Darrel Wanzer-Serrano

Dr. Darrel Wanzer-Serrano is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication & Journalism at Texas A&M University and Director of the Race and Ethnic Studies Institute (RESI). He holds additional roles as Core Faculty in the Latino/a and Mexican American Studies (LMAS) Program. He earned his PhD in 2007 from Indiana University.

His research focuses on intersections of race, ethnicity, and public discourse, with emphasis on decolonial theory and Latinx social movements. Notable works include The New York Young Lords and the Struggle for Liberation (2015), the first scholarly monograph on the Puerto Rican diaspora’s Young Lords Organization, and The Young Lords: A Reader (2010), compiling primary documents from the movement. Current projects examine discourses of emerging Hispanic-Serving Institutions (eHSIs) and racialized organizational contexts.

He teaches courses on rhetoric, race, and Latinx studies, emphasizing critical/cultural approaches. His work critiques systemic racism in rhetorical studies and advocates for antiracist praxis. Recent contributions include the landmark 2019 Quarterly Journal of Speech article Rhetoric’s Rac(e/ist) Problems, addressing structural racism in the field.

His research has been published in top journals like Rhetoric & Public Affairs and Quarterly Journal of Speech, focusing on decolonial methodologies, critical race studies, and historical rhetorical analysis.