Education

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­2012 PhD in Rhetoric, Composition, and the Teaching of English, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

2007 MA in English, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

2005 BA in Anthropology,University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Employment

2025-Present Associate Professor of Latina/Latino Studies, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL

2020-2024 Assistant/Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Writing, Department of English, University of North Texas, Denton, TX

2016-2020 Assistant Professor of Writing Studies, Rhetoric, and Composition, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY

2012-2016 Assistant Professor of English and the Writing Initiative, Binghamton University, SUNY, Binghamton, NY

Select Publications

2025 Martinez, Aja Y. and Robert O. Smith. The Origins of Critical Race Theory: The People and Ideas That Created a Movement. New York University Press.

2020 & 2025 Martinez, Aja Y. Counterstory: The Rhetoric and Writing of Critical Race Theory. National Council of Teachers of English, 2nd ed.

2025 Robert O. Smith and Martinez, Aja Y. The Pedagogy of Critical Race Theory: Stories of Resistance and Resilience. University of California Press.

Forthcoming Smith, Robert O. and Aja Y. Martinez. Faithful Realism: The Enduring Hope of Critical Race Theory. Penn State University Press.

Select Consulting Work

2024 University of Oklahoma: OU Arts & Humanities Forum Manuscript Development Workshop: Rachel Jackson, “Red State Reclaimed: The Transrhetorical Recovery of Resistance in Oklahoma"

2024 University of Nebraska, Lincoln: Academic Program Review

2023-2024 Linfield University Writing Program: NEH Spotlight Grant FYW Syllabi Consultation and Faculty Training Build-Out

2021 Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Coaching: CRT and DEI Lecture and Workshop

2020 Penn State Abington: Anti-Racist Faculty and Staff Professional Development

2020 Denton Integrated School District: Anti-Racist Faculty and Staff Professional Development

Awards and Honors

2023 National Council of Teachers of English National Intellectual Freedom Award

2023 National Council of Teachers of English’s David H. Russell Award for Distinguished Research in the Teaching of English.

2023 Conference on College Composition and Communication’s Outstanding Book award, monograph.

2023 Conference on College Composition and Communication’s Advancement of Knowledge book award.

2021 Coalition for Community Writers “Innovations in Community Writing Book Award,” inaugural winner.

Photo Credit: Marie Fox, Headshot Headquarters