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Who we are

Please click on the names below to learn more about our current Planning Committee.
Angélica Amezcua
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​Angélica Amezcua received her M.A in Chicano/Chicana Studies from California State University, Northridge. She earned a second M.A., a Computer Assisted Language Learning Certificate and a Ph.D. at Arizona State University. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Spanish and Director of the Heritage Language Program in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese Studies at the University of Washington. 

Angélica's University Profile
​​Anel Brandl
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Anel Brandl (Ph.D. Florida State University) is a Teaching Professor of Spanish and Linguistics and Coordinator of the Spanish Heritage Track in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics at Florida State University. She specializes in Spanish as a second language and Spanish heritage bilingualism. Her recent work focuses on heritage language maintenance via instruction, and language acquisition and processing in Spanish heritage speakers. She developed FSU’s Spanish Heritage Track and the new courses for heritage speakers/learners, including the Spanish for Specific Purposes courses. 

Anel's University profile
​​Elena Foulis
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Elena Foulis is an Assistant Professor at Texas A&M, San Antonio and has been directing the oral history project, Oral Narratives of Latin@s in Ohio (ONLO) since 2014. The project is an ongoing collection of over 130 video narratives, some can be found in her iBook titled, Latin@ Stories Across Ohio. Foulis’s research explores Latina/o/x voices through oral history and performance, identity and place, ethnography, and family history. She is also host and producer for the Latin@ Stories podcast. Foulis is an engaged scholar and is committed to reaching non-academic and academic audiences through her writing, presentations, and public humanities projects.

Elena's University profile
​Paola Guerrero-Rodriguez
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Paola earned her PhD in Hispanic Linguistics from the University of Florida. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Spanish and Director of the Spanish heritage language program in the Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures at Texas Tech University. 

Paola's University profile
​Evelyn Durán UrreA
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Evelyn Durán received her M.A. in Hispanic Linguistics from the University of Arizona. She completed her Ph.D. coursework in Hispanic Linguistics in the University of New Mexico until she moved to Penn State to continue her dissertation research on Spanish-English code-switching. She received her Ph.D. in Hispanic Linguistics from Penn State University in 2012.

EVELYN'S UNIVERSITY PROFILE
Ana Sánchez-Muñoz
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Ana Sánchez-Muñoz is Full Professor in the Department of Chicana/o Studies and in the Department of Linguistics at California State University, Northridge in Los Angeles. Her research interests include sociolinguistics, bilingualism, heritage languages, and situations of language contact. In particular, she has done extensive work on Spanish as a Heritage Language , examining how Spanish is developed, used, and maintained by heritage speakers of Spanish in the U.S. She also explores the characteristics of heritage learners of Spanish and investigates pedagogical approaches for the promotion and creation of language programs specifically designed for the needs of heritage learners.​

Ana's​ UNIVERSITY PROFILE
Linda Lemus
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Linda is an Assistant Professor of Teaching (Spanish & Linguistics) and Director & Coordinator of the Spanish Language Instruction Program at the University of California, Riverside. She has a Ph.D. in Second Language Acquisition & Teaching and has experience as an Instructional Designer. Linda's research is focused on inclusive design and development of language and linguistic instruction, and she also mentors Spanish native speakers in/from the U.S. to validate and inform their academic and personal experiences. Additionally, she explores language identity, sociocultural linguistics and the hidden curriculum.

Linda's  UNIVERSITY PROFILE
​Lillian Gorman
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Lillian Gorman is the Director of the Spanish as a Heritage Language program at the University of Arizona and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. Lillian graduated with a B.A. in Spanish and an M.A. in Southwest Hispanic Studies from the University of New Mexico and with her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago with concentrations in Spanish sociolinguistics and Latina/o/x cultural studies. Lillian has 20 years of experience teaching in and leading Spanish heritage language programs in New Mexico, Chicago, and Arizona.

Lillian's university profile
​Claudia Holguín Mendoza
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Claudia Holguín Mendoza is an Associate Professor of Spanish linguistics at the University of California Riverside. She specializes in the sociolinguistics of race in the Mexican borderlands and Greater Mexico as well as Critical Pedagogies for the teaching of Spanish as a heritage language. She is the Director of the LatCrit Sociocultural Linguistics Lab at the Latino Latin American Studies Research Center at UCR.

Claudia's University Profile
Sergio Loza
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Sergio Loza is an Assistant Professor of Spanish Linguistics in the Department of Romance Languages at the University of Oregon, where he directs the Spanish Heritage Language Program and teaches courses at the undergraduate and graduate level. He received his Ph.D. in Spanish Heritage Language Education with a secondary focus on Sociolinguistics.

Sergio's University Profile
Nancy Domínguez-Fret
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Nancy Domínguez-Fret is an Assistant Professor of Spanish Applied Linguistics & Director of Teacher Licensure Department of World Languages and Cultures at Northern Illinois University. Nancy’s research explores the language experiences across the educational pipeline of heritage speakers who became Spanish as Heritage Language (SHL) teachers and how their educational experiences may inform their pedagogical practices. Nancy’s research and practice also explore the intersections of Critical Language Pedagogy and Ethnic Studies in the SHL classroom.
NANCY'S UNIVERSITY PROFILE
Maria Yakushkina
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Maria Yakushkina is an Assistant Professor of Spanish and Humanistic Studies and Coordinator of the Spanish Heritage Language track at the University of Wisconsin - Green Bay. She received her M.A and Ph.D. in Spanish Linguistics from Purdue University. Her sociolinguistic research explores the interconnection between transnationalism, sense of belonging, language use, and identity among heritage speakers of Spanish in the United States.
MARIA'S UNIVERSITY PROFILE

Updated May 10, 2025


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