AACTE Welcomes New Holmes Scholars
The AACTE Holmes Program continues to expand to support new scholars in their academic pursuit. We are pleased to welcome Ava Jackson, Holmes Post-doctoral Fellow at Boston University, and Elizabeth León Zaragoza, Holmes doctoral student at University of Nevada Las Vegas, to the Holmes community. Congratulations to these scholars and their institutions for their commitment to promoting excellence and success of diverse scholars.
Ava Jackson received her doctorate in the learning sciences at Northwestern University. Her research explores questions on the forms of learning and identity development supported in critical pedagogies. Specifically, she is interested in understanding if and how critical perspectives in teaching can support expansive and transformative disciplinary learning within and outside the designed learning context. In her dissertation, “Critical History Education: A Case Study of Design, Learning, and Identity Development,” Jackson developed a collaborative ethnography with a local history teacher to explore how his teaching supported students in developing a collective learning community. Originally from Buffalo, NY, she currently resides in Chicago, IL, with her partner Gabe and two cats Fitz and Chester. In her spare time, Jackson enjoys puzzling, listening to true-crime or Warhammer podcasts, and playing video games.
Elizabeth León Zaragoza is originally from Bakersfield, CA, but was raised in Kentucky. She is the second of four children to immigrant laborers from central Mexico. A current third-year Ph.D. student in the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) Higher Education program, Zaragoza earned a Bachelor of Arts from The University of Kentucky and a Bachelor of Science in Athletic Training from Eastern Kentucky University. She continued her studies and earned a Master of Science in Kinesiology from UNLV. Zaragoza gained interest in her current research specialty after witnessing healthcare and healthcare-education disparities as an athletic trainer. She hopes to learn through research how to improve her role as an athletic trainer to better serve marginalized populations. This includes identifying ways to achieve equity, diversity, and inclusion in education and patient care. In her spare time, Zaragoza enjoys traveling and learning new skills.
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