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| Rodney Castillo English & Communications, Hialeah Campus |
Ryan Castillo Communications, Humanities, & Social Sciences, Homestead Campus |
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Born in Cuba, Professor Rodney Castillo migrated with his parents to South Florida at the age of thirteen. An alum of Miami Dade College, he graduated from Florida International University, with a bachelor (Honors College - Phi Beta Kappa) and a masters in English Literature, a minor in Asian culture, and a Certificate in Exile Studies. For the last decade Professor Castillo has taken part in the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust’s educational program at the United Kingdom, exploring the relevance of theater to modern day audiences. He is also a co-advisor for the Hialeah Campus’ Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. Professor Castillo’s areas of academic concentration are Shakespearean studies as well as texts that explores the human experience through exile, migration, and displacement. He currently teaches English Composition and Literature at Miami Dade College – Hialeah Campus. |
Ryan Castillo is an AFA-NIET and NFA nationally recognized speaker and collegiate forensics coach with a combined ten years of competitive experience. He has taught human communication courses at California State University - Long Beach, University of Denver, Clemson University, and Dallas College. At Miami Dade College, Professor Castillo is an instructor of Introduction to Communication and Public Speaking. He is also the lead advisor to two Student Life clubs on the Homestead campus: Phi Theta Kappa National Honors Society & the Hispanic Student Association, a student-led organization that he founded in October 2023. His published research has revolved around Hollywood representations of identity and subjectivity, specifically with regard to gender, race, sexuality, and class. |
| Omar Figueras Arts & Philosophy, Pádron Campus |
Arlene Garcia-Lopez Social Sciences, North Campus |
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Omar Figueras is an assistant professor of English Composition, Literature, Creative Writing, and Humanities at Miami Dade College’s Padrón Campus. He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky, and has published work in Penumbra and Composite Arts Magazine. In 2018, Candlewick Press published his essay, “Massacre at La Plaza de las Tres Culturas,” in 1968: Today’s Authors Explore a Year of Rebellion, Revolution, and Change. He has read for the Miami-based storytelling series Lip Service and has served as a fiction co-editor for Blood Lotus, and faculty co-advisor to Urbana Literary & Arts Magazine.
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Dr. Arlene Garcia-Lopez has taught college level literature and composition since 2009. Literary areas of interest include rhetoric and composition, 20th century poetry, Modernism, and Post-Modernism. Dr. Garcia-Lopez’s research further focuses on Early Alert Interventions, community college student engagement, retention, and completion, organizational theory, and developing technologies in education. Her teaching focus includes a student-centered approach, modeled on active learning, encouragement, and ownership of the writing process, to support student success. In addition to academics, Dr. Garcia-Lopez has experience in advisement, student recruitment, college event planning, administration, and grant writing. She currently serves as a production editor for the Journal of Comparative and International Higher Education, and a Peer of the Impacting Education Journal as well as the Journal of Innovative Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. She earned a Master of Arts degree in English from Florida International University and a Doctor of Education degree from the University of Dayton. |
| Wendy Goodwin Communications, Humanities, & Social Sciences, Homestead Campus |
Michelle Grant-Murray Music, Theater, & Dance, Kendall Campus |
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Wendy Goodwin has been an English professor at Miami Dade College for eighteen years. She teaches a range of courses, including developmental, creative writing, and composition. She served for three years as faculty advisor for The Homestead Campus award-winning literary magazine Estuaries and annually chairs the Genocide Awareness Committee where each year, student volunteers help set up art installations around campus. She began her career teaching English to juvenile offenders in an outward-bound style program that included riding horses and camping in fields. She also served for four years as outreach director for Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, a nonprofit which assisted learning disabled and visually impaired students. |
Michelle Grant-Murray, choreographer, educator, author, scholar, performer and Artistic Director of Olujimi Dance Theatre, earned a BS degree in Dance Education (Jacksonville University), MA degree in African Studies (Florida International University) and MFA degree in Choreography (Jacksonville University). Michelle has presented work throughout Europe, Asia, South America, the United States and the Caribbean. She is Associate Professor Sr. and Coordinator of Dance at Miami Dade College, Artistic Director of Jubilation Dance Ensemble. She is the founder and host of The Black Artist Talk, Founder and Executive Director of the Artistry In Rhythm (A.I.R.) Dance Conference, Co-Founder of Florida Black Dance Artists Organization and author of Beyond the Surface: An Inclusive American Dance History. Currently, Michelle is researching the performative intersections of Eco-feminism, Ecology, and Sustainability of the Black Female Body. |
| Jake Guyton Communications, Arts, & Philosophy, Pádron Campus |
David Heredia English & Communications, Kendall Campus |
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Dr. David Heredia is a tenured English faculty member at Miami Dade College for the past 16 years. Miami Dade College. To further impact students, he is a lead faculty member who works aside many administrators, student service personnel, and faculty on many initiatives, resulting in significant and sustained efforts that have positively impacted students. Presently, his involvement with the Humanities Edge grant, focuses on diversifying and enriching the humanities. The grant ensures a seamless transition for all students by fostering a connection with Florida International University. As a steering committee lead, he assists in developing summer bridge programs, co curricula experiences, peer writing mentorships, and student internship programs. David is a staunch advocate for higher education and a loving husband and father of four beautiful children. |
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| Jairo Ledesma Communications, Humanities, & Social Sciences, Homestead Campus |
Terri Mitchell Humanities, Music, & Arts, West Campus |
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Jairo Ledesma is an Assistant Professor of history and sociology and the Charles A. and Carrie Mastronardi Endowed Teaching Chair at Miami Dade College. He is the lead faculty for the campus Institute for Civic Engagement & Democracy, a Carnegie-Mellon Humanities Edge Fellow, a USDA Kika the la Garza Fellow, Homestead Honors College Lead Faculty, and the former Chair of the campus Hispanic Heritage committee. He is also a board member of the Historic Homestead Town Hall Museum. Professor Ledesma holds a Bachelor of Science in communications and a Master of Arts in sociology from St. John’s University in New York City. He also has a Master of Arts in History from Florida International University. He is a Ph.D. student at F.I.U. in the Teaching and Learning Department. For over twenty-two years, he has worked at private and public institutions serving in different higher education roles, including student counselor, career counselor, academic adviser, Grant Director, and adjunct instructor. He has led students in historical research centered around free people of color in Key West and Civil Rights in Homestead, Fl. He has appeared on CBS 4, Telemundo, Univision 23, Univision’s evening newscast, CNN en Español Caracol Radio, MEGA TV on la Zeta 92.3. He was named Service-Learning Faculty for the Year by iCED for 2019. The Student Life department recognized his work with Pages for All Ages, a literacy program for the children of migrant farmworkers. He was born in Colombia and reared in Queens, NY.
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Dr. Terri Mitchell, Associate Professor of Music at MDC West, is an accomplished flutist and a consummate musician and educator. Dr. Mitchell teaches Music Appreciation, Jazz and Popular Music. She is also the UFMDC Vice President for West Campus. In addition, she is the advisor for the Dialogues for Democracy Club at MDC West Campus. She is also co- advisor for the Creative Arts club with Professor Gittings. She received her Doctorate in Music from the University of Miami in 2003 where she received the Award for Academic Achievement and won the Concerto Competition in her first year at the University. She has lectured on musicians’ health, the subject of her doctoral research, at the University of Miami and at the Florida Flute Fair as well as in Brazil. She has played with orchestras throughout the United States and Europe and has performed solos with the Alhambra Orchestra, the Ars Flores orchestra and the University of Miami Symphony Orchestra. She was awarded the SGI Renaissance Award in 2004 for her contributions to the community within the field of music. She is also a member of Pi Kappa Lambda, the music honors society. |
| Anthony Moreno English & Communications, Kendall Campus |
Amarjeet Sawhney Architecture & Interior Design, Kendall Campus |
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Anthony Moreno is an Instructor in the English and Communications Department at Miami Dade College. Professor Moreno teaches composition and literature courses at the Kendall Campus. He received a Bachelor of Science from Florida State University where he double-majored in Psychology and Child Development. A passion for the humanities led him to pursue his graduate work at Florida International University where he studied philosophy, art, and literature. Professor Moreno earned a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies with an area of concentration in English literature. Professor Moreno’s research is interdisciplinary in scope. He researches the sublime in literature, horror and dystopian texts, and punk pedagogies and scholarship. He is particularly interested in intersecting literature with punk studies. Professor Moreno’s goal is to challenge students to become independent writers and researchers. He utilizes music and horror to bridge the gap in the English composition classroom.
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Emily Sendin |
Allison Thomas Johnson |
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Emily Andrea Sendin is a professor of English, literature, and creative writing at Miami Dade College in Miami, Florida with twenty-five years of teaching experience. She is a two time Endowed Teaching Chair, Fulbright Scholar and Specialist, Florida College System Publications Association Hall of Fame Inductee, Campus Compact Thomas Ehrlich Engaged Faculty Impact Award, Associated Collegiate Press Pioneer Adviser Award, College Media Association Distinguished Adviser Award and Dan Reimold Student Media Champion Award, and National Council of Teachers of English Media Literacy Award recipient. Her areas of expertise are feminist, gender, postcolonial and media studies. She teaches global sustainability and Earth literacy studies, service-learning and Honors College courses. She is the founding advisor of the award-winning Urbana Literary and Arts magazine, and most recently, of StoryBytes Media, a student-led initiative sharing stories through digital innovation such as film and podcasts. She is also the founding advisor of two Sigma Kappa Delta National English Honor Society chapters. Sendin is also the co-founder of FNE International’s Tengo un Sueño and Hermandad MaryKnoll High School supporting the educational journeys of youth in rural Nicaragua. In addition to her role as director and principal investigator of the Climate Stories Stevens Initiative virtual exchange grant, she has several publications and has presented in a myriad of conferences. Her life’s passions are teaching, writing, traveling and serving. |
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| Sabrina Walters English & Communications, North Campus |
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Dr. Sabrina Walters is a Professor in the English and Communications Department at Miami Dade College, North Campus. Her research has centered on the plight of African American males in higher education. She has focused on coping mechanisms employed by African American males to determine specific strategies associated with the achievement outcomes among Black males at Predominately White Institutions (PWIs). Prior to joining Miami Dade College, Dr. Walters was a reporter at the Philadelphia Inquirer, Chicago Sun-Times, and the Miami Herald. She is a recipient of an Education Writers Association fellowship and a National Press Foundation fellowship, which allowed her to travel to Mexico to study Spanish. Dr. Walters attended the University of Miami where she completed her doctoral studies in Higher Education Leadership. She also earned a BS in Journalism from Michigan State University and MS in English Education from Nova Southeastern University.
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