Biographical note

Nicole Mirra is Associate Professor of Urban Teacher Education in the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. She previously taught high school English Language Arts in Brooklyn, New York and Los Angeles, California. Her research explores the intersections of critical literacy and civic engagement with youth and teachers across classroom, community, and digital learning environments. Nicole is the recipient of the Arthur Applebee Award for Excellence in Research on Literacy (Literacy Research Association, 2021); the Divergent Book Award for Excellence in 21st Century Literacies Research (Initiative for 21st Century Literacies Research, 2020); the David H. Russell Research Award for Distinguished Research in the Teaching of English (National Council of Teachers of English, 2019), and the National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship (2018). She is the author of Civics for the World to Come: Committing to Democracy in Every Classroom (W. W. Norton, 2023); Educating for Empathy: Literacy Learning and Civic Engagement (Teachers College Press, 2018); and a co-author (with Antero Garcia and Ernest Morrell) of Doing Youth Participatory Action Research: Transforming Inquiry with Researchers, Educators, and Students (Routledge, 2015). Antero Garcia is an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University and Vice President of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). Prior to completing his PhD, Antero was an English teacher at a public high school in South Central Los Angeles. His research explores the possibilities of speculative imagination and healing in educational research. Based on his research, Antero co-designed the Critical Design and Gaming School—a public high school in Los Angeles. Antero is the recipient of the Arthur Applebee Award for Excellence in Research on Literacy (with Nicole Mirra), Literacy Research Association, 2021; Early Career Achievement Award, Literacy Research Association, 2018; Jan Hawkins Award for Early Career Contributions to Humanistic Research and Scholarship in Learning Technologies, AERA, 2018; National Academy of Education/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2015. He has authored or edited more than a dozen books about the possibilities of literacies, play, and civics in transforming schooling in America, including Civics for the World to Come: Committing to Democracy in Every Classroom (W. W. Notron, 2023); Everyday Advocacy: Teachers Who Change the Literacy Narrative (W. W. Norton, 2020); and a co-author (with Nicole Mirra and Ernest Morrell) of Doing Youth Participatory Action Research: Transforming Inquiry with Researchers, Educators, and Students (Routledge, 2015).