Jonna Perrillo

Dr. Jonna Perrillo is a Professor of English Education at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), affiliated with the College of Liberal Arts and the Department of English. Her work bridges education history, racial equity, and pedagogy. She earned a Ph.D. from NYU, an M.A. from the University of Maryland, and a B.A. from the University of Michigan.

Her research focuses on schools as sites of racial and citizenship formation, particularly in Cold War contexts. Her book Educating the Enemy (2022) examines how El Paso schools treated Nazi scientists’ children and Mexican American students differently during the Cold War. Her other work explores literature instruction’s role in shaping civic identity, teacher professional development, and historical curricular biases.

Perrillo has led initiatives like the National Endowment for the Humanities’ 2021 Summer Seminar on literature education and directed UTEP’s West Texas Writing Project (2005-2011). Her public-facing writing appears in TIME, Washington Post, and Boston Review, critiquing modern education trends and historical inequities.

Her advising and grants include directing NEH programs and serving as the National Council of Teachers of English’s historian (2016–2019). She actively connects academic research with community engagement through media commentary and public history projects.