Wilfredo Alvarez’s (he/him/his) teaching and research focus on communication issues related to social identity (i.e., race, ethnicity, social class, immigration, gender, sexual orientation, and ability status). Specifically, he is interested in how micro (personal relationships), meso (groups and organizations) and macro-level (popular culture) communication practices (e.g., pervasive discourses of race and gender) are deployed institutionally to create, maintain, and resist systems of oppression, discrimination and social inequality in U.S. society. He primarily teaches courses in intercultural communication, interpersonal communication, organizational communication, communication, difference, and social justice, conflict communication, leadership communication, and communication theory. Dr. Alvarez earned a B.S. in communication and information technology from the Rochester Institute of Technology, an M.S. in interpersonal communication from Florida State University, and a Ph.D. in intercultural communication from the University of Colorado. Dr. Alvarez’s research has appeared in Management Communication Quarterly, the Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, Liminalities: A Journal of Performance Studies, and Inter/Cultural Communication: Representation and Construction of Culture in Everyday Interaction. In his leisure time, Dr. Alvarez enjoys traveling, fitness activities, watching classical Hollywood cinema, and stimulating conversations with colleagues, friends, family, and strangers.
Patrick S. De Walt is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Liberal Studies at California State University, Fresno. He has experience teaching at the elementary level: first and third grades. His research interests include: Africana Identity, Racial Identity, Theory, Curriculum Development, Teacher Education and applications of technology in education. He is an editorial board member of the Journal of Multicultural Affairs. He also serves on the Advisory Board of CalStateTEACH.