Chair, Department of English, Southern Methodist University 2024–present
Jacob and Frances Sanger Mossiker Endowed Chair in English, SMU 2022–present
President, MELUS — Society for the Study of Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States 2025–present
Founding Director, Narrative Now Initiative, SMU 2024–present
Education
Ph.D., English, The Ohio State University — Project Narrative 2012
M.A., English, Texas A&M University–Commerce 2008
B.S., Psychology, Sam Houston State University 1998
Books
Forthcoming
Galactic Herencia: Latinos in the Star Wars Universe, U of Arizona P 2027
Touchdown!: Latinos Breaking Through the NFL's White Lines, with F. L. Aldama, Ohio State UP 2026
In print
Big Scary Brown Guy: A Memoir, Flower Song Press 2024
Resilient Pedagogy, co-edited, Utah State University 2021
Reel Latinxs: Representation in U.S. Film and TV, with F. L. Aldama, U of Arizona P — Winner, 2020 International Latino Book Award 2019
Latinx Studies: The Key Concepts, with F. L. Aldama, Routledge 2018
Permissible Narratives: The Promise of Latina/o Literature, Ohio State UP — Honorable Mention, 2019 Perkins Prize 2017
Graphic Borders: Latino Comic Books Past, Present, and Future, ed. with F. L. Aldama, U of Texas P 2016
Reading Junot Díaz, U of Pittsburgh P 2015
Latinos in the End Zone, with F. L. Aldama, Palgrave Macmillan 2013
Series editorships
Editor, Narrative Theory and Culture, Routledge 2018–present
Co-editor, World Comics and Graphic Nonfiction, U of Texas P 2014–present
Selected articles & chapters
"Popular Culture and Multiethnic Literature of the United States," A Companion to Multiethnic Literature of the United States, Wiley 2023
"The Permissible Author," Reading the Contemporary Author, U of Nebraska P 2023
"Race and Ethnicity," The Routledge Companion to Literature and Emotion2022
"The Latinx Fantastic," Texas Studies in Literature and Language 63.2 2021
"Narrative Form, Ideal Readerships, and Oscar 'Zeta' Acosta's The Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo," Race, Ethnicity, and Narrative in the United States, Ohio State UP 2017
Awards & honors
International Latino Book Award, Best Non-fiction, Multi-Author 2020
Honorable Mention, Perkins Prize, International Society for the Study of Narrative 2019
Researcher of the Year, Department of English, Utah State University 2019
Giraffe Award, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Utah State University 2019
Prior appointments
Professor of English; Associate Dean of Graduate Studies, Utah State University 2017–2022
Founding Director, Latinx Cultural Center, Utah State University 2018–2022
Assistant Professor of English; Associate Dean, Texas A&M University–Commerce 2012–2017
Full lists of articles, invited lectures, conference papers, teaching, and service are in the complete CV.