Juan Carlos Medina is a doctoral student in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His educational background includes obtaining a bachelor of arts in history and a master’s degree in teaching history, along with a BCLAD Certified California Teaching Credential, from Occidental College in 2008 and 2009 respectively.
Originally from East Los Angeles, California, Juan’s research interests reflect his lived experience. As such, his research includes: studying the structure of community-based educational spaces; the access, preparation, and persistence in higher education of underrepresented students; and the history of Latino education in the U.S. southwest. Juan is currently working with Dr. Bianca Baldridge while specifically studying the racialization of Spanish-speaking populations in the American southwest while paying considerable attention to how the formation of the image of the “other” can be dismantled within community-based educational spaces, and the possibilities available to holistically educate Spanish-speaking populations through said spaces.