Corina Zavala PhD is a professional educator currently located in San Antonio, Tx.  Having grown up in Crystal City, Tx and having first hand experience with the education system, not only throuh her own experiences, but through her towns and families, Corina has a professional and personal approach to the field of education that is unique among academics.

With over 10 years of teaching in the PreK – 4th grade, as both an ESL and Bi-Lingual teacher in Texas; Corina has exceptional professional experience in the class-room.

In addition to having over 10 years of experience in the elementary education field, Corina holds a masters from Texas State University in Bi-Lingual education.  Her masters project titled “Crystal Cities Teachers, a Chicano Perspective” exposed Corina to qualitative research methods and is where she began her journey into cultural studies of education.

While still working full time, Corina began her PhD at the University of Texas at Austin in the school of education in the department of curriculum and instruction specializing in cultural studies under the guidance of Professor Doug Foley and Professor Luis Urrieta Jr.  Corina’s studies focused around the inequality and inequities of education.

Her dissertation is titled “Crystal City Women’s Experiences during the Chicano Movement.”  The dissertation takes an in depth qualitative look into women’s experiences in Crystal City, Tx during the Chicano moment of the 1970’s.  Her dissertation was well received and there are plans to publish dissertation into a book.

During both her professional and academic endeavors, Corina has continued to stay active in the communities she lives in.  She is an active member of the Convergent Media Collective, a group of individuals who conduct both research and practice out of San Antonio in the public and private sector that pertains to new media, technology, education, civic engagement and among other fields.  Her participation within the collective has proved to be vital as she has mentored younger members and also contributed to many of the projects the collective has completed.

If you are interested in reaching out to Corina, feel free to email her at:  corina@zavalaphd.org.