Dolores Calderón Assistant Professor MBH 382 801-585-6257 dolores.calderon@utah.edu

Dolores Calderón is joining the Department of Education, Culture and Society after completing her Ph.D. at UCLA's Graduate School of Education with an emphasis in race and ethnic studies and cognate in American Indian Studies. Professor Calderón also has a J.D. from Texas Tech School of Law. Before shifting her focus to education, Dolores worked as a Public Defender in El Paso, Texas. She has also taught high school social studies in El Paso, Texas, and has worked in educational outreach for the University of California, Santa Cruz. In this capacity, she worked with high school students from the San Jose and Monterey Bay areas of California.

While at ULCA her dissertation research examined social science content standards and corresponding U.S. History textbooks in order to document how social science curriculum emphasizes particular worldviews at the expense of others. Her research interests center on the following areas: indigenous epistemologies; Critical Race/ TribalCrit theories in education; and jurisprudence and education. Specifically, her work examines how these components challenge traditional curriculum and instruction development and implementation.

For instance, Dr. Calderón's research interests center two-fold on the development and implementation of multicultural curriculum, and the role of jurisprudence in shaping curriculum. Particularly she is interested in exploring how multicultural content in curriculum frame multiculturalism in ways that marginalize indigenous perspectives and educational issues. This includes critical examinations of the role of culture and law in framing the types of democratic possibilities commonly centered in educational discourse (such as racial remedies) in order to create spaces for educational practices that embrace differing paradigms (such as sovereignty and self-determination). Her research has found that while these emphases are vital and important, the lack of epistemological diversity leads to the marginalization of the legitimate needs of indigenous peoples and other non-western communities that maintain radically different notions of democracy and citizenship. Calderon's research suggests the need to develop curriculum and teaching practices that can better-serve indigenous and non-western communities by creating educational settings where teachers and curriculum are culturally responsive.

Dr. Calderón is excited to continue her work with high school students of color, particularly indigenous students. She is committed to conducting research and promoting policy reform that continues to expand opportunities and advancement along the educational pipeline for indigenous students as well as other students of color.