Gabriel Rodriguez

Gabriel Rodriguez (he/him) serves as Assistant Professor in the Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's College of Education. His work bridges urban/suburban education, critical race studies, and teacher activism through interdisciplinary scholarship focused on educational justice.

His educational background includes a Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies (2018), MA in Political Science (2009), and BA in Political Science and Speech Communication (2007), all from UIUC. His research examines how race, space, and place shape identities and activism among youth of color and teachers of color in demographically shifting schools.

Rodriguez employs anthropological and sociological perspectives in qualitative research, with publications in International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, Educational Policy, and Race Ethnicity and Education. His work reveals how Latinx youth navigate belonging in suburban schools and how teachers organize against market-based reforms. Recent scholarship analyzes pandemic-era teacher activism and 'Midwestern niceness' as barriers to equity.

His award-winning research includes the Spencer Dissertation Fellowship (2017) and AASHE Faculty Fellowship (2022). Rodriguez teaches courses including Ethnographic Methods in Education, Identity and Difference in Education, and Researching Race in Education, emphasizing critical methodologies and asset-based frameworks.

• National Academy of Education Spencer Dissertation Fellowship (2017)
• American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education Faculty Fellow (2022)

Rodriguez actively advises graduate students and collaborates with the Chicago Teachers Union's Latinx Caucus. His current projects examine 'divisive concept' legislation and enact thick solidarity with youth through convivencia. He directs research initiatives connecting campus scholarship with community-based educational justice movements across Illinois.