Eliana Castro

Dr. Eliana Castro is an Assistant Professor of Secondary Education and Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Vermont's College of Education and Social Services, Department of Education. She holds a Ph.D. from Michigan State University, with certificates in Urban Education and Chicanx/Latinx Studies, along with degrees from Brown University. Her research focuses on race, racism, and racialization in educational settings, particularly in secondary history/social studies classrooms. She launched the R3 in E research collaborative to unite scholars addressing these issues. Dr. Castro has 15 years of teaching experience in high school history and teacher preparation.

Education:

• Ph.D., Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education, Michigan State University (with certificates in Urban Education and Chicanx/Latinx Studies)
• M.A.T., Secondary History and Social Studies, Brown University
• B.A., Education and Human Development, Brown University

Research Interests: Dr. Castro examines how curricula can promote nuanced understandings of intersectional racial/ethnic identities like Afro-Latinidad. Her work emphasizes teaching race, power dynamics, and institutional critique in history classrooms. Recent projects include a CESS Innovation Grant-supported study on curriculum design.

Publications: Her scholarship appears in top journals like the American Educational Research Journal and Race Ethnicity and Education. Notable works include award-winning analyses of historical narratives, Black girl resistance in education, and leadership lessons from Reconstruction-era policies.

Awards:

• Article of the Year (Journal of Research on Leadership Education, 2019)
• CESS Innovation Grant (2024)
• American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education Graduate Student Fellow (2019)

Teaching & Grants: Dr. Castro teaches courses like Secondary Social Studies Methods and Curriculum Design. She has secured grants to support research on anti-essentialist teaching methods and curriculum diversification. Her work bridges K-12 pedagogy with university-level teacher preparation.

Labs/Teams: The R3 in E collaborative brings together researchers studying race across educational contexts, fostering interdisciplinary approaches to systemic inequities.