Alex Salinas

Assistant Professor, Miami Dade College (MDC), InterAmerican Campus

627 SW 27 Avenue, Miami, Florida 33145
(305)237-6358/asalinas@mdc.edu

EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHY
I teach who I am. I bring both what I am in love with and what I suffer with into the classroom. I hope that part of
the text for every class I teach is my passion for life, my joy toward the beauty of the world as well as my rage at its
injustices. Through whatever passion I can offer, I hope students can tap into their own passion for learning and living. I
want to engage students as a human being, as a co-facilitator and co-learner in a process of intellectual inquiry and
relationship-building. I try to create spaces in which students feel like they are in community with me, with each other, and
with the village outside the school. Further, because I feel a part of the global village and the cosmic unity, I invite students
to explore those connections as well.
I find that much of who I am has to do with community. Raised in Miami, I have grown up with an awareness of
the invisible walls of fear that separate latinos, blacks and anglos—that seperate immigrant from newcomer, rich from poor,
Spanglish from Ebonics. My campus, my home, lies in a dynamic and at times tense American borderland—an ideal place
to practice service-learning. Since 2004, I have attempted to participate in the building of bridges and the connecting of
hearts and minds as co-coordinator of the campus’ service-learning program.

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
• M.A. in Literature, 2002.
• B.S. in Print Journalism with second major in English, 1998.
• Enrolled as Doctoral Student in English Education Program, 2005-Present

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
• Certificate in Earth Ethics, Social Justice, and Intercultural Literacy, 2006-Present
• MDC Honors Faculty Retreat, Spring 2006
•Split This Rock Poetry Festival, Spring 2008
•Phi Theta Kappa National Conference, Spring 2008
• Enlightenment: The Evolution of Change, National Conference of the Community College National Center for
Community Involvement, Fall 2006
• Quality Education as a Civil Right National Forum, Spring 2005
• “Service Learning: Research, Learning & Community Change,” MDC College Training and Development Workshop,
Spring 2005
• The Blues Project: Convergence of Artists, Activists and Educators, Jan. 2005

CAMPUS AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

• Teaching Fellow, Center for Urban Education and Innovation, Florida International University (FIU), 2007-Present.
 The Center is dedicated to the work of schools and communities who are in pursuit of social justice,
equity, and academic excellence. My roles include teaching children in underserved urban areas, pursuing
innovations in education, and sharing work with students, teachers-in-training and education scholars
around the country.
• Facilitator, Family Literacy Arts Program, 2007-Present.
 Working with children across the county in an arts-based culturally oriented after-school care program to
produce newsletters showcasing their work.
• Member, Federation of the Imagination, 2007-Present.
 The Federation is an interdisciplinary multi-campus network of faculty and students working through a
common curriculum emphasizing service, soulfulness and joy in teaching and learning.
• Advisory Committee, Imagine Miami, Fall 2007
 Imagine is a non-profit organization that works to strengthen South Florida communities through cultural
events, the arts and service.
• I Have a Dream Program-MDC service-learning partnership, 2003-Present.
 Help coordinate MDC students tutoring and mentoring underserved students at Phillis Wheatly Elem. in a
long-term program that provides enrichment through high school and scholarships for college. We have
installed an educational garden at the school. We have also organized several events for the Dreamers,
 including tours of MDC’s campuses. This Fall, we began teaching a college composition course at Phillis
Wheatley in an effort to deepen the connection between college students and Dreamers. We are designing
a curriculum that provides for weekly collaboration between the two cohorts and folds together writing,
art, biology, community history, and geography. Using the community and school as text, college students
also examine issues of power, racism, poverty and education.
• Service-Learning Faculty Coordinator, MDC InterAmerican Campus, 2003-Present
• Advisor, Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, 2005-Present
 PTK is the national honor society for two-year colleges. I facilitate student leadership and service
activities as well as transfer and scholarship applications.
• Algebra Project-MDC partnership, 2006-Present
 Helped coordinate AP Developmental math course at MDC last year, including a series of week-long
workshops on the pedagogy of AP for MDC faculty and staff. AP is a national network of teachers and
students founded by Civil Rights elder Dr. Bob Moses. Teachers use innovative, experience-based
approaches to teach math and present education as “the new Civil Right.”
• Instructor, AP Math Summer Institute, FIU, 2006-Present
 Help design and teach a language skills courses to a cohort of students from underserved high schools
focusing on critical race theory and media studies. Students consider the importance of their voices in the
dialogue about quality education.
• National Coalition for Quality Education in New Orleans, Spring 2006.
 Attended meetings in New Orleans on the rebuilding of the public school system.
• Quality Education as a Civil Right, Miami Campaign, 2005-2006
 Represented Miami Dade College and the Center for Urban Education & Innovation in grassroots effort
to raise awareness of local educational equity issues and chart a plan of action.

PRESENTATIONS & PUBLICATIONS

• Publish quarterly newsletter and maintain website for Center for Urban Education & Innovation, FIU, Jan. 2003-
Present.
• Service-learning student orientation sessions tailored for various disciplines, including English composition, literature,
computers and information systems, earth science, and developmental reading and writing, 2004-Present
• Presentations for FIU Graduate Courses on engaged, socially conscious pedagogy, 2004-Present
 The Line Between Stereotype and Reality: Confronting Prejudice in our Everyday Lives.
 From Slave Ships to the Mariel Boatlift: an Overview of the Origins of Stereotypes.
 “Say Hello to My Little Friend”: Stereotypes in the Mass Media
 Little Havana & Overtown: a Tale of Two Neighborhoods.”
•“The Algebra Project at Miami Dade College,” Miami Dade College Professional Development Day, March 2008
•“The Federation of the Imagination,” InterAmerican Campus Convocation Ceremony, Sept. 2007; Miami Dade College
Professional Development Day, March 2008
• “Dancing with Chaos: Leadership in Difficult Times,” National Parent-Teacher Association Emerging Minority
Leaders Conference, Oct. 2007 and Feb. 2008
• “Grounding Math, Language, and Art in Social Justice: One Center’s Commitment to Liberation Through Education,”
Teaching for Intelligence: Believe to Achieve, National Conference of the National Urban Alliance for Effective
Education, Nov. 2006
• “Like Putting Lipstick on a Pig: A New Practitioner Confronts the Big Questions about Service-Learning,” accepted for
publication in online Journal for Civic Commitment, Fall 2006
• “Civic Responsibility and Service-Learning,” MDC InterAmerican Campus Student Success Series, Fall 2006
• “What’s Race Got to Do with It,” MDC InterAmerican Campus Student Success Series, Fall 2006
• “Service-Learning and Computer Courses,” MDC Professional Development Day, Spring 2005
• “‘When I Got There, I Knew What to Expect’: Confronting Prejudice in the English Classroom,” Gulf-South Summit
on Service-Learning and Civic Engagement through Higher Education, Spring 2005
• “’When I Got There, I Knew What to Expect’: Confronting Prejudice in the English Classroom.” Getting Results: Best
Practices in Urban Education, Urban Education Expo sponsored by the Center for Urban Education & Innovation, Nov.
2004.
• Freelance work with South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Miami New Times, 1997-2000

COURSES TAUGHT
• ENC 0020: College Prep Writing 2
• ENC 0021: College Prep Writing 3
• ENC 1101: College Writing Composition 1
• ENC 1102: College Writing Composition 2