Through storytelling, we discover our shared humanity and the connections between language, land, and learning.
Documentary Films
My documentary filmmaking is an extension of more than two decades of scholarship exploring the intersections of language, land, learning, and cultural knowledge in rural and multilingual communities. Grounded in ethnographic inquiry, oral history, and community-engaged research, my films use firsthand narratives, documentary interviews, and visual storytelling to show how people experience, sustain, and pass down language and cultural knowledge across generations. Small Town, Big Dreams, Waiting on DACA, and Long Journey to the American Dream, document the experiences of immigrant families, educators, and communities, connecting personal stories to broader questions of identity, belonging, language rights, and educational equity. My storytelling is both a research methodology and a means of preserving community knowledge.
Rural Voices in Education Podcast Series
The Rural Voices in Education podcast explores how rural communities nurture multilingualism, sustain linguistic and cultural traditions, and draw upon local knowledges that shape education and learning. Rooted in the linguistic richness and cultural wealth of rural places, this series amplifies the voices, stories, and lived experiences that reveal the powerful connections among language, land, learning, and community. Season 1 (6 episodes) situates bilingual development and highlights the challenges and successes of bilingual education in rural schools.
Oral Histories & Community Archives
The Coral Way Bilingual Program in Miami, Florida, chronicles the history and legacy of the first publicly funded dual language immersion (DLI) bilingual education program in the United States. Through oral histories, archival research, and the preservation of historical documents, this project, Pioneering Bilingualism, captures the voices, experiences, and pioneering efforts of educators, families, and communities who helped shape bilingual education in America. These digitized archives, housed in Digital Collections at the University of Florida, preserve a vital chapter in educational history and illuminate the enduring connections among language, identity, community, and educational opportunity.
The collection contains 263 historical items, including photographs, oral histories, audio recordings, correspondence, and original program documents. It includes materials collected and digitized through my collaboration with Bess de Farber, building upon the original work of the late Dr. Richard Ruiz.
