Skip to content
Latinx Intelligentsia podcast artwork

PODCAST · education

Latinx Intelligentsia

by Dra. Michelle Espino Lira

This bi-weekly podcast is dedicated to uplifting Latinx/a/o students, administrators, faculty, and stakeholders in higher education. La Profesora, Dra. Michelle Espino Lira, focuses on the ways in which we can uplift our gente to and through higher education so we can all thrive.

Publisher-supplied feed metadata · PodParley refreshed Aug 13, 2026 · Source feed

Episodes

  1. 148 Hours While the World is Burning

    Ep 55 La Profesora shares the often unseen process behind publishing academic work as a Latina scholar in higher education. Reflecting on her latest publication, La Profesora shares the journey of writing, mentoring, setbacks, and personal challenges that shaped the manuscript over the course of...

  2. Save EDAD!

    Ep. 54 La Profesora turns the spotlight on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where a sweeping new budget proposal threatens to eliminate the Department of Educational Administration (EDAD)—the only department in the state dedicated to preparing educational leaders. Joined by Dra. Crystal…

    more
  3. Ep 53 Ya Basta!

    Ep. 53 La Profesora discusses the urgent challenges facing Latinx/e and marginalized communities today. She shines a light on pressing issues such as the ongoing crisis in Palestine, the targeting of Black leaders and communities in major cities, and the troubling dismantling of DEI initiatives…

    more
  4. La Profesora's Sidenote on Higher Ed/Student Affairs Doctoral Admissions

    Ep. 52 As La Profesora, Dra. Michelle Espino Lira, slowly returns to the podcasting space, we thought it would be helpful to talk about the daunting world of doctoral program admissions. In this Sidenote, La Profesora offers invaluable insights and practical tips for making informed decisions…

    more
  5. In Memoriam

    Ep 51 This episode is dedicated to Mrs. Ramona Espino, who was and remains a brilliant light in La Profesora's heart. La Profesora talks about what it means to live in, through, and around grief. Through this profound loss, there lies opportunity for deep reflection about "being as doing". So...

  6. Back in the Day Replay: Dra. Melissa Abeyta

    It's a Back in the Day Replay, ya'll! La Profesora is giving flowers to Dra. Melissa Abeyta, the creator and host of the Scholar Homies Podcast: The Story is to be Told, Not Sold, Conversations with the Soul. We talk about her transition to the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, the legacy…

    more
  7. Celebrating the 50th Episode!

    Wow, ya'll! We're kicking off Season 7 by celebrating 50 episodes that showcase the amazing work that our gente are doing in higher education! We have a special guest host, future Dra. Nancy Camarillo who offers fantastic reflection questions for La Profesora. Our conversations takes us back to…

    more
  8. Back in the Day Replay: Dra. Gina Garcia

    La Profesora is coming back, ya'll! Thank you for your patience and support! As we prepare for a new season of the podcast, we want to give a shout out to an amazing scholar who is holding it down in the podcasting world: Dra. Gina Garcia! We were fortunate to have Dra. Garcia on the show in...

  9. To Pivot and Thrive

    Ep 49 This episode is a tribute to all the student affairs practitioners out there who went beyond the "other duties as assigned" at the start of COVID-19. Student Affairs practitioners had to pivot and find a way out of no way to offer support and resources to students, especially those most in...

  10. Paying It Forward: Y Tu También College Access Program

    Ep 48 It is with so much sorrow in my heart that I post this episode. I do not want to lose hope. The Black community in Buffalo deserves everything we have. The Taiwanese parishioners in Santa Ana deserve everything we have. The children and teachers who were murdered in Uvalde deserve…

    more
  11. A Shared Sacred Space: The Central American & Isthmian Writers Group

    Ep47 What started as a way to gather to write at the start of the pandemic evolved into a shared sacred space among Central American and Isthmian writers who sought a space to tell their stories from the Isthmus. La Profesora talks with Eileen Galvez, Samantha Erskine, Bri Rodriguez, and Jessica...

  12. The Nominee

    BONUS EPISODE! Ya'll didn't think that after talking about my love, John Lira's campaign for the past few seasons that I wouldn't showcase a critical moment in our journey, right?! In this BONUS episode, I captured moments before, during, and after election day in the Texas primaries. John Lira,...

  13. Materializing Worlds that Don't Exist Yet for Queer Latinx People

    Ep 46 La Profesora talks with newly-minted Dr. Roberto Orozco (felicidades on your dissertation defense!) about the connection between Jotería Studies and Chicana Feminism. Early Chicana Feminists crafted a theory that disrupted heteronormativity and uplifted race/ethnicity, gender, and…

    more
  14. Poetry Uncovers Wounds We Thought Had Already Healed

    Episode 45 Ya'll! We have a new Poet-in-Residence and in Resistencia, future Dr. Gabriel Pulido! Gabriel shares his journey with spoken word and slam poetry, noting that his creative writing and academic writing processes sometimes blend together. As a conjurer of joy, our new Poet-in-Resistencia...

  15. A Model of Possibility

    Ep44 It's always inspiring to learn from a scholar who centers comunidad in her work. La Profesora talks with Dra. Dolores Delgado Bernal about her incredible contributions to promoting assets-based frameworks in the study of Latinx/a/o educational pathways. She reminds us that no idea is ever...

  16. Live The Questions

    Episode 43 Bridging sensing and thinking is not often valued in academia. So-called "objectivity" is what is honored. Yet, our gente know something about sensing and thinking that can create a vision of higher education that can bring wholeness and hope. In this episode, La Profesora talks with...

  17. Beyond Strategy: A Conversation with Dra. Estela Bensimon

    Ep. 42 In higher education, we tend to hear that we should be strategic in teaching, service, publications, and grants--pretty much EVERYTHING! What if I told you that one of our veteranas in the field focused more on doing the work she cared about than about strategizing every step in her…

    more
  18. They're Already Here: Formerly Incarcerated & System-Impacted Students

    Ep 41 To have the courage to say that one is system-impacted is just the tip of the iceberg in this thought-provoking conversation with Dra. Melissa Abeyta. Dra. Abeyta is working with her Scholar Homies to encourage institutions of higher education to pay attention to a student population that…

    more
  19. Soy Quién Soy: Formal Education After Incarceration

    Ep 40 Future Dr. Joe Louis Hernandez has lived several lifetimes. By the age of 19, Joe Louis was an addict and facing incarceration. His life was changed after attending a drug treatment center that was connected to Mt. San Antonio College, a community college in Southern California. As he moved...

  20. Representing the Misrepresented: Critical Quant

    Ep 39 Critical Quantitative methodology is justice-oriented and focuses on context. If you plan to be a critical quant or quant crit, you need to acknowledge that national datasets do not accurately reflect the lived experiences of those who have been historically marginalized and are founded…

    more
  21. It's Not Neutral: Quantitative Methods

    Ep38 It's not often that La Profesora has such an enriching and joyful conversation about quantitative methods, pero, Dra. Elizabeth Rivera Rodas offers a fantastic perspective on using quantitative methods to critique structural inequities in higher education. We talk about the journey through a...

  22. We Are Worthy Because We Exist

    Ep. 37 Hola, mi gente! Welcome to Season 5! In our first episode of the season, we welcome our new Poet-in-Residence and in Resistencia, future Dra. Cecilia Caballero, who talks about her journey as a single mother surviving through COVID-19, intergenerational poverty, and the challenges of…

    more
  23. Finding Spaciousness Within

    Ep. 36 It's our final episode of the season and it is FIRE! We bid farewell to Sarah Gonzales, who is completing her tenure as our inaugural Poet-in-Residence and in Resistencia. Sarah drops knowledge on the critical questions we should all be asking ourselves as we transition to being out in the...

  24. Expect the Unexpected

    *Episode 35* Our conversation with full-time higher education professionals who are enrolled in doctoral programs continues! La Profesora talks with future Dr. Oscar Lanza-Galindo and his daughter Chel about how he navigated his first year in doctoral student amid the COVID-19 pandemic....

  25. It's Really Full-Time, Full-Time

    Episode 34 The term "Part-time doctoral student" is a misnomer. Our gente who navigate full-time work, while also engaging in coursework and life outside of campus are full-time, full-time. There's really no part-time to it! La Profesora talks with future Dr. Bri Serrano about their journey to...

  26. Racist Rhetoric: It's Always Been There

    Episode 33 Why They Hate Us: How Racist Rhetoric Impacts Education (Teachers College Press) is a powerful compilation that bridges K-12 and higher education teachers, scholars, and practitioners in uncovering how racist rhetoric affects student pathways and experiences. La Profesora talks with…

    more
  27. Cultivating Comunidad Through Queer Chisme

    *Episode 32* La Profesora talks with future Dr. Yolanda Cataño about how she has drawn upon queer chisme to cultivate comunidad within Latinx/a/o queer communities. Our conversation journeys through her relationship with her #ScholarHomies, her commitment to serving Latinx/a/o queer communities…

    more
  28. Ethical Chisme Rooted in Queer Radical Love

    *Episode 31* La Profesora talks with future Dr. Sergio Gonzalez y future Dr. Ángel Gonzalez about ethical chisme as a practice of queer radical love and as methodology. We delve into Jotería Scholarship and discuss why the field of higher education has yet to uplift this research. AND we talk…

    more
  29. Writing Series: The Editor's Perspective

    Episode 30 Although we all want to shake our fist at Reviewer #2, we don't usually have a chance to go behind-the-scenes of an academic journal. In this episode, La Profesora talks with Dra. Cindy Cruz, who recently stepped down from her role as associate editor for the Frontiers Journal, which…

    more
  30. Setting the Vision

    In Episode 29, La Profesora talks with Ricardo Nazario y Colón about the importance of senior leadership in higher education setting a vision for diversity and inclusion. Senior Diversity Officers cannot be effective if a vision is not in place! We also talk about what it means to do DEI work as…

    more
  31. The Work is Never Done

    We're back with Season 4! For our first episode of the season, La Profesora talks with Dra. Constanza Cabello at Framingham State University about what it's like to be the inaugural Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Community Engagement. We talk about moving from personal growth in DEI…

    more
  32. Writing Past the Limits

    For the last episode of the season, La Profesora is revisiting the Writing Series we are doing all year. This time, she talks with Dr. Davíd Martínez about writing beyond publications and metrics for tenure and promotion. Writing should be about community, about action, and about praxis. Our...

  33. From Blanquemiento to Black-imiento

    Even before the protests and outrage that stemmed from the murders of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd, there have been discussions about anti-Blackness in Latinx/a/o communities. This episode focuses on addressing anti-Blackness by centering Blackness in our comunidad through the...

  34. La Política es Bonita

    We're doing a different take on what you have probably been hearing and reading as folx push through the final campaigns for Election Day 2020. Not to say that our current political climate is beautiful, but that our engagement in our local communities, of fighting for justice for our communities...

  35. Writing About Dominicanidad:

    We kick off our Writing Series with a focus on writing academic books! La Profesora talks with Dra. Lorgia Garcia-Peña about her journey in writing her first award-winning book, The Borders of Dominicanidad: Race, Nations and Archives of Contradictions (Duke University Press, 2016) and how she...

  36. Latinx: Say it With Intention

    The term "Latinx" is still in the process of becoming. La Profesora talks with Dr. Cristobal Salinas, who has studied the evolution of the term within higher education contexts and introduces additional terms that may (better) address the experiences of gente within the Latinx/a/o diaspora. And…

    more
  37. Lifting as We Climb

    Mentoring: an elusive concept that can be difficult to define and, at times, difficult to engage with someone. There are times when we do not know how to approach someone for mentorship/femtorship/guidance, and then there are times we do not even realize we are being mentored! La Profesora talks...

  38. Migration is Beautiful

    La Profesora talks with Dra. Yolanda Valencia and future Dr. Christian Bello Escobar about their journeys to the U.S. and their early years working in a slaughterhouse and in janitorial services, respectively. Both experiences have informed their research and practice in extraordinary ways, one…

    more
  39. Always Begin with Love

    La Profesora kicks off Season 3 with conversations about finding love in a place like academia and what it means to navigate higher education as dual career couples. Guests Fabiola Mora and Dora Frias talk about being models of possibility, especially for queer Latinx communities. They also share...

  40. Sneak Peak: Cultivating Excelencia Podcast!

    While La Profesora works on Season 3, here's a sneak peak into an exciting collaboration between the national organization, Excelencia in Education and Dra. Michelle Espino Lira, associate professor at the University of Maryland, College Park! Cultivating Excelencia is a limited series podcast...

  41. Latina Sister-Scholars Revisited

    For our final episode of Season 2, we offer this cross-over with the NASPA Latinx/a/o Knowledge Community, showcasing La Profesora y Dras. Judy Marquez Kiyama y Susana Muñoz. Nestor Melendez moderates. Poet Juan Felipe Herrera is featured.

  42. Part III: A Passion Project (MALES)

    La Profesora talks with Dr. Victor Saenz about turning his passion project into award-winning scholarship & practice focusing on educational achievement for boys and men of color, especially Latinos. Poet Kay Ulanday Barrett is featured.

  43. Part II: The Solar 6

    La Profesora talks with Dallas ISD Principal of the Year, Dra. Nancy Bernardino about the founding of Solar Preparatory School for Girls and her advocacy for African American and Latinx/a/o children. This is Part II in a series on gender. Poet MS McDonough is featured.

  44. Part I: The Embodiment of Gender

    La Profesora talks with Dr. Francisco Galarte about the embodiment of gender in transgender and Chicanx/Latinx studies. This is the first part of a 3-part series on gender in Latinx/a/o communities. Poet Joshua Jennifer Espinosa is featured.

  45. In Truth & Service: Our Gente at Howard University

    La Profesora talks with Dr. Cristóbal Rodríguez and future Doctora Natalie Muñoz about how they serve Black and Brown students at Howard University, a Historically Black University. Poet Ross Gay is featured.

  46. We Count!

    La Profesora talks with Dra. Vanessa Sansone and Dr. Mark H. Lopez about the importance of population studies in ensuring that we are distributing resources and support in equitable ways to serve nuestra comunidad. Poet Luis J. Rodriguez is featured.

  47. Sana, Sana

    La Profesora talks with Dr. Juan Guardia y Dra. Marissa Vasquez about remaining true to our wellbeing in the midst of caring for family and maintaining our careers. Poet Waheed is featured. Sending love into our world that we commit to caring for ourselves, our families, and our communities as we...

  48. Close to Home

    La Profesora talks with Dra. Kristan Venegas and Andrew Gonzalez about what home means to them and how they have managed their careers staying close to home with (chosen) family. Poet Eva Sierra is featured. This episode is dedicated to the memory and legacy of Andrew Gonzalez, who served the...

  49. Abrazando al Éxito: The VPSAs

    La Profesora talks with two incredible leaders in higher education, Dr. Sal Mena y Dra. Maggie De La Teja, about their journeys to the Vice President of Student Affairs role. Poet Araceli Montaño is featured.

  50. Beyond the HSI Designation

    La Profesora talks with Dra. Gina Garcia and Dr. Andrés Castro Samayoa about pressing against the boundaries of the Hispanic-Serving Institution designation. Poet Lee Maracle is featured.

Type above to search every episode's transcript for a word or phrase. Matches are scoped to this podcast.

Searching…

We're indexing this podcast's transcripts for the first time — this can take a minute or two. We'll show results as soon as they're ready.

No matches for "" in this podcast's transcripts.

Showing of matches

No topics indexed yet for this podcast.

Loading reviews...

ABOUT THIS SHOW

This bi-weekly podcast is dedicated to uplifting Latinx/a/o students, administrators, faculty, and stakeholders in higher education. La Profesora, Dra. Michelle Espino Lira, focuses on the ways in which we can uplift our gente to and through higher education so we can all thrive.

HOSTED BY

Dra. Michelle Espino Lira

Produced by LaProfesora

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Latinx Intelligentsia have?

Latinx Intelligentsia currently has 59 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.

What is Latinx Intelligentsia about?

This bi-weekly podcast is dedicated to uplifting Latinx/a/o students, administrators, faculty, and stakeholders in higher education. La Profesora, Dra. Michelle Espino Lira, focuses on the ways in which we can uplift our gente to and through higher education so we can all thrive.

How often does Latinx Intelligentsia release new episodes?

Latinx Intelligentsia has 59 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.

Where can I listen to Latinx Intelligentsia?

You can listen to Latinx Intelligentsia on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.

Who hosts Latinx Intelligentsia?

Latinx Intelligentsia is created and hosted by Dra. Michelle Espino Lira.
URL copied to clipboard!