women’s and Gender Studies at Syracuse University. Dr. Rodriguez is a specialist in the area of sociology of education and qualitative research methods. Currently, her research interests focus on issues of access to education, racial inequality, and multicultural education.
Her scholarly work is interdisciplinary, drawing from the areas of sociology, race-based theory, and policy studies. Committed to diversity and educational reform, Professor Rodriguez has collaboratively developed college recruitment programs for students, notably from the Chicago area as well as Puerto Rico.
Most recently, she worked for the State Senate of New Mexico, where she advocated for the Albuquerque Public Schools by conducting research on effective ways of dealing with No Child Left Behind legislation.
Professor Rodriguez’ research has been published in Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies, Qualitative Inquiry, International Review of Qualitative Research, and Counterpoints among other journals. She serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Latinos and Education.