Dr. Sharon Nichols, associate professor in the College of Education and Human Development’s Department of Educational Psychology, recently edited a book on 21st century education policy. The book was published this August by Information Age Publishing.
Nichols’ book, “Educational Policies and Youth in the 21st Century: Problems, Potential, and Progress,” examines the effects of education policies k-12 students, particularly on underrepresented populations such as immigrant, Hispanic, African American, and LGBT youth.
The book acts as a guide for in-service and pre-service teachers to acknowledge these education policies and understand how they affect their teaching practices.
Dr. Ellen Riojas Clark, professor emerita in the College of Education and Human Development’s Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies, recently published an e-book on the work of the late poet Moisés Espino del Castillo.
The book, “The ‘Calaveras’ of Don Moisés del Castillo,” provides a detailed look into Castillo’s ‘calaveras,’ a collection of satirical poems in Spanish about celebrities, politicians, activists, and others in celebration of El Dia de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead). The book includes a biography of Castillo, the history of ‘calaveras,’ a description of the poetic genre, and an analysis of his ‘calaveras,’ which were published for more than 20 years.
“The ‘Calaveras’ of Don Moisés del Castillo” was published by Arte Publico as part of their Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage program this past March. It is a compilation of 10 years of research conducted by Clark.
In a new book, “Adapt and Overcome: Essays on the Student Veteran Experience,” Brandy Cuevas and other UTSA veterans describe the unique challenges of transitioning into higher education. As she recounts in her “Adapt and Overcome” chapter, she wasn’t sure where life would take her despite being a great student in high school. The fall after graduation, though, she opened herself up to new experiences, considering for the first time an opportunity with the U.S. Army Reserve.
In the Army, Cuevas says she came into her own, quickly rising in the ranks to become a sergeant in the Reserve and gaining a strong background in the medical field. In 2008, Cuevas decided that it was time to expand her skills. When her husband got a job in San Antonio, she applied to UTSA.
Photo courtesy of Claudia D. Hernández
Dr. Josie Méndez-Negrete, professor in the Consortium for Social Transformation’s Mexican American Studies (MAS) program and the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies, recently authored a book on her family’s experience with schizophrenia. The book, which was published in July of 2015 by the University of New Mexico Press, won fist place in the Best Health Book Category in the Latino Literacy Now’s 18th Annual International Latino Book Awards.
The book, “A Life on Hold: Living with Schizophrenia,” is written as an autoethnography that weaves both personal stories of her son, Tito, with current literature on schizophrenia. Tito was first diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1991.
“It was a cathartic yet painful process of telling my son’s story so that others may glean information about a person who is beset by severe mental illness and how the illness also impacts those with whom Tito interacts and relates,” said Méndez-Negrete.
Méndez-Negrete’s book was written, she said, by placing herself in her son’s shoes. Her book, which took 10 years to complete, is one of the first books of its kind published by a Mexican American author.
“With the publication of ‘A Life on Hold: Living with Schizophrenia,’ I feel accomplished and relieved to have been able to tell and document our experience with mental illness,” said Méndez-Negrete. “I wanted to show how the disease consumes and impacts the lives of those who live with schizophrenia, and to impart knowledge about the evolution of the disease so that others who may be confronting it can recognize the disease.”
Book covers courtesy of Amazon