Flavia Belpoliti

Dr. Flavia Belpoliti is an Associate Professor and Director of Spanish Graduate Studies in the Department of Literature and Languages at East Texas A&M University, within the College of Humanities, Social Sciences and Arts. With over 20 years of teaching experience across Argentina and the United States, she specializes in Spanish language pedagogy, Hispanic linguistics, and sociolinguistics while directing graduate programs and leading statewide heritage language initiatives.

Dr. Belpoliti's educational background includes:

• Ph.D. in Hispanic Linguistics from the University of Houston (2011)
• Graduate Studies in Discourse Analysis from the Universidad de Buenos Aires (2001)
• Bachelor of Letters from the Universidad del Salvador (1995)

Her research centers on Spanish as a Heritage Language, examining acquisition processes, U.S. language contact dynamics, and teacher development frameworks. Current projects include co-directing the Texas Coalition for Heritage Spanish to advance open-education resource implementation and modeling multimodal competency in bilingual learners through digital discourse analysis. She emphasizes how semiotic repertoires transform literacy in multilingual contexts.

Dr. Belpoliti's 2020-2023 publications reveal an interdisciplinary trajectory bridging linguistics, education, and cultural studies. Her work analyzes heritage learner literacy development, teacher identity in heritage education, and pedagogical translation practices—consistently addressing resource gaps through open-education frameworks while advancing theoretical models for multimodal language acquisition.

Professional recognition includes:

• Faculty Senate Award for Professional Excellence (Professional Service Category, 2025)
• Provost Fellowship (2024-2025)
• University of Houston Teaching Excellence Award (Teaching Group, 2012)
• University of Houston Teaching Excellence Award (Teaching Fellows, 2010)

As Director of Spanish Graduate Studies, Dr. Belpoliti oversees program development and student mentorship while leading a $16,000 OER curriculum grant. Her professional service includes chairing the Open Education Resources Initiative and coordinating the Texas Coalition for Heritage Spanish, which manages statewide resource repositories and instructor training programs.

Dr. Belpoliti co-directs the Texas Coalition for Heritage Spanish—a cross-institutional network advancing heritage language education through open-access materials and professional development. She also chairs the university's Open Education Resources Initiative, driving curriculum innovation and policy advocacy for sustainable language education infrastructure across Texas.